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| Vinyl siding recreates look of boarding house in Sacramento  Last year, Midtown Manor, a boarding house in the Midtown Historic District of Sacramento, Calif., turned 40 years old and was in need of a facelift. "It definitely needed a paint job on the outside, and there were some areas of the old thin wood siding that had dry rot," says Tina White, owner of Midtown Manor. "So, we were looking for a way to fix these problems and preserve the rest of the wood to prevent the need for excessive maintenance in the years to come." White hired Pacific Builders, a 63-year-old family owned and operated exterior building contractor, to spruce up the exterior of her building and asked their advice on new exterior cladding. The cladding would also need to blend with the early 1900s architectural style of the other buildings and homes in the district, as required by the Sacramento Historic Design Review Board. After viewing the building, David McKeehen, Pacific Builder's senior exterior designer suggested a mix of two CertainTeed vinyl siding products — Wolverine Restoration Smooth Triple 3-inch vinyl siding and Cedar Impressions Double 7-inch Straight Edge Polymer Perfection Shingles. Both products are designed to closely emulate the classic look of painted wood siding. "We've been utilizing CertainTeed products for a number of years, but the exterior elements for this project needed to complement the looks of the surrounding structures, and CertainTeed's Restoration Smooth and Cedar Impressions were best suited to accomplish that," says Rick Degen, owner of Pacific Builders. "CertainTeed's vinyl siding products emulate classic wood siding very well, making them an excellent choice for homes and buildings in areas which have historic value." Before work could begin, Pacific Builders had to get the go-ahead from the Sacramento Historic Design Review Board, a challenging, five-month process. "The Sacramento Historic Design Review Board has been against the use of vinyl and was adamant that we couldn't use the CertainTeed vinyl or polymer products," Degen says. "After we and our CertainTeed sales representative obtained a meeting with the Board, they reviewed the two products and were favorably impressed." After gaining approval from the Board and the Midtown Historic Preservation Society, Pacific Builders began work last June, removing the old trim and inspecting the dry rot. Applying a vapor barrier housewrap over the wood as an underlayment, the crew installed 27 squares of CertainTeed Restoration Smooth Triple 3-inch siding in Natural Clay on the first floor and 11 squares of Cedar Impressions Double 7-inch Straight Edge Perfection Shingles in Sandstone Beige on the second floor. The housewrap and siding were supplied by D.L.H. Distributing in Rancho Cordova, Calif. Pacific Builders completed the project in September. The new building has received much positive feedback from White and her neighbors. "Our customer is very pleased with the new overall appearance of her building," Degen says. "The CertainTeed siding has given her building a maintenance-free exterior, while maintaining the historic appearance of the other structures in the neighborhood. The Historic Design Review Board is also pleased to see it turn out well, as this is one of its first forays into approving the use of man-made building materials in historic remodeling projects." "I know that my apartment manager has had neighbors come up and express their appreciation of the design and for the upgrade to the exterior," White says. "The most frequent comment I hear about this siding is they can't believe that it's vinyl." Wolverine Restoration Smooth features a Class 1(A) fire rating and is available in 14 low-gloss colors. Restoration Smooth is designed in the tradition of 17th Century American craftsmanship to replicate smooth, sealed painted wood. The line features the industry's smoothest and lowest gloss finish, is virtually maintenance-free and never requires painting. Cedar Impressions polymer siding is the most natural-looking cedar-style siding available, without the maintenance hassles of wood. Made of durable injection molded polypropylene, each profile is designed with a TrueTexture finish molded from real cedar shingles for an authentic look. The perfection shingles feature a 3/4-inch panel projection while the rough-split shakes offer 1-inch panel projection. The projections of these shingles create desired shadow lines and traditional appeal. Cedar Impressions profiles come in up to 19 low-gloss colors with a wide variety of coordinating trim. In total, Cedar Impressions comes in five profiles. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Construction News :: home page |