Colorful siding gets green light
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When Lisa Smith told her friends what she was planning,
they responded with bewildered looks. "They didn't say anything," she says,
"and you could tell they were wondering if I were crazy or something."
Lisa and Gary Smith had decided to add pizzazz to the exterior of their
colonial-style home in Kings Park with forest green vinyl siding. The new
clapboard vinyl was going to cover the painted, light-green, cedar-style
shingles and help complete a 760-square-foot addition.
Since the addition and siding job were finished this spring, their friends
have a different take. "They love it," Lisa Smith says. "They tell me how great
it looks."
The deep green siding, trimmed with white soffits and gutters and accented
by black window shutters, blends perfectly with the couple's two large koi
ponds and Japanese garden. "We even get people driving by, stopping and rolling
down their car windows and telling us how good it looks," she says.
Lisa and Gary Smith are among the increasing number of homeowners who are
opening their eyes - and their minds - to bolder exterior color. When they
planned the addition, Gary Smith said he was sure of one thing. He didn't want
the "same yellow or white siding that everyone else has."
He left the color decision up to Lisa. His only suggestion: "I told her to
have fun with it."
A lot of homeowners are having fun these days with exterior color - and
thanks to technology they aren't limited to paint. The latest lines of vinyl
siding have more UV inhibitors and stronger warranties to ensure against
fading. "Today's color siding is better quality," says Greg Barnych, a vice
president at Florence Building Materials in Huntington. "More people, including
contractors, have more confidence in the darker colors. They feel they'll
stand up to the sun and weather."
Which is why vinyl siding now comes in a rainbow of shades. "Exterior
siding isn't just plain old vanilla anymore," says Grant Werner, a sales
associate at Speonk Lumber.
Kevin and Melanie Cowatch wanted a bold color that would make a statement
when they recently decided to re-side their 4,700-square-foot home in Fort
Salonga. "Beige is cool but it runs its course after a while," Kevin says. "My
wife and I like bold colors."
Besides, the old siding - a medium gray - was poorly installed, and it was
time for a change.
They saw a brochure from CertainTeed that featured a house sided in blue.
It looked so much like their own house that the Cowatches were sold on the
shade.
"We have three stories that are visible, and we just wanted something that
would stand out," he says.
Karen Iversen, a sales associate at the Florence showroom in Huntington,
says homeowners can be hesitant when it comes to nontraditional colors of
exterior siding. "Personally, I like more color, so if I feel a homeowner needs
a nudge, I try to lead them," she says. Once homeowners see the options,
they're more open.
That's because not all the newer shades are vibrant blues, greens and reds,
Iversen says. There are earth tones such as suede, clay and khaki, too. "I
really like suede and clay," she says. "They really stand out but also have a
neutral quality."
Choosing color often means spending more money. Large vinyl manufacturers -
CertainTeed with its Monogram line; Louisiana Pacific, which features a Norman
Rockwell- inspired collection; and Georgia Pacific, with a line called
Heritage Hill - stand behind their bolder color offerings. For a price.
Because most darker lines include non-fade warranties of up to 25 years, as
well as thicker panels and more UV inhibitors, they are considered premium-
grade siding and can cost 20 to 25 percent more than so-called "builders grade"
lines of vinyl. Builders grades typically are about .035 inches thick; premium
grades can run .043 to .046 inches thick.
The Smiths paid between $4,000 and $5,000 more for their Norman Rockwell
forest green siding, manufactured by Louisiana Pacific. The Cowatches spent
more than $20,000 on their Pacific Blue Monogram siding, manufactured by
CertainTeed. Prices included installation.
The higher price didn't bother the Cowatches. "We figured you get what you
pay for," Kevin Cowatch says.
Lisa Smith agrees. "I would tell someone to go for the color," she says.
"Especially if it's a color that will stand the test of time. So I don't know
about dark purple or something like that, but I definitely think bolder colors
are great."
For information on vinyl siding and links to manufacturers' Web sites,
visit the Vinyl Siding Institute at www.vinylsiding.org.
E-mail: gary.dymski@ newsday.com.
