# Forum Home Renovation Cladding  Best type of vinyl cladding?

## bosco2011

Hi guys. Looking at painting v cladding my weatherboard 50's house. At this stage i am looking at the cladding side of things. Can anybody tell me their views on the best type of vinyl cladding on the market at the moment. I have Formplex ExcellBoard and VPI Armour quotes at the moment.
Thanks.

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## Cecile

> Formplex ExcellBoard

  We had a quote for this a few weeks ago which seemed incredibly expensive for our small house, for what is essentially a compressed shaped vinyl board.  I managed to easily break the sample but he kept telling us that it was unbreakable in the long board.  We found the sales rep to be technically unprepared, and we hated his high pressure sales technique.  He bragged about his photos and I recognised a house as being of a style common in our suburb, but he did not have addresses so we could drive past to have a look. He did not allow me to read the contract when I asked, and he failed to point out all of the terms and conditions on the back of the "order", which was un-numbered.  He did not bring the technical information we specifically asked to be supplied at the meeting.  When we finally got it, after being told by one of the office people "we don't have anything like that" it did nothing to support the purported R-value that the sales person raved on about. 
We liked the product but the the salesperson's complete and total ignorance of the product's technical specification, plus the offhand manner of the head office marketing person (who refused to let me speak directly to the technical person the salesman inisted we call for details), made us think twice and we cancelled the order in the cooling off period.  Overall we had no confidence in the product, mainly due to the failures of the so-called marketing managers and their behaviours towards folks who simply want to get the best bang for their buck. 
I figure for their estimated price of $18,000 (and that's without any insulation cost added) we are much better off with colourbond, which came in at a lot less.

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## Bloss

Rather than cladding I'd be taking a serious look at getting a local to remove the weatherboard , insulate well and then use standard weathertex type cladding (of cement sheet or manufactured timber boards) rather than vinyl. Vinyl cladding systems (like the aluminium cladding - or siding as the Yanks call it) are largely a high pressure marketing industry (not unlike too many roof 'restoration' companies) and they tend to target older home owners and often have financing deals too. 
Even get a quote for over-cladding with regular sheeting - newly installed and the  properly painted cladding will lat 10-12 years between re-coats. Or you could go down the colorbond path too - straight over the existing boards although the comfort advantages of getting insulation IMO is well worth the extra.

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## seriph1

Vinyl is problematic, though less so in Australia than the US. Sure, it's hoseable and can't rot or split, but I can't stand all those ugly little trim pieces they insist on sticking on around every window and door etc. Looks incredibly cheap in my opinion .... though when it is actually used to BUILD with, it seems OK if you like the profile and the fact that it comes in only very few colours. 
personally I believe cement is vastly better and as mentioned, you can insulate at the same time  -  we own an 1880 Victorian and we are going to use some kind of cement boards when we replace our buggered weatherboards. The things were are going to be very careful about are joins (no plastic joiners for our heritage home) and we are insulating and pre-painting EVERY surface/edge. Big working bee weekend. As we are also doing several additions, we will ensure stop ends are fitted at the correct points in preparation for the new walls. With a bit of luck, the boards we use will be long enough to avoid a single mid-wall joint but we'll see  :Smilie:

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## seriph1

By the way I believe the cladding reps are still only on commission, appointed based on pretty low-rent criteria and earn around 20% commission on the "actual" price and 50% on 'overs' 
'overs' is anything over the real price they can achieve with a buyer. p155poor in my opinion

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## jatt

Bit of a shame about the antics of PVC cladding companies that have been mentioned, cause was really happy with the performance of my cladded place. 
Had it for 14 years.  Previous owner was my gran, so I knew the cladding was done in 1986.  The trim bits around windows etc.. ok they looked a bit daggy.  Didnt really care cause I never had to paint the stuff, and maintenence was easy. 
Its still on and looks fine.  Recon the current owner will still get many years of life from it.

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## seriph1

I'm sure it'll be fine       https://www.google.com.au/search?q=v...w=1920&bih=994

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## seriph1

The Pros and Cons of Vinyl Siding

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## Uncle Bob

> The Pros and Cons of Vinyl Siding

  Good info.

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