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tammie_slaughter52

Aluminum wrapping

5 years ago

We are in the process of having our house resided with T-11 vinyl and aluminum wrapping around windows. We are concerned about the wrapping already buckling. We have talked to the contractor who assured us this is normal. To me, it does not look right and takes away from the exterior appeal. (see pictures) Hoping to get some opinions from others on this forum and contractor talking points.




Comments (2)

  • PRO
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    It can be normal but that it is beyond normal. Typically you will see it more when the summer heat hits it. It looks like they made there bends to wide and bowed it to fit then smacked it up where it didn’t. I like to put a decorative bend to give the coil more strength. Such as shown. The only place I don’t is on fascia behind gutters. If this was just done it will prob get worse as the temps change.


    Few examples of common bends I use.

    If everything needed to be flat they could have used a heavier gauge coil, but I don’t think it would if helped in this case. To many nails in the face of the aluminum also.

    Tammie Slaughter thanked toddinmn
  • PRO
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    +1 to Todd's comments. "Oil canning" can occur on aluminum trim, and the likelihood is increased both by wider/taller trim as well as darker colors. Unfortunately you have both working against you here. When you fasten metal to wood trim, that wood is not perfectly straight (even though the metal is), and they move at different rates as well. That being said, there are ways to minimize this effect, and it doesn't look like they've done a great job of that.

    The face nails should be avoided if possible, and they also seem to be over-nailed causing the dimpling. When used by necessity, pre-drilling the holes is advisable. Some sort of added bends for rigidity are also advisable as Todd shows above. Is the current work below the minimum standard where the contractor must replace it? Hard to say without seeing in person and looking at some other details, but it is certainly not the best that could be done. It may be a situation where the contractor that you chose could dictate that. If this is a highly regarded company and you paid a premium price, I'd push the issue with management. On the other hand if this was one of those "too good to be true" low bid type of deals, this is kind of to be expected.

    If this were my home, I'd probably opt for something like Azek (cpvc) or other composite trim boards in lieu of aluminum. Much more costly, but its a higher end look that will still look nice and straight for years to come.

    Tammie Slaughter thanked HomeSealed Exteriors, LLC