cost of siding...and sprayfoam??

[maxwellsmart007]

We're debating buying my grandmother's old house...it's had insulbrick siding on it since the 60s, I think!

If we do buy it, we'll have to insulate it, and put on new siding...there's only sawdust in the walls, I think...

I imagine that the styrofoam boards on the outside would be the easiest to install, but it doesn't have much R value. Could I build some 2x4 brackets on the outside of the house, and then sprayfoam into that, or does it have to be sprayfoamed on the inside of the house?

Also, any idea what vinyl siding costs per square foot? The two long walls are about 400 square feet each,, and the front and back are about 300 each..

[Stretch]

I don't know about vinyl, but I put Hardi-Panel on my shop. It's completely bombproof and I prefer the look of it over vinyl. I used the 4x8 sheets but it comes in many forms. Down here it costs about $25 for a 4x8 sheet. For the insulation, I would look into spraying fiberglass into your walls. I remember this coming up before and you saying that you had plaster lathe walls. It's my understanding that all you have to do is cut 6" circles at the top of the wall in every stud space, then you blow in fiberglass through the hole until the cavity is filled. You might be able to do the same with the sprayfoam, but I really don't know. The foam sheets on the outside would give you about R-5 if you use the 3/4" stuff. I would seriously think about doing the foam sheets on the outside even if I was able to spray foam or fiberglass into the walls.

[maxwellsmart007]

I looked into that, Stretch, and it just didn't seem feasible...the wall is shiplapped on each side with wood, and drywall over top of that...it's not plaster....I don't even know if it has regular studs, to be honest, as it's a solid piece of wood on each side...

That's why I was thinking about doing it on the outside instead...

[Stretch]

Huh, that's weird. Well, I suppose the next step would be to pull off some of the siding and see what's under it. You may get lucky and find the studs (if their are any) from the outside. If so, just insulate however you choose, and apply siding. It would be r2eally nice to get the insulation into the walls. The problem with adding it into layers outside the wall is adding to the thickness of the wall which will mess with all your windows and whatnot. I'd be more inclined to just frame up some walls on the inside and drywall, but I since you are planning on residing the house, it does make sense to do it on the outside. So, if all other things fail and you have to add insulation on the outside of your walls I'd want to do it as thin as possible. What I would do is strip the old siding. Hopefully there will be sheating there of some sort. Then I would nail 2x4's to the walls with the wide side against the wall. This will give you a 1.5 inch space in which to insulate. For the insulation I'd use two layers of 3/4" foamboard insulation which will fill the cavity and give you R-10 insulation in your walls. If you wanted to add a third layer, you could tack furring strips to the 2x4's to allow for another 3/4" thickness of foam. Then throw on your siding, shooting it into the 2x4's, trim, caulk and paint.

[oakridgeboy]

Andrew: Here in S.Ont. vinyl siding starts at about $15.00 per square ft. for the plain white or almond stuff.The really nice colours tho,are labeled 'premium' colours and can easily be twice or even 2 1/2 times that!!Plus it seems that they nail you good for all the extras needed-starter strips,J-trim,corners,etc.
Hope this gives you some ideas. Mike

Oops! Sorry! Big typo-make that $1.50 per sq.ft.

[maxwellsmart007]

Thanks guys - you both helped me immensely! Oakridgeboy, you really scared me for a second there!

Just curious now - Is Oakridge near Toronto?

[CajunRider]

I recommend Hardie planks. They can be installed any place you can install vinyl. I have vinyl in my house and I will never ever use vinyl again. As a matter of fact, one of these days I will rip out the vinyl and replace it with Hardie planks.

[TDHofstetter]

I'd strongly STRONGLY advise against any sort of impervious foam on the outside of the walls. That'll seal any sort of moisture vapor INSIDE the walls, where it'll rot the framing to nothing. The outside of the walls needs to breathe outside air to dispel any moisture that gets past your interior vapor barrier (and plenty will get past, trust me!).

I've got vinyl - just installed it pretty recently. It's not your run-of-the-mill vinyl, though... it's special-order stuff, a whole lot thicker than the standard variety. Neat siding.

I've worked with cement-board siding before. After you get the RIGHT BLADE to cut it, it's not at all bad to install... and it's very long-lived. You do have to be careful how you nail it so you don't split out an edge. It IS HEAVY, and it's a little fragile as you lift a stick of it up a scaffold; it needs to be stood on edge before you start tipping it up or it can jackknife on you & break in half.

[rrich]

Andrew,
If you are going to remove/replace the existing siding you could have either fiberglass batts or spray foam installed. The foam on the back side of the lath should be OK. (Check with an insulation expert to be sure.)

[maxwellsmart007]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I think i"ll focus on trying to buy the house, first and then if we happen to be successful in buying it, we'll go from there.

Now I have ideas on how to go about fixing it, however...

[lexrex]

I will throw in on the hardie siding too. We had it put on the new house and it's very substantial, essentially bullet proof and it looks very nice. I had a neighbor in the last place we live whose vinyl was cracked by punks throwing eggs at the house. Pricey repair.

[oakridgeboy]

Apr 10, 2010 20:49:13 GMT -6 maxwellsmart007 said:

Thanks guys - you both helped me immensely! Oakridgeboy, you really scared me for a second there!

Just curious now - Is Oakridge near Toronto?

Andrew: Oakridge is part of London-2 hrs. West of Toronto.Sorry about the typo! Mike