Wood siding - restore not replace?

I would like to have the vinyl siding and asphalt shingles removed from my house. I know there is wood siding somewhere underneath and I’d like to know what shape it is in to see if it can be restored.

I have looked into the hardie board complete removal, insulate, replace option and I’m not totally sold on it.

I’d like to know if anyone has had a good experience with doing this. I’d also like to know what the insulation options are if you find the wood is good enough to keep. This is a balloon-framed 1905 row house with 3 sides exposed.

Also, if anyone knows of contractors who specialize in this sort of thing. I realize it is a difficult job to price because you never know what you will find. I imagine the tear-off is the easy part. The rest is probably more artistry and then a lot of painting prep. The good news is that all the decorative sills on the front of the house were not destroyed by the vinyl siding installation. The other two sides are asphalt shingle. I don’t even know if there would have been similar decoration on the back of the house.

There was a thread on this from a few years ago, but it is closed now and I can’t figure out how to directly contact the posters.

Namely, @eagleman22

Guest User | 7 years and 2 months ago

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ohboyoldhouse | 7 years and 2 months ago

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totally different materials but we did a spot tests to see if the cover up facade was hiding something awful. Ours was brick and turned out that there was amazing beautiful brick under there. Not suprisingly there were a few areas that needed repointing and replacement. The guys i worked with found old bricks that matched the facade. turned out awesome after all the worry. Went from a semi ghetto looking house to pretty fancy, actually im a little embarrassed lol.

Guest User | 7 years and 2 months ago

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The test came back negative on the shingle, so no asbestos (but they did have to run a second test because it was not a friable sample and it ended up costing $100 all told). I found a contractor who works on wooden houses in Ditmas Park (the beautiful ones) and he thinks it is perfectly fine to restore the wood. If we need to replace a lot of boards it might cost more. But I’m excited to keep the wood. I know we have additional detail that is hidden on the front that we will be able to restore.

As for the insulation, we got a LOT out of simply insulating our attic space and our basement around the foundation (where the house meets the ground, essentially); that’s where the drafts come from. We are planning to replace our crappy windows and will insulate around them, too (another source of drafts). Usually it is drafts that are the real culprit for feeling cold and not actual “cold”.

This is a good blog post to read if you are looking for another point of view:
http://www.oldhouseguy.com/hardi-board/

jodie1028 | 7 years and 2 months ago

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We are also looking into this. Although our wood might be able to be restored, we have decided to go with Hardie for the insulation. The parlor especially is simply too cold in the winter, and you can feel the wind coming in through the front of the house. Our neighbors on Java Street just redid their exterior and it looks great and it went up super quick. They used Premier Building and Renovation. I cannot speak to the price or how they were to deal with.

Guest User | 7 years and 2 months ago

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> @dougb
> Even if it were to test positive, it’d be up to you how to handle/manage the removal process.
Not sure what you mean by this dougb… the city is VERY clear about how you need to handle/manage the removal and disposal of any asbestos-containing materials.

brokelin | 7 years and 2 months ago

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Check out woodenhouseproject.com. It is likely that some of the restoration people mentioned on there have done something similar and could have useful information for you.

Guest User | 7 years and 2 months ago

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Wow, and I have to say, I’m learning so much about wood siding. It turns out my house is has “Dutch Lap” or “German” or “Drop Lap” siding – probably other names for it as well. And it is not beveled or overlapped at all, but fits together flatter. Here’s some stuff to look at: http://www.buffalo-lumber.com/siding-patterns/ Again, this is in case someone like me comes along in the future and is faced with a steep learning curve after deciding to tear off the layers of vinyl and asphalt on their house.

Guest User | 7 years and 2 months ago

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For the future, in case anyone is looking, I found these nice people. Woman-owned business. She answers the phone and responds to emails, too. $60 to process a sample with a 24 hour turnaround. http://www.atlasenvironmentallab.com/

dougb | 7 years and 2 months ago

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I don’t recall who I once used – but it was a test company I found online. Just break off a small piece, put it in a ziplock bag, label the bag, and mail off for testing. Even if it were to test positive, it’d be up to you how to handle/manage the removal process.

catboot | 7 years and 2 months ago

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We used this place for asbestos testing – http://kamconsultants.com/index.html
at the time I think the cost was $100/sample, if memory serves me. Pretty straight forward. Good luck with your restoration project.

CarmenR | 7 years and 2 months ago

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We did get it tested because we were removing our rear facade to build out extension. Some of the same shingles were on the front and the rear facade (more layers on the back than the front, surprisingly.) The large apartment building next door has apparently been planning to replace their facade for like 15 years but has been putting it off because their shingles are also asbestos (and they are exposed on all 4 sides, less a small attached part to our house and the neighboring, so it would cost a fortune.)

