You have just spotted the first telltale signs of peeling paint from your house’s wood siding. It won’t be long now until the dreaded house painting becomes a must-do. Unless, 2017-2018 is the year you finally re-skin the house in vinyl siding.
Vinyl siding – actually polyvinyl chloride plastic resin that is heated and extruded into sheets – has only been around for about 50 years and was developed as a cheaper alternative to metal siding back in the 1950s. Its reputation for “cheap” was honestly earned as plasticized siding was susceptible to cracking and sagging. Colors were limited and those colors faded. Even well-cared for vinyl siding looked like… well… vinyl siding.
But in recent years, the two most important components of vinyl siding – the quality of materials and the expertise of installation — have made giant leaps forward.
Today about one-third of new American homes are built with maintenance-free (almost) vinyl installed as cladding.
Vinyl has been rated in various surveys to last anywhere from 60 to 100 years so this will likely be the last investment you make in your house’s siding.
What to Expect in Terms of Costs
So how much will it cost to cast those paint brushes aside and put new vinyl siding on your house?
Vinyl Siding on a Cape Cod style home installed by Siding & Windows Group
The short answer is anywhere from $3.50 to $7.50 per square foot installed, or around $350 to $750 per square (100 square feet) installed, on average. This can translate to a total cost of $7,000 to $15,000 for an average two-story house.
In a remodeling contractor survey done by Hanley Wood, the mid-range vinyl siding installation cost for a typical home (1,250 sq. ft. of siding installed) in the US was between $11,093 and $14,518 according to the Hanley Wood Remodeling Costs report for 2017. The survey reports an average cost-to-value return of about 76% for a new vinyl siding job.
That being said, your total cost for a new vinyl siding job will depend on a couple of factors; primarily the grade of materials (low-end, mid-range, or high-end), the quality of installation, and of course your home’s geographic location, accessibility, level of difficulty, etc. Let’s explore this further:
