vinyl siding vs metal

[Old Gas Nut]

I'm hoping to start building a garage come spring time and I'm trying to get some rough ideas in my head of cost and what i can plan for. One of the things is finishing the outside. That'll porbably be one of the few things I'll have contracted out instead of doing myself. My question is, is which one is cheaper, vinyl siding or metal (like on a pole barn). I had been thinking all along that the vinyl would be cheaper, but after thinking about it, I could see the labor being more with vinyl due to it would probably take longer to put up. Or am I wrong on that? Is there a decent gap price wise between the two, or is it a small amount. Oh, and if it makes a difference, I'm shooting for a 30 x 45 size garage. I would prefer metal, but I'm trying to do this as cheap as possible, but still have a nice garage. I'm sure prices vary with location and time of year and so on, but I wonder if anybody else has been done this road before and could shed some light on this for me. Thanks in advance for the advice. Kyle

 

[rsanter]

you can put the vynal siding up yourself to save money
its easy

bob

 

[hilld]

With metal you don't have to do sheathing, so the cost might be the same as doing a vinyl install, which will require some sort of sheathing, be it plywood or OSB.

 

[jhelrey]

Hardi.... You will hate steel or vinyl.

 

[stevejh82]

Here in wonderful southern ohio, the price for a foot of steel siding is right at 2.00. So if the the piece of steel is 3 ft. wide, that makes it 3 sq. ft. So for steel you are right at .66 cents per square foot. Vinyl siding runs about 60 dollars per square. That puts it in at about .60 cents per square foot. With vinyl that doesn't include starter strip, j-channel, f-stop, corners, etc.

The main difference in whether or not people go with one or the other has mainly to do with the type of framing. If you go with post frame construction you generally use steel, because you would use girts between the poles, which make perfect nailers for your metal. If you use conventional framing, vinyl is the more popular choice because you end up using wall sheathing over the studs to give the building lateral stability, thus giving you a perfect surface for nailing down siding.

 

[Kevin54]

All has it pros and cons. One thing that determines whether steel or vinyl would be the style of the house and garage. Some pole type looking buildings look out of place in a surrounding that has high end homes. Vinyl does not look right if everything else is brick. If you currently have a vinyl house, then vinyl would probably be the way to go. If you are in a more of a rural setting then steel may be the way to go. Vinyl will fade in a years time. If you have to patch a piece of vinyl you might as well plan on doing a complete wall to keep it looking right. It's like carpet. Different runs can get you a slightly different shade. Also hail will knock holes in vinyl if large enough. But it is easy to DIY. If you have to change out a window or door, it is simple to pop off vinyl and add what you need to. With metal it would be a little tougher but still a relatively easy to do job. So basically I guess I didn't answer anything

 

[Old Gas Nut]

Hhhmmmm......Some good comments. Well to answer a couple questions, I don't live in a rural area, but I don't live in a high end neogborhood either. Most of these houses in this subdivision are on a 1/4 acre lot and mine just happens to sit on a full acre. It's also a older neighborhood and some houses are siding, and some brick. Ours is brick. I do plan on stick framing it (not pole barn style). I guess I just like the look of the metal better than vinyl, plus I'm thinking it would hold up better. If I did do metal I want to fancy it up a bit with overhangs on the roof and do some nice trim work around the doors and so forth. So I'm not going for a bare bones minumum pole barn look, it will look nice. Stevejh82, Your prices are probably comparable with that here in Northern Ky, so if that's the case I would lean that way. Anbody else have any comments I would love to hear them.

 

[Kevin54]

Hhhmmmm......Some good comments. Well to answer a couple questions, I don't live in a rural area, but I don't live in a high end neogborhood either. Most of these houses in this subdivision are on a 1/4 acre lot and mine just happens to sit on a full acre. It's also a older neighborhood and some houses are siding, and some brick. Ours is brick. I do plan on stick framing it (not pole barn style). I guess I just like the look of the metal better than vinyl, plus I'm thinking it would hold up better. If I did do metal I want to fancy it up a bit with overhangs on the roof and do some nice trim work around the doors and so forth. So I'm not going for a bare bones minumum pole barn look, it will look nice. Stevejh82, Your prices are probably comparable with that here in Northern Ky, so if that's the case I would lean that way. Anbody else have any comments I would love to hear them.

