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Can vinyl siding be painted? Is vinyl siding waterproof? What are the advantages of vinyl siding over other types of siding products? What are some common misperceptions about vinyl? Why does some siding have a gray back? Can siding panels made for horizontal installation be applied vertically? Can vinyl siding withstand hot and cold weather extremes? My siding is not firmly attached to the wall, why? What is PVC? Can vinyl siding be painted? Vinyl siding was designed to do away with painting and costly maintenance. However there are those rare occasions where painting is the only viable option available, especially when matching the existing color to an older panel. The key to getting good results when painting vinyl is all in the prep work. Rough all surfaces and making sure they are clean and free of dirt, dust or moisture. This will insure that the paint will coat evenly, provide good adhesion and will bond with the panel surface. Superior Replacement Windows recommends that you use a high-quality exterior paint and apply with professional-grade painting tools. We also suggest that you check with your local painting store, hardware store or homecenter for professional advice on which type of paint – oil, latex or acrylic is best suited for coating a prepared vinyl surface in your particular climate. Back to Top Is vinyl siding waterproof? Despite common misconceptions, vinyl siding is not waterproof. Thanks to its overlapping profile, a standard interlocking wall of horizontal vinyl panels will effectively shed most rain and water away, providing superior water resistance. However, no vinyl siding is completely impervious to outside moisture from dampness rain or snow. For that reason, siding panels are manufactured with "weep holes" located at the bottom of each panel projection edge. These small but important outlets help channel away water that might find its way inside the siding wall through the panel seams and around moldings, windows, door and fixtures. Weep holes also allow the infiltration of air, which also helps to dry out the inner surface of the siding while promoting evaporation of any remaining moisture. The application of house wrap and or insulation board also provides for a secondary defense against outside moisture that might penetrate the siding and come in contact with the original sheathing. Back to Top What are the advantages of vinyl siding over other types of siding products? Among all the siding products available to homeowners, none compares with vinyl siding for its lightweight yet durable, maintenance-free features. Vinyl won't rot, chip, flake or blister the way wood siding can and often does. And thanks to new manufacturing innovations and technological advancements, vinyl grains and colors are truer, richer and more authentic than ever before. When it comes to installation, vinyl is still the overwhelming choice of today's builders and remodelers thanks to its ease of handling, availability, durability and lasting good looks. To homeowners, vinyl is the sensible, good-looking alternative to the expense, labor and aggravation associated with whole house painting and yearly exterior maintenance. Vinyl adds to the resale value of most any home, and no exterior cladding offers such a wide array of grains, finishes, embossing patterns or color combinations. Back to Top What are some common misperceptions about vinyl? Can vinyl be recycled? Yes. The industry has been recycling vinyl for years and now, post-consumer vinyl recycling is growing with about 5 million pounds of post-consumer vinyl (primarily bottles) currently being recycled. An estimated 1,100 municipal recycling programs that include vinyl are in place or planned in the United States. Is there a market for recycled vinyl? Yes. In 1989, the University of Toledo identified nearly 100 uses for recycled vinyl. The potential demand for recycled vinyl is estimated to be about twice the supply. Can PVC give me cancer? No. PVC is biologically inert and is not metabolized when ingested, implanted or inhaled as dust. It is not carcinogenic. Does PVC require a large amount of energy or waste any of our limited raw materials when manufactured? No. PVC requires less energy and limited natural resources to be manufactured. In addition, PVC products generally have longer service lives than similar products made from traditional materials and use less energy throughout their lives. The replacement of traditional materials and other plastics by PVC is environmentally beneficial, because it significantly reduces the use of limited raw materials like petroleum, trees and metals. PVC uses chlorine, a virtually inexhaustible resource that can be produced with desirably low environmental impact. Does PVC from landfills leach toxic chemicals into the soil and groundwater? No. PVC is not toxic. It is insoluble in water so the additives cannot be extracted at high enough rates and in sufficient quantities to be hazardous. In fact, flexible PVC membranes and rigid PVC pipes are used to line, cap and drain the latest types of regulated landfills because of their proven safety, impermeability and long life. When incinerated, does PVC produce acid rain? No. All municipal solid waste (MSW) produces corrosive hydrogen chloride when burned, whether PVC is present or not. Current MSW incinerators