Guest User | 7 years and 2 months ago

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That’s not my email; was trying to tag the person who originally posted on this topic. There doesn’t seem to be a way to PM people.

Thanks for the information. I think I’m going to get the questionable stuff tested by an actual lab and then decide what to do.

resident2 | 7 years and 2 months ago

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The chances of asbestos are 50/50 but have them tested twice if you have them tested; there are several companies from my experience that say it is when it is not and you have to wonder if it has been tested at all. But that said the cost of removing & disposing of asphalt/asbestos in the whole scheme of things is not a major issue. The costs of dealing with asbestos are very competitive.
The condition of the wood; from your attached pictures looks quite good, but with all the nail holes & screw holes from all the additions, it will probably not hold up to exposure and is more likely to have lead paint issues than the asphalt has asbestos issues.
I have renovated 3 brick filled frame houses over the years with Hardie Siding and another Canadian company’s product that does Fiber cement siding. It is a very good product and insulation from the outside is the way to go with ridged insulation panels on the outside, under the waterproof sheathing and finished siding.
I have found the Hardie recommended or approved contractors to be not only a rip off but also not very enligh tened builders.
You need a good structural carpenter; hopefully someone that works on the exterior of wood frame houses on a regular basis. They will probably not be local; but will commute in from Westchester, Staten Island, Nassau etc where they have more frame house.
So may not be licensed in NYC… Is that your e-mail at the end of your initial inquiry? I will drop you an email later if you like, so that we can talk.

Guest User | 7 years and 2 months ago

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@CarmenR – how did you know they were asbestos? Did someone test them?
Here’s pics, in case it helps. [IMG_4243](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:8w3a:img_4243.jpg.jpg) [IMG_4234](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:IIBg:img_4234.jpg.jpg) [IMG_4237](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:oGOE:img_4237.jpg.jpg) [IMG_4236](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:vZAq:img_4236.jpg.jpg)

CarmenR | 7 years and 2 months ago

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It is extremely likely that your cement shingles have asbestos. We had like 4x different styles of asbestos shingles on our house and 3 of them had asbestos. Ours were also “bendy” (some crumbling).

FWIW, we redid our house with hardie and it looks almost exactly like wood from a distance. We matched our 1940s tax photo almost 100%, but basically rebuilt the entire facade with new materials because everything was rotten. I think it looks nice, and we were able to actually insulate the house instead of relying on the old brick infill as insulation.

Guest User | 7 years and 2 months ago

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One more thing…pretty sure no asbestos…they are bendy shingles nailed onto tar paper. Not rigid. Still, is there a lab I can just mail one to for testing?

dougb | 7 years and 2 months ago

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I think the lap plank done with cement board looks good, and at my parents house in WI the factory applied color they chose has held up perfectly. I think cement board can be installed over a max of 1″ of EPS foam insulation (check to see the max) so that’d be a way to insulate from outside. I don’t have a contractor rec, but think that the sidewall and back wall should be pretty straightforward and might just be a siding and insulating job. For the front of the house you’d want to bring back any special details. Maybe some previous brownstoner articles tell who did restoration on the front of wood frame houses?

Guest User | 7 years and 2 months ago

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Thanks. I already have the tax photo and most details are not covered over, lap plank is clearly visible along the entire side of the house as well.

Asphalt shingles are on all three sides, with vinyl on the front only (over the asphalt). I was not aware that these ever contain asbestos, but I will investigate. Our inspector from the purchase 20 years ago just told us that they were old and should be replaced “soon” – haha – but he did not give us any asbestos scare at the time.

Any recommendations for someone who is willing to help in this project? I hesitate to contact a siding person because they will try to sell me siding. But it is more than a paint job and more than just a demo as well. A lot of the general contractors seem to do interior renovations primarily.

RobertGMarvin

in Exteriors 7 years and 2 months ago

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The vinyl [and asphalt] siding might have been installed because the wood siding was badly deteriorated and unrepairable . OTOH, IF you’re lucky, the homeowner might have been the victim of a good salesman who convinced him/her that it was necessary to make it look “nice” and “enhance” the house’s value. You won’t know until it’s removed. Good luck!

dougb | 7 years and 2 months ago

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You could start by having the asphalt siding tested for asbestos, as that might be a complicating factor in the removal. I’d think going with cement board siding for the sides and rear would be a good option for durability, as you wouldn’t need to repaint and it is fireproof. For the front you could start by getting a copy of the 1940s tax photograph of the house if you need an idea of what the original siding design was.