Then by all means I would go with the metal. Maybe think about a matching brick on the lower third on the front of your building that matches your house to tie thing together.

 

[6768rogues]

I have wood sided, metal sided and vinyl sided buildings. The one behind my house is vinyl to match the house, the others are on my farm about an hour away. They all work well, but I wanted the one on my residential property to match the decor of the house.

 

[Northstar9126]

If you go with the metal you should think about doing the bottom 3 feet or so in a contrasting color. It looks better and when you dent it you can easily replace the damaged piece.

 

[JMURiz]

Hardi.... You will hate steel or vinyl.

I agree, I LOVE my hardi siding (cement fiberboard)

 

[Old Gas Nut]

I agree with the two tone idea. I had already been thinking that. If I can afford it and it works out, here's what I would like mine to look like...http://blitzbuilders.com/ I think the garage on their home page is very nice looking. I love the colors too. So how does Hardi board compare in price? Why would I hate metal?

 

[stevejh82]

Hardiplank is roughly twice the cost of vinyl. I have never installed it before, but I do love the look of it. I wanted to put it on my attached garage, then slowly convert my house over to it, but the price stopped me in my tracks.

If you are going to install the metal yourself, get one of these, you'll never look back!

 

[green.bubbly]

While Hardi is a nice long lasting material, it is fairly easy to break. I have had two houses and a shed with the stuff and I was not impressed. Baseballs hitting it, the wife running the lawnmower into it did do some damage.

I also found that paint fades rapidly on this product although that may have been the paints I used. Also not being tongue-n-groove, I developed visible cracks between the sheets even though it was caulked before painting. It is nasty to cut (although metal can be as well) and very is pretty heavy.

 

[slip knot]

Hardi is a bit of a PITA to work with but if its installed right its nearly bullit proof. I've had a hurricane drag my patio roof along the back wall of the house with only minor cosmetic damage. The secret is to put 1/2in plywood under it. It adds greatly to the cost of hardi but thats how I was advised to install it and it worked.

My shop is a metal building that has wall color that match my house and the roof pitch matches the houses roof pitch. At a glance you dont really notice its a metal building.

 

[TONE]

I also vote for Hardi. Ive been very happy with mine. I was not a fan of the vinyl siding on my last home. Two totally different products really.

 

[70Chevy]

I am trying to decide if I want to paint my clapboard covered garage again, or go with vinyl and be done with it. Our cottage is vinyl sided and other than a power washing once a year, it is maintenance free. We have white siding so there are no color fading issues. I'd like to go with a tan color for the home garage.

 

[dolfans]

My garage is wood and block. I have to replace the wood on the back wall. I am wanting to use metal and i will get it at the local scrap yard. I checked on it it about a yr ago and i was like 15 cents a pound.

 

[Hank McMauser]

Living in the west we get some pretty heavy direct sunlight which makes vinyl get brittle after a few years. In our area the hardboard sisings and the cement board sidings are most popular.
I work in a lumberyard,& The only time I seem to sell any vinyl is when a hailstorm comes through, or someone's BBQ grill flares up.

 

[kinigitt]

As far as steel siding goes, is there any one method to install it that works best? What gauge?

I'm planning out my shop, and metal seems appealing. My house is reddish vinyl, but I have a feeling I'll have to redo the siding in a few years, judging by a few of my neighbors' houses (very bad fading from the sun)

I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, but for the shop, I want to do the siding ONCE.

 

[matt_i]

There are also various price points in vinyl. Theres a bare bones economy grade up to cedar-shake-style finishes. Not saying its better or worse than other siding choices but the old adage usually holds, you get what you pay for. In my case it was done to match the back of the garage, to which my shop is attached.