As a homeowner, there are dozens of little chores you must do on a regular basis to keep your house in tip-top condition. There are also major tasks that have to be done occasionally to ensure that your home not only looks good, but keeps your family safe and secure. One job that falls into the latter category is siding replacement.
Although today’s vinyl siding is generally rated to last for at least two decades, it still has to be taken off and new siding put on at some point. If you’ve been thinking about installing your own vinyl siding, there are a number of reasons you should reconsider. As you read on, you’ll learn exactly why you ought to let the pros handle siding installation every time.
You don’t know what’s underneath.
Even if your current siding still looks fairly good on the outside, there’s no way to know precisely what is going on underneath the surface. If you attempt to install your new siding on your own, you might be met with some unanticipated surprises. You may, for instance, encounter obvious rot, mold, or water damage. Or, worse still, you might miss a major problem simply because you don’t know what you should be looking for.
Professional, reputable siding installers know how to inspect homes for a wide range of issues that can lurk just beneath the surface of vinyl siding. Choosing an expert to oversee your upcoming siding project will give you peace of mind that nothing is going to go awry immediately after the fact. As a layperson, there’s no guarantee that you wouldn’t find yourself dealing with issues almost as soon as the last siding board was nailed on because of a warning sign you inadvertently missed.
You may not have the tools
There are specific tools that need to be used to correctly install vinyl siding. The odds that you just happen to have all of them laying around your house are slim to none; you will need a break machine, a square, a chalk line, a level, a tape measure, a power saw, a drill, a box knife, a hand saw, tin snips, a nail hole slot punch, a snap lock punch, the right fasteners, specialty siding staples, safety goggles, and comfortable work gloves.
A break alone can cost hundreds of dollars and the cost of small parts, such as fasteners and nails, quickly adds up. Instead of wasting your hard-earned money on items you will probably use just once, let local experts handle your job. You will save a tremendous amount of hassle in the long run.
You don’t know what contractors know
Even though the vinyl siding installation process may look simple, there are a lot of tricks of the trade that allow contractors to do their jobs efficiently. The only way to learn the things they already know is years of experience. Consider, for instance, that vinyl siding is available in several thickness options, all of which must be installed slightly differently depending on the type of insulation a home already has. You would be unlikely to know how to determine precisely what steps to take to make sure your siding was hung properly. A professional contractor, however, should have no trouble.
If you’re convinced that working with an expert crew is the only way to have your new vinyl siding installed, we hope you will contact the Hatch Homes office at your earliest convenience. Our team regularly performs siding installations throughout the Carolinas and we can’t wait to add your family to our list of satisfied clients in both of these beautiful states!