Insulated siding? Anyone installed it?

[Slacker]

Looking at siding for my hunting/get away cabin. I'm thinking about using the insulated siding. Its pretty new on the market, but all comments about it seem to be really positive. Has anyone used/installed this stuff?

 

[slowrev]

Looking at siding for my hunting/get away cabin. I'm thinking about using the insulated siding. Its pretty new on the market, but all comments about it seem to be really positive. Has anyone used/installed this stuff?

I have to wonder about it messing up the breathing of the house walls. Perhaps trapping moisture in the walls causing damage ?
Vapor barrier goes on the inside, now if you put another one on the outside.....
Ben

 

[RayH]

Ive never hung the insulated siding but I've made it and shipped it. Certainteed siding to be exact.
I wouldnt waste money on it. You would be better off putting foam board insulation and an air barrier such as Tyvek, under standard vinyl siding. probably about the same price if not cheaper, much better at insulating and probably alot easy to hang. Just something to consider.

 

[Egon]

In Nova Scotia many older homes are resided with insulated vinly siding. Seems to work well here.

Egon

 

[Doc_Bob]

I have to wonder about it messing up the breathing of the house walls. Perhaps trapping moisture in the walls causing damage ?
Vapor barrier goes on the inside, now if you put another one on the outside.....
Ben

Tyvek on the outside only.
Bob

 

[RayH]

Tyvek on the outside only.
Bob

Tyvek is not really a "vapor barrier". It breaths but resists moisture infiltration and mass air movement. So, the proper thing is to have an actual vapor barrier such as plastic sheeting on the inside next to the drywall, then insulation, then Tyvek just under the siding.

 

[slowrev]

I have the same wall breathing concerns with the fold out foam insulation that is commonly put underneath vinyl siding.

 

[Bird]

Our house has a 21' x 25' "shop building" 12 feet from our back door (across a 12' breezeway). The front of it is bricked just like the house and everything is under the same roof. However, the other 3 sides of that shop building are T1-11 siding. So this last month, I had Tyvek placed over the existing siding, then Alcoa Structure vinyl siding installed. I liked the idea of the foam attached to the vinyl and not leaving an air gap behind the vinyl; now of course that's with no technical knowledge at all as to whether one is actually better than the other. The building already had plenty of insulation so I really wasn't concerned about that aspect. The companies I talked to about doing the siding "usually" put 3/4" foam insulation on the walls first, then vinyl siding, for one price. But if you didn't need the additional insulation, for a little less money, they'd use 1/4" foam or the siding with the foam attached to it for the same price. Maybe you can see the blue foam attached the pieces in the picture.

 

[dholly]

Less than a year ago I looked at the Certainteed insulated siding for my new garage/shop project. Price aside, it looked like a great product to me but my wholeseller buddy talked me out of it.

He said bonding rigid foam insulation directly to the vinyl provided greater strength and structural integrity, particularly for the wider 'doubles', which increased durability and lessened the tendency to crack or shatter when hit.

Also, the backing all but eliminated the 'waviness' associated with temp contraction/expansion of standard siding. However, the same expansion/contraction had in some cases caused the backing to separate from the siding after it was installed, and he noted it was harder to replace broken pieces of insulated siding if necessary (can't bend them to finesse in).

Basically, he said don't buy it for the negligable insulation properties, rather, buy it if you want a good looking, straight and durable siding product. IIRC, the insulated siding was even more expensive than HardiPlank. On my garage, the premium price was not worth it to me and, since I already planned fiberglass wall batts, it would have added very little insulation properties and did not make economic sense.

Personally, assuming you actually need insulating properties, I would just hang 1"x4'x8' High-R board and side with regular vinyl. Or, if your cabin is in the woods, perhaps something more rustic like rough sawn mill wood as I did on my old cabin. Came out great don't you think? HTH.

 

[Bird]

bonding rigid foam insulation directly to the vinyl provided greater strength and structural integrity, particularly for the wider 'doubles', which increased durability and lessened the tendency to crack or shatter when hit.

Also, the backing all but eliminated the 'waviness' associated with temp contraction/expansion of standard siding.

Basically, he said don't buy it for the negligable insulation properties, rather, buy it if you want a good looking, straight and durable siding product. HTH.

Maybe I did good, then. Because that's exactly the reason I bought it; durability and not having to ever paint those walls. Of course, it was expensive. Just those 3 walls, and the trim around two windows and one door cost me $2700 (I did have a $2100 bid from another guy, but was a bit leery of him).