A few years ago the housing co-op up on Kings Square went through what my friend Catherine Hennessey calls a “vinylization,” replacing its wood shingles with beige vinyl siding.
I feared that our neighbour, the Hensley Green Co-op, would do the same thing, and so I was pleasantly surprised to hear the rat-rat-tat of nail guns one morning two weeks ago. It’s a sound that’s rung out every morning since.
A tip of the hat to the co-op and its federal funders for this investment in our community.
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As the owner of a house with peeling wood shingles, I shudder at the thought of covering them up with vinyl. That said, I also shudder at the thought of scraping and painting my house every few years (the sides of our house that get sun seem to deteriorate fairly quickly).
So, I ask this question of myself as much as anyone else. What's wrong with vinyl siding? Is it just a matter of style/fashion?
I have vinyl siding associated with newer and cheaper building processes and materials. I have wood associated with older and more expensive, but longer-lasting processes/materials.
Is this just taste? Are we siding hipsters? Or is there something really better about wood?
These are all excellent questions, and ones that I’ve not thought of as deeply as I might.
I do know that I have an affinity for wood shingles and an aversion to vinyl siding, but I don’t know if that’s spiritual, cultural, environmental or something else.
I do not wear vinyl pants.
But, then again, I do not wear wood pants either.