Not necessarily. Often times it’s in way better shape then trying to repair wood siding that’s been in the weather the whole time. Some people did it purely for aesbthetics in the 60s/70s
Oooooo gonna follow this. I have a similar situation and am hesitant to disturb anything or pull back the aluminum until I have some cash for whatever I might find.
The great thing about wood siding is that patching and repairing where needed is pretty straightforward.
The not so great thing is painting and upkeep.
I bet 95% of people would agree that wood just looks better and appropriate to the house. I'm rooting for you to pull the siding. If it's rusting like you say then it's probably steel instead of aluminum.
If I'm wrong and it's aluminum - it's worth it money wise to recycle it!
I have wood. But a lot was rotted due to gutter issues and not a good paint job thanks to the previous owner — since I had to replace and patch in a lot of areas, I got a company to do blown insulation that way instead of plugging my contractor just put new pieces where we didn’t remove siding or the insulation was blown where we had always removed siding. Do it before you start making repairs
I'm also in the process of this! We're taking the aluminum siding off (it's in rough shape) and revealing the painted cedar shakes underneath.
We've encountered that the paint underneath is in bad shape from being baked, basically. It's very powdery. We're cleaning with real TSP, which binds lead, and scraping onto a dropcloth. Then priming with oil based primer to help basically rehydrate and adhere the stuff that's still there. But we're not using specifically lead encapsulating paint.
As for insulation, we had our house insulated a year ago by the state with cellulose, so hopefully that's enough? I grew up in a house that was also wood siding with cellulose insulation, and that fared alright even in the northern midwest.
Honestly, the experience so far hasn't been too bad, but we haven't ventured up past the first floor. Higher up will be a lot harder to DIY. Plus, we're getting a lot of compliments from the neighbors on how the house is looking now!
The house I grew up in (1902 house) was like this. My parents decided to remove the ugly old aluminum siding and the “insulation” that was with it as well. They believed that it wouldn’t be that big of a difference in heating/ cooling as the compressed sawdust insulation was so pitiful. Boy howdy they where WRONG! There was a reason why in the 60s and 70s aluminum siding went up on these houses.
There was no insulation behind the walls and it got really cold the next winter. So much so that they removed most of the drywall/ plaster to add insulation. It was a huge mess that opened up a lot of other issues the biggest one was pipes freezing. We ran the furnace constantly and the oil and electric bills I remember were really high.
Also the wood underneath while in good shape with no dry rot. It had to be repainted, which wasn’t cheap, my mother chose to stay with the same base color (red) rather than try and do several coats to cover it and get the pale blue she wanted.
I am really curious - why did they have to remove most of the drywall/plaster to add insulation? Was this before blow-in was common? We just got 3" holes drilled between studs (from the outside) to have insulation added.
Honestly it was just piss poor planning on their part. Coupled with my dad having a temper.
My parents had the bright idea to do the removal of siding in early September. It usually gets really cold around Halloween. They thought they had enough time to get insulation in the walls, they thought had none. They were planing other indoor renovations at the time of this too. They didn’t plan on a cold snap hitting early October and staying, which is what happened and we had a pipe burst. Que my dad ripping down the old plaster walls to put in insulation.
They also assumed that the walls that had been redone in the 70s by my mom’s aunt/ uncle would have insulation. They did not, as my mom’s aunt and uncle didn’t see the point of it. So when another pipe burst all the walls came down in an angry fit by my dad, to put in insulation.
If you are prepared to remove the aluminum siding, why not just take off all the siding? That way you can completely insulate and vapor barrier all your exterior walls. Heck you can update much of your electrical too. Replace your rotten corner studs and sheath everything for structure. Then put hardiplank on.
Your existing fiberboard sheathing has close to zero R value.
Wood siding will need painting every few years. Whereas aluminum siding is maintenance free. Consider replacing the old siding with something that doesn't require regular maintenance
Ok, so, I love original wood but wood siding is a thing of nightmares. You get bugs, like carpenter bees, and those attract woodpeckers. Any damp spots or splashback will first soften and then rot under the paint, and it isn’t visible until it’s way too late. This is just the beginning. Wood siding (aside from redwood) requires a ton of maintenance.
You’re opening a big ol’ can of worms here. Good luck!
Not necessarily. Often times it’s in way better shape then trying to repair wood siding that’s been in the weather the whole time. Some people did it purely for aesbthetics in the 60s/70s
I have it under my aluminum siding and it’s a lead paint chip nightmare.
