Why all the Vinyl (home builders, subdivision, maintenance)

[carguy4sp]

My wife and I are looking for a retirement home in the East Tennessee area and while we are excited about the area people and great views we are trying to figure out which plastic making plant owns Tennessee.

We came up a month ago to look at locations and homes and 90% had plastic siding on them. Plastic siding is very flammable and locks in any moisture you may get behind the vinyl. A few of the homes we looked at had rot under the vinyl probably due to excessive moisture.

We are trying now to find a all brick home but it is slim pickings.I understand the cost savings but it looks like to me we should be seeing a mixture of brick, hardy plank, real wood, stone and then last vinyl.

Any new home builders out there using anything other than vinyl ?

Please guide me to areas where vinyl is not king.

Looking for a small town (low congestion) with great views 3-2-2 home within a $225K budget.

[shinestx]

Vinyl was used across the Southeast a lot back in the 1990s, especially in areas where houses sprung up rapidly. It has largely fallen out of popularity because of what you've noted. It also tends to mildew/mold in the moist climate here. You still see it used in areas where there are lots of spec houses, as it's a cost-cutting measure. I'd guess it's still used in rural areas where your looking because it's cheaper and easier to work with (not a lot of bricklayers in places where there aren't many jobs for that). Lots of starter homes and townhouses in certain parts of cities have vinyl, but it's not popular there anymore.

[trobesmom]

Originally Posted by carguy4sp

My wife and I are looking for a retirement home in the East Tennessee area and while we are excited about the area people and great views we are trying to figure out which plastic making plant owns Tennessee.

We came up a month ago to look at locations and homes and 90% had plastic siding on them. Plastic siding is very flammable and locks in any moisture you may get behind the vinyl. A few of the homes we looked at had rot under the vinyl probably due to excessive moisture.

We are trying now to find a all brick home but it is slim pickings.I understand the cost savings but it looks like to me we should be seeing a mixture of brick, hardy plank, real wood, stone and then last vinyl.

Any new home builders out there using anything other than vinyl ?

Please guide me to areas where vinyl is not king.

Looking for a small town (low congestion) with great views 3-2-2 home within a $225K budget.

We're building a house in TN, just over the GA border. Our subdivision doesn't allow vinyl.

[lae60]

Lots of vinyl where I live, and some brick and rock too.

The cement between the rocks cracks over time and its impossible to find someone to fix it.

The brick seems to get structural cracks.

The vinyl is fine, just spray it off a time or two each year. If it was rapped correctly to start with is should not rot under it.

My house is rock on the lower part and wood (cheap wood siding) on the higher levels. I plan on putting vinyl over the wood this year. No more maintenance for the rest of my life, other than washing it off...no painting, not filling holes from wood peckers, no major costs.

I would not use Hardie as it still had the painting maintenance costs.

I do not think that vinyl is flammable, it really does not flame or burn, but melts in high temperatures. And this I know moving from an area of CA that had over 300 homes burn. The homes in the center of the burn were gone, nothing left but rock and cement fireplaces and foundations. It did not matter what they were made from.

The few houses on the edge of the burn with vinyl had melted vinyl over their house, but the contents of the house and the house did not burn...except for some roof and deck areas, which the firefighters were able to control.

Now, the vinyl was horrid to get off the house, think solid melted vinyl coating, but my friends were very happy to have the photos, etc. left intact in the home. And their rebuild did use vinyl again

[Izzie1213]

Vinyl is a quick and inexpensive fix, look for a while. A few neighbors in my area went with the seamless aluminum siding, it looks really good. The siding comes off a huge roll and no seams on 15 years so far and no fading. We have had some hail storms and I haven't seen any obvious damage, maybe up close.

[arctichomesteader]

Older houses will be more likely to have natural wood or other natural materials.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by carguy4sp

We are trying now to find a all brick home but it is slim pickings.I understand the cost savings but it looks like to me we should be seeing a mixture of brick, hardy plank, real wood, stone and then last vinyl.

Let's get real, shall we? Solid brick homes haven't been built with regularity in over 100 years. If you are building a "brick" home, it's being built with brick veneer over steel or - most likely - wood. If you don't think that there can be moisture under there, too, you are wrong.