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Soffit/Facia/Siding cost

| Posted in General Discussion on May 5, 2003 10:15am

A little background – 1930 house, with rotting cedar shingles over a milled clapboard (double claps per board) that are attached directly to the studs.  Can’t rehab these clapboards as they only go to the first floor ceiling.  Attic walls are unmilled boards and the clapboards are not holding paint (according to my 2002 experiment of painting them).

We are in the process of getting estimates to have our house sided.  My question is, the estimate we have received gave a price of $3957 for vinyl siding 1439 SF.  The soffit/facia cost was $3500.  Is this accurate?  I don’t have any experience with this, but it seems like the soffit/facia uses less material and would be a quick job.  Please correct me if I am wrong. 

Will a house look incomplete or bad if it is sided and the soffit and facia part is not done (i.e., just paint the overhangs).  If they are painted, can the overhangs be sided later on?

The total price for siding (alside), soffit/facia, 136 LF of gutters, 64 LF of downspouts, and capping the windows and doors was just under $10,000 in Maryland.  They are capping the windows and doors to build them up beyond the siding because the siding has to go over the double clapboards. . .otherwise we’d be stripping the house down to the studs. 

Any advice or suggestions?  Does all this sound right? Thank you! Jason

 

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  1. villagehandyman | May 06, 2003 12:25am | #1

    was this the price to cover the sofit/facia with vynil or to replace rotten wood?

    have you looked at the hardy plank siding much better material and will look better than the vynil over time i wouldnt use vynil siding on a 1930s house unless i was just trying to make it look pretty to sell



    Edited 5/5/2003 5:27:44 PM ET by village handyman

    1. JasonGauthie | May 06, 2003 02:01am | #2

      The estimate for the soffit/facia was simply to install vinyl, not replacing anything. 

      I had looked at the Hardie siding.  I do like it, except that I really don't want to worry about scraping/painting anymore.  We live right on the Chesapeake Bay, and according to a Hardie rep, not only would they guarantee the paint (standard) but added that we may need to repaint every 3-4 years.  (I repainted our garage in 2001 and it will need scraping painting again by next year).

      For now, given our finances and time available for big maintenance projects like painting (two toddlers in the house), vinyl seems to make the most sense. 

      Jason

  2. GUNN308 | May 06, 2003 03:53am | #3

    Does that siding price include cladding on windows and doors? If it does how many? If not thats $2.75/sq.ft. for siding at a$1.00- $1.20 for the top of the line siding and $.75-$1.00/sq.ft. labor for old work that leaves a nice gross profit margin even better for mid grade siding. I'm in the northern northeast so I can't say what the going rates are in Maryland but at $10.00/lin.ft. labor & materials for soffett that is 350 ft.labor & overhead vary from state to state. Get three bids and look at previous work and ask for clients names then make your decision.

    1. User avater
      RichBeckman | May 06, 2003 04:22am | #4

      I think the numbers are high enough that you should get a couple of other bids.

      Soffit/fascia/gutter is a pain in the neck to do, so the price can get up there, but that seems high to me. Especially if it is a one story house.

      Not that I have any experience to speak of with this stuff.

      Rich Beckman

      Another day, another tool.

  3. rickchem | May 06, 2003 06:03am | #5

    I subbed a vinyl siding job, just siding and redoing the fascia on the gables ends, and went with 7400 or therabouts, for a 2500 sq ft two story colonial in Maryland burbs.  It was top of the line siding, and included house wrap/ removal of old siding.  Gutters and soffit might bring that up to 10k, so yours seems a bit high, given the size.

    1. JasonGauthie | May 07, 2003 03:02am | #6

      The bid does include cladding 15 windows on the house and our porch is all windows - adding another 22 however these weren't being clad separately.

      I did get another bid today - this one was $11,000 for the same work using Certainteed Monogram siding.  (and I am removing the existing cedar shingle siding).  The same contractor gave a bid of 16K to do the job using Certainteed Cedar Impressions

      Am I choosing a super expensive siding that is making the price so high or are the labor prices that much higher in some areas?  If its the price of the materials, what other siding companies make vinyl siding in darker colors than the usual cream, white, beige, and gray.

      Thanks everyone - Jason

      1. ScottMatson | May 07, 2003 04:37am | #7

        Both of those are some of the better vinyls, therefore more costly. You don't want cheap vinyl, you'll regret it. Buy the good stuff and pay more.

        Personally I don't think your original numbers look too bad if the soffit work is high up at all, and they are using quality material.

      2. GUNN308 | May 07, 2003 07:33am | #8

        Cost of living is high in Maryland therefor labor is going to be higher Montgomery county is one of the richest counties in the nation. I know have a cousin retired from Montgomery co police he needs to work to supplement his retirement. Adding in the windows your prices seem inline for the siding you are being quoted for, siding prices range from $38.00- $130.00 per sq. stay in the upper range, you won't be sorry. FYI Louisiana Pacific has some nice darker colors but darker colors require more pigment and better UV inhibitors to resist fading and the darker the color the more expansion so good installers are a must and they can come at a premium.

        Oats that have been through the horse are cheaper

        than oats that haven't.

        1. JasonGauthie | May 07, 2003 02:00pm | #9

          Thanks for the advice!  Jason

      3. rickchem | May 07, 2003 10:14pm | #10

        Used the certainteed Carolina Beaded on my job, which is their high-end 6.5" beaded.  Your quote seems pretty reasonable to me, given the soffit work (if I remember, soffit would have been an extra thousand or two on the same house).  I had pull-off included, but it was aluminum, so they prob made some money off of that.  As another said, depends on the area of Maryland.  Pull off of wood will be higher.  I found a really wide disparity in prices - as much as 60% difference depending on contractor.  But out of the maybe 5 bids I have did for that vinyl job, 2 were nearly the same amount, the others just outlandish.

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