Can you recommend siding?

[summutt]

We reside in a 1996 Skyline with the standard (I guess) vertical masonite siding. We're either going to paint or install siding. With the siding, what can you recommend to go right over the existing siding? Will any siding work? What are the possible ramifications of "oversiding"? We're in Lowe's, Home Depot country, so lots of possible suppliers close by. Economy is a prime consideration. We are seniors on fixed incomes.

[admin]

For the best economy a good paint job... The best alternative for the long term would be vinyl lap.

If any of your siding is damaged an excellent alternative to the hardboard on your home is a product called T-111 (pronounced Tee One Eleven). It is not a composition product but a treated exterior grade plywood. Usually you can find a T-111 replacement that has the same look as your original hardboard, or so close that once you paint it will be difficult to tell the difference. You can find or order this product at just about any lumber yard

Hardboard type products do have an effective weather proof face. The problem arises in the way that the product is nailed to the home. Be sure that your nail heads are perfectly flush to the face surface, so that once you paint there are no small places where rain or moisture can seep through the nail holes.

The original Hardboard siding was fairly effective and a very economical siding alternative. Many of the extensive problems that have been reported over the years, in my humble opinion, resulted from poor installation standards. In most MH factories the installers air nailer is hooked to a master compressor shared by all the workers in the shop. Unlike using individual compressors, it is more difficult to regulate the degree of penetration of the individual nails. So some are shot past the siding face leaving a small area around the nail head where water can get past the weather proof facing. You may find other nails that are not fully driven... the head sticks out of the siding just a small amount. This leaves nothing to prevent moisture from seeping in around the shaft of the nail.

Once you have replace any damaged sheets of siding be sure to give the entire home a heavy coat of paint, paying particular attention to the nailed areas, being sure to paint over all nail heads and any tiny breaks in the surface.

We have five hardboard homes in our park and we have them on a three year re-paint schedule. We also added gutters around the roof to prevent rain from running directly down the siding. This has prevented some of the worst problems we have seen elsewhere.


If you an afford to go with vinyl lap you can get some excellent installation tips from The Manual for Manufactured Home Repair & Upgrade

[jtart51]

Masonite appears to have been inappropriate for mobile homes. I have seen many that completely disintegrated.left big holes in the side on the home and let water into the home. My mom replaced her damaged boards, laid insulation over it and then put on vinyl siding...no further problems.

[David Oxhandler]

Masonite Hardboard Siding and other brand of the same type product were used on all types of buildings and failed miserable in all exterior applications. There was a massive consumer class action that reimbursed thousands of owners of structures with hardboard type siding for repair and replacement claims. The average claims ranged from thousands of dollars for smaller homes to hundreds of thousands for commercial buildings. Needless to say no one is producing or using that type siding anymore

[Portlandia]

T-111, vinyl, and fibercement are all good choices. Supposedly, LP has new SmartPanel stuff out that's better than the old mushroom-growing stuff I had on my old house. I don't buy it - I'd stay with real plywood (T-111) rather than any OSB product like the LP stuff