are designed for the highly corrosive conditions of combustion, including the presence of hydrogen chloride among the many other acid gases produced by burning MSW. The incineration of MSW containing PVC does not cause unique problems of dioxin formation, since MSW contains no PVC, but still produces comparable levels of dioxins when it burns. Does PVC contribute to global warming and the destruction of the ozone layer? No. PVC is one of the most environmentally efficient materials. It minimizes energy consumption and therefore minimizes the production of carbon dioxide. Making products out of PVC requires a lot less energy than making the same products out of steel, aluminum, copper and glass. Less energy production means less carbon dioxide produced from burning fossil fuels. Back to Top Why does some siding have a gray back? Most of today's vinyl siding is manufactured using a "co-extrusion" manufacturing process. Two layers (the backing or "substrate" and the front surface or "capstock") are co-extruded to form a single panel. The capstock, or the surface layer where all the important weather-resistant chemicals are located, is considered the business end of a siding panel. That is where the manufacturer concentrates the all-important micro-ingredients that ultimately determine the panel's quality, color retention and durability. For this reason some manufacturers will cut costs by fusing their capstock layer with a cheaper, gray-colored backing or substrate material. Conversely, high-end manufacturers prefer to use a matched substrate that not only provides a better quality backing, but also gives panels an "all-the-way-through" color consistency from capstock through substrate. Back to Top Can siding panels made for horizontal installation be applied vertically? Unfortunately no. Siding panels specifically manufactured for horizontal installation cannot be hung in any other manner other than horizontally. Panels intended for horizontal application are designed so that the nailing hem, locking mechanism, profile functionality and water shedding features will provide optimum performance when installed properly. Installing panels in a way for which they were not designed will negate their effectiveness and performance. Doing so will serve to void any and all warranty protection offered with the purchase. Back to Top Can vinyl siding withstand hot and cold weather extremes? Excellent 'weatherability' is just one of the many reasons vinyl siding is the choice of professional builders, architects and homeowners alike. Vinyl siding is manufactured to withstand virtually any and all kinds of harsh weather or seasonal extremes. And unlike other weather-sensitive options that can slowly deteriorate and wear from year after year of seasonal changes and temperature fluctuations, vinyl siding reacts and adjusts to thermal extremes by expanding and contracting as the temperature rises or falls. Whether your home is subject to a moderate climate, an unusually wet environment, frigid winds or hot, humid conditions, properly hung vinyl siding will continue to maintain its good looks and handsome design no matter what the weather. Back to Top My siding is not firmly attached to the wall, why? Vinyl siding is never "attached to the wall," rather it is "hung on the wall." The difference is what separates a professional installation from a problematic one. One of the inherent properties vinyl siding is its thermal expansion properties. Vinyl expands as temperatures rise and contracts as temperatures fall. If you measure the expansion from one extreme to the other, you'll find that a typical siding panel expands/contracts at a rate of approximately 3/4 inch for every 12-foot vinyl panel. For that reason, expert installers will always hang siding in such a manner that allows for just the right amount of "looseness" or "play" to accommodate movement of the siding during thermal expansion. It is crucial that vinyl siding be cut, lapped and attached with fasteners at just the right depth and with the proper spacing and layout to insure the installation will look its best regardless of the outside temperature. Back to Top What is PVC? PVC stands for Poly Vinyl Chloride and it is a thermoplastic. How is PVC made? PVC is made of two primary ingredients: salt and petroleum. Salt and water are subjected to electrolysis which produces chlorine. The petroleum is creaked in a refining process which yields ethylene. The two components are then combined to form Vinyl Monomer. The product is subjected to a catalytic process called polymerization, which results in the PVC Resin. The resin is not useful without additives, but it is the basic building block for the vinyl thermoplastic family. How is resin made useful? Resin is made useful by compounding or mixing the resin with other products to produce usable mixtures. The other products can include UV stabilizers, lubricants (both external and internal), titanium dioxide for weatherability, plasticizers and colorants. What other types of products use PVC? PVC is graded according to its purpose. There are two types of PVC: general purpose and film grade. General purpose is used for pipes and siding. Film grade is used in films, medical products and profiles where clarity, dimensional stability and weatherability are critical. Back to Top |
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