New exterior siding can go a long way in improving the appearance of a house while also reducing long term maintenance costs, says online home improvement resource RenovatorsPlace.com. Owners and sellers of mature homes who want to increase curb appeal in a stalled housing market can also thwart problems like woodpeckers, termites and mildew with new wood, vinyl and aluminum siding products.
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PRWEB) March 2, 2007 -- Online home improvement resource RenovatorsPlace.com provides tips on the merits of different kinds of siding and their costs in the new feature article "Benefits of Siding" (
http://www.renovatorsplace.com/dsp_articles.cfm?l_article_id=326&l_cat_id=41&cat id=41). Exterior home siding is experiencing a renaissance with homeowners and sellers who want to improve their homes' exteriors, add value and sell their homes fast.
"Benefits of Siding" highlights the pros and cons of the three most traditional siding options as well as pricing information:
• Wood: The most luxurious siding, but also one of the most expensive choices
• Vinyl: Cost effective and virtually maintenance-free
• Aluminum: Inexpensive and durable
Additional new siding options include fiber-cement, thin brick and cultured stone. RenovatorsPlace.com also offers advice on working with contractors, painting and maintaining siding (
http://www.renovatorsplace.com/outdoor-improvements/siding-exteriors.cfm).
In a housing market flooded with inventory, it is important for sellers to make their homes stand out in order to compete with so many new homes. "They need to look fresh," says San Diego real estate agent Katrina Dodson, according to the The Wall Street Journal Online. Replacing siding on older homes has long been an option, but siding previously had a spotty history.
The Wall Street Journal Online also quotes Alcoa spokeswoman Lori McCreary as saying, "The (siding) industry has had to overcome a lot of bad impressions" in its attempt to fight the idea of rickety, unattractive siding. Products now draw higher-end customers with sophisticated marketing campaigns and computer-based renditions of what finished projects will look like.
Now may be a good time to renovate and place an older home on the market. David Lereah, the National Association of Realtor's chief economist, projects a steady rise in existing-home sales. "After reaching what appears to be the bottom in the fourth quarter of 2006, we expect existing-home sales to gradually rise all this year and well into 2008," he said.
RenovatorsPlace.com is an online home improvement resource that provides tips, articles and local contractor directories. It features interviews with homeowners and photos of their real remodeling experiences.
