Just so you understand where I am coming from: A few years ago, I 'wintered over' in a mobile home in Charlotte. I had sold my first house, and had been looking for a new place when I was laid off ('voted off the island') from my place of employment... So, I rented a trailer. It was a long, cold winter, and I would lay awake at night staring at a plastic ceiling, listening to the vynl siding creak and pop in the wind and frozen air. The sound still sends shudders up and down my spine. So, to put it mildly, I dislike vynl siding. with a passion. I think it epitomizes everything that is wrong with American home design, and is the current generation's attemp to cheapen our landscape and pass the buck on to the future generations.
Anyways, there is this cute little cape just up the road from us. adorable, with dark blue/grey stained cedar shakes. Classic roofline. Classic windows layout. Nothing over the top, just... nice. So, the other day I was driving by and noticed that they were replacing the siding... Embalming it in plastic. the house has gone from 'cute' to 'generica'.... WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE THINKING?? is vynl really that much less expensive? Does is really require that much less maintenance? Did the shakes really need to be replaced?? The house just became one more blight on our landscape of fast food fat factories, 68-oz slurpie service stations, sheetmetal strip malls, and multi-lane roads.
Our saltbox is a vynl-free zone. Locally grown quarter-sawn spruce, pre-primed. With proper care, it should need to be stained about once a decade, and should last 200+ years. No landfill fodder. No toxins (well, less toxins). And a look and feel that can only be described as 'authentic'.
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