Removing vinyl siding installed over wood siding to restore house to original condition?
Question:My wife and I just purchased a 16 year old house late 2006. The previous owner was the only owner and right after he bought the house in 1990 he had vinyl siding installed over the cedar wood siding (with foam insulation in between). My wife and I would like to restore the house back to it's wood siding configuration, however, we are concerned about the condition of the wood siding. If it was new when the vinyl siding was put on, is it safe to assume it will still be in great condition after we take the vinyl siding off? We live in Western Washington, where there is a lot of moisture, so we are worried that some how, some moisture may have been trapped between the vinyl siding and the wood siding, potentially causng rotting problems. I also heard that because moisture from inside the house travels through the walls to outside, it may get trapped in the original wood siding due to the foam and vinyl siding acting as a barrier for its escape. Anyone have experience with this?
Answers:
We had a house in the NorthEast that had vinyl siding over Cedar wood. Don't judge by my experience but it was a real mess when we took the siding off...besides moisture damage there was mold everwhere and a lot of the shingles had to be ripped off. big $$$$$$$...
We were told by one contractor that the wood shingle should have been removed prior to installing vinyl siding.
Be prepared for the worse.hope for the best
There is no way to know until you take the vinyl siding and foam off. Sixteen years is not a long time for cedar siding. If there is anyway to contact the people who put the vinyl on, ask them why they did it, Perhaps they just didnt like painting.
Go to a local hardware store and purchase a zip tool for vinyl siding. You can remove panels at varies spots on your house.cut away the foam board and take a look. To remove the siding fully is not a dificult job and you can do it your self to save a lot of money. the big cost would be a dumpster. Even if you ned to replace a few boards you could do it your self. If all the clap boards are rotted you can to replace this your self since it is not very difficult,, but time consuming. If you do tear off the siding and have to tear off all the clap boards you have options for a fibre cement board siding to replcae the wood which does weather much better.
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