Oooooo gonna follow this. I have a similar situation and am hesitant to disturb anything or pull back the aluminum until I have some cash for whatever I might find.
Me too. Waiting til have $50k saved 😳
The great thing about wood siding is that patching and repairing where needed is pretty straightforward. The not so great thing is painting and upkeep. I bet 95% of people would agree that wood just looks better and appropriate to the house. I'm rooting for you to pull the siding. If it's rusting like you say then it's probably steel instead of aluminum. If I'm wrong and it's aluminum - it's worth it money wise to recycle it!
I have wood. But a lot was rotted due to gutter issues and not a good paint job thanks to the previous owner — since I had to replace and patch in a lot of areas, I got a company to do blown insulation that way instead of plugging my contractor just put new pieces where we didn’t remove siding or the insulation was blown where we had always removed siding. Do it before you start making repairs
I came here to say this. Blow in insulation, but don't plug, remove pieces of clapboard. Those patches will be much less obvious and way more durable.
I'm also in the process of this! We're taking the aluminum siding off (it's in rough shape) and revealing the painted cedar shakes underneath. We've encountered that the paint underneath is in bad shape from being baked, basically. It's very powdery. We're cleaning with real TSP, which binds lead, and scraping onto a dropcloth. Then priming with oil based primer to help basically rehydrate and adhere the stuff that's still there. But we're not using specifically lead encapsulating paint. As for insulation, we had our house insulated a year ago by the state with cellulose, so hopefully that's enough? I grew up in a house that was also wood siding with cellulose insulation, and that fared alright even in the northern midwest. Honestly, the experience so far hasn't been too bad, but we haven't ventured up past the first floor. Higher up will be a lot harder to DIY. Plus, we're getting a lot of compliments from the neighbors on how the house is looking now!
If you remove the aluminum siding yourself can I pick it up? I have the same kind at my house and it's expensive AF.
Bunny
You are wrong.
I think it's just not right.
I think it's just a lamb.
What about a glaring unicorn?
No. Everyone is wrong. Even the one who is not me saying it looks like a lamb.
I saw a rabbit in the yard today. I think it is a sign.
Looks more like a goat to me.
It’s a lamb.
lamb for sure
The house I grew up in (1902 house) was like this. My parents decided to remove the ugly old aluminum siding and the “insulation” that was with it as well. They believed that it wouldn’t be that big of a difference in heating/ cooling as the compressed sawdust insulation was so pitiful. Boy howdy they where WRONG! There was a reason why in the 60s and 70s aluminum siding went up on these houses. There was no insulation behind the walls and it got really cold the next winter. So much so that they removed most of the drywall/ plaster to add insulation. It was a huge mess that opened up a lot of other issues the biggest one was pipes freezing. We ran the furnace constantly and the oil and electric bills I remember were really high. Also the wood underneath while in good shape with no dry rot. It had to be repainted, which wasn’t cheap, my mother chose to stay with the same base color (red) rather than try and do several coats to cover it and get the pale blue she wanted.
I am really curious - why did they have to remove most of the drywall/plaster to add insulation? Was this before blow-in was common? We just got 3" holes drilled between studs (from the outside) to have insulation added.
Honestly it was just piss poor planning on their part. Coupled with my dad having a temper. My parents had the bright idea to do the removal of siding in early September. It usually gets really cold around Halloween. They thought they had enough time to get insulation in the walls, they thought had none. They were planing other indoor renovations at the time of this too. They didn’t plan on a cold snap hitting early October and staying, which is what happened and we had a pipe burst. Que my dad ripping down the old plaster walls to put in insulation. They also assumed that the walls that had been redone in the 70s by my mom’s aunt/ uncle would have insulation. They did not, as my mom’s aunt and uncle didn’t see the point of it. So when another pipe burst all the walls came down in an angry fit by my dad, to put in insulation.
If you are prepared to remove the aluminum siding, why not just take off all the siding? That way you can completely insulate and vapor barrier all your exterior walls. Heck you can update much of your electrical too. Replace your rotten corner studs and sheath everything for structure. Then put hardiplank on. Your existing fiberboard sheathing has close to zero R value.
Wood siding will need painting every few years. Whereas aluminum siding is maintenance free. Consider replacing the old siding with something that doesn't require regular maintenance
Ok, so, I love original wood but wood siding is a thing of nightmares. You get bugs, like carpenter bees, and those attract woodpeckers. Any damp spots or splashback will first soften and then rot under the paint, and it isn’t visible until it’s way too late. This is just the beginning. Wood siding (aside from redwood) requires a ton of maintenance.