Aluminum Siding

What's the difference between aluminum siding and vinyl siding?

Cost

Aluminum and vinyl siding are about the same in cost. They are both affordable siding options. At Lowes, the cost for vinyl siding starts at around $4.00 and the cost for aluminum starts at around $3.00.

The cost of aluminum and vinyl siding varies depending on the vendor and the manufacturer. Other factors that also affect these costs are quality, width and style.

As for style, aluminum and vinyl are about even in this category as well. Since these materials are manmade materials, they have a more manufactured look when they are placed on homes.

They do not have the same unique styling as wood clapboard or cedar shingles, which offer a more natural look to a home. To improve the aesthetic appeal of aluminum and vinyl, manufacturers make them in a variety of different colors.

These colors cover a wide range including pastels to bold colors. For example, vinyl siding can come in canary yellow, brick red or midnight blue. Along with color, manufactures also carry aluminum and vinyl siding in different shapes and trims.

Environmentally Friendly

In the case of being environmentally friendly, aluminum siding has the advantage over vinyl siding. Scientists claim that manufacturing and disposing vinyl is hazardous to people's health and the environment.

They go on to say that doctors report a wide range of medical problems, such as neurological damage, birth defects and cancer, in people who work in or live next to factories producing vinyl.

There aren't these problems or apprehensions when it comes to aluminum siding. For these reasons, some homeowners prefer to use aluminum over vinyl siding.

Aluminum siding is ideal for homes in coastal areas (with lots of moisture and salt), since aluminum reacts with air to form aluminum oxide, an extremely hard coating that seals the aluminum surface from further degradation.

In contrast, steel forms rust, which looks ugly and can weaken the structure of the material, and corrosion-resistant coatings for steel, such as zinc, sometimes fail around the edges as years pass. However, an advantage of steel siding can be its dent-resistance, which is excellent for regions with severe storms—especially if the area is prone to hail.

History

The first architectural application of aluminum was the mounting of a small grounding cap on the Washington Monument in 1884. Sheet-iron or steel clapboard siding units had been patented in 1903, and Sears, Roebuck & Company had been offering embossed steel siding in stone and brick patterns in their catalogues for several years by the 1930s.

ALCOA began promoting the use of aluminum in architecture by the 1920s when it produced ornamental spandrel panels for the Cathedral of Learning and the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings in New York. Most architectural applications of aluminum in the 1930s were on a monumental scale, and it would be another six years before it was put to use on residential construction.

The Father of modern day metal siding was Francis ("Frank") Hoess. In the first few years after World War II, manufacturers began developing and widely distributing aluminum siding. Among them Indiana businsessman Frank Hoess was credited with the invention of the configuration seen on modern aluminum siding.

His experiments began in 1937 with steel siding in imitation of wooden clapboards. Other types of sheet metal and steel siding on the market at the time presented problems with warping, creating openings through which water could enter, introducing rust.

Hoess remedied this problem through the use of a locking joint, which was formed by small flap at the top of each panel that joined with a U-shaped flange on the lower edge of the previous panel thus forming a watertight horizontal seam.

After he had received a patent for his siding in 1939, Hoess produced a small housing development of about forty-four houses covered in his clapboard-style steel siding for blue-collar workers in Chicago.

His operations were curtailed when war plants commandeered the industry. In 1946 Hoess allied with Metal Building Products of Detroit, a corporation that promoted and sold Hoess siding.

Their product was used on large housing projects in the northeast and was purportedly the siding of choice for a 1947 Pennsylvania development, the first subdivision to solely use aluminum siding.

Products such as 4", 6", 8" and 10" X 12’ unpainted aluminum panels, starter strips, corner pieces and specialized application clips were assembled in the Indiana shop of the Hoess brothers.

Siding could be applied over conventional wooden clapboards, or it could be nailed to studs via special clips affixed to the top of each panel. Insulation is placed between each stud.

If you have a question or comment about aluminum siding, contact me here.

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