Bad siding job

[Trixie]

Hi there I'm Trixie, and I just had siding done on my 105 year old home. This was a well known group and I was excited to get my house sided because the past two years I had a bug infestation with the dreaded lanternflies. My house was wood and broke apart in many places. The group that put on my siding is telling me that my house is just crooked. The corners aren't done well and everything look a mess they are acting like I'm nuts. They are saying that its supposed to be that way, holes everywhere and nothing is caulked around the widows and they all look like crap. I'm disgusted and in short of not paying them I don't know what I should do. I'm sure there's moisture behind the siding because it rained for days even while they were putting it on. If anyone can
help or give me any idea on what to do I would greatly appreciate it. Oh and they put nails on top of my roof to hold up their scaffolding (they say they will replace the shingles). They came back 5 times so far and I just had the president of the company some out. Ugh

 

[Bob Reynolds]

It's hard to tell exactly what is going on here. I can't tell if this is a good or bad job from your pictures.

You might contact the manufacturer of the siding and let them know that you are concerned about the warranty on the siding and you want to make sure it is installed properly. You can ask them to send a rep out to make sure it is installed to their specifications. (they might or might not).

You can also ask for a copy of the installation instructions for their product. They will give you that. Then you can check those instructions against your installation. For example, did they use the right nails? Are there enough nails? Are the nails driven to the right depth?

There have been many times we have found contractors did not follow the printed installation instructions. That is always something to check.

 

[joecaption]

Those Pump jacks should had the nails driven in up under the shingles, like it looks like they did.
One of the many major issues I see is what's looks like a dryer vent, there should have been one with the built in flanges and trim ring.
All the old wooden trim around the windows should have been built out with 1X's before wrapping.
That outside corner in your 5th picture was done wrong.
Whoever did that trim coil it must have been there first day on the job.

 

[Trixie]

Those Pump jacks should had the nails driven in up under the shingles, like it looks like they did.
One of the many major issues I see is what's looks like a dryer vent, there should have been one with the built in flanges and trim ring.
All the old wooden trim around the windows should have been built out with 1X's before wrapping.
That outside corner in your 5th picture was done wrong.
Whoever did that trim coil it must have been there first day on the job.

thank you i appreciate the honesty

 

[Trixie]

It's hard to tell exactly what is going on here. I can't tell if this is a good or bad job from your pictures.

You might contact the manufacturer of the siding and let them know that you are concerned about the warranty on the siding and you want to make sure it is installed properly. You can ask them to send a rep out to make sure it is installed to their specifications. (they might or might not).

You can also ask for a copy of the installation instructions for their product. They will give you that. Then you can check those instructions against your installation. For example, did they use the right nails? Are there enough nails? Are the nails driven to the right depth?

There have been many times we have found contractors did not follow the printed installation instructions. That is always something to check.

will do! thank you!

 

[bud16415]

Hi @Trixie



First off welcome to the forum.



I also own a 150 year old home that we bought a few years ago that was resided prior to us owning it. Like yours it had a lot of old historic charm for lack of a better term on how to describe all the little twists and turns that make them hard to put modern materials over. Our house I feel was done pretty well but there are a few odd places I look at and wonder how it could have been done better, both in terms of looking better and also sealing better.



I’m not an expert but have done a little siding work and I see stuff in your job I wouldn’t like as well. In my case it was done before we owned it so it was a case of buyer beware. In your case it sounds like you did your research and thought you had a quality outfit doing the work but now you wonder. I also know how hard it is to spell out in detail expectations in advance. One of the reasons so many of us are DIYers here, but in all honesty I wouldn’t tackle a job as big as siding a two story house even when I was much younger.



Someone posted above that some areas should have been built out before being covered. I agree with that as you are adding thickness to the outside with whatever they put under the siding (my house has half inch fan fold foam and house wrap) then the siding and channels. It looks odd to have the window trim sunk in and also makes how it is covered something different to do. I would have asked for some of that in the quoting process. Other areas where the trim on yours steps in and out I would have asked for it to be flush padded out before being covered.



It is some work to do as prep but it is much more work to redo after it is up.



The area you mentioned where old wood gingerbread is left uncovered is just not right IMO. That should have been knocked off or covered over.



I would say at this point it is a lot up to the willingness of the contractor to want to make you happy and get you in the satisfied customer column. Word of mouth is or should be important to them. I would ask for some things fixed and tell them if not you will be forced to bring in third parties to look it over and then take it from there.



Try working with him or get the top person in the company to help explain all your concerns to you.

I wish you the best of luck. We see similar stuff quite a bit. Sometimes the homeowner is being unrealistic I don’t feel this is the case here.