I can post photos of our 1910 restoration of original clapboard. We were very fortunate that the vinyl that was installed over the wood was done many decades ago. The reason being that its not on in such a way that the underlying woid is destroyed. our clapboard was in great shape most places. it was easily replaced where necessary but that was mostly where we added the new kitchen window and the screen porch at the back.

The windows needed the ” ears” at the sill added back on , bondo is your friend to hold the templated shape to the original wood. Our carpenter also could see where the original drip rail etc had been and copied it . Our beautiful crown was perfectly intact under ugly vinyl!

When the vinyl was removed house was pressure washed, sanded with palm sanders primed and painted. Everyone stops in awe . It turned out so beautifully. I hope you attempt restoration before anything else.

in progress

after siding removed

Porch before

All done. porch completely rebuilt with restored pillars

Thank you for sharing. Your house does look beautiful.

Please do not put vinyl on your beautiful home. Replace pieces that need replacing, and sand, prime and paint the rest. You are lucky to have a home with all that original siding.

I was also wondering what did you do in terms of insulation?

Our siding is vinyl. We just bought the place. I am not sure what is the shape of the clapboard underneath the layer of the vinyl which was installed in 2003. I M currently exploring my options.

Our vinyl siding was decades old at least 30 or more. The wood was protected all that time and wasnt in bad shape to begin with. try and get pictures of house pre- siding install or talk to neighbors . Remove some vinyl and just look at whats there.

We had holes drilled into the wood by the insulation guys and blown in cellulose . its worked great and they fill the holes after. took 2 days and very very inexpensive approx $1200 for this huge house! could tell difference immediately. we are in Shenandoah valley VA so horrible hot summers now every year and cold winters

Talk to contractors. They'll give you a free quote. They often know the history of a neighborhood. We've been told when the window tightening stuff we have was probably put in, when the chimney was repointed (they could tell by the color of the mortar), etc, etc.

We live in NJ and most of the contractors around here do either James Hardie or Vinyl. I personally don’t like the look of vinyl. I though that it would at least be cheap but considering the price point driven up by the Covid home improvement boom I figured that I won’t be saving any money anyhow so why not look for something that I actually like. I will keep looking for someone with experience with old clapboard restoration and try to assess what we have left under the layer of the vinyl ….

Vynal on that house would be a crime as would replacing the clapboards. Get a nice paint job please.

He yellow siding on the house is cheap vinyl circa 2003 so the crime would be on a prior owner ;-p. Window capping is horrific too and might leak. I will need to speak with contractors and neighbors to see what might be hiding underneath. I know there is clapboard underneath the vinyl and TVek but I don’t know the condition. I also don’t know how much of the wooden trim was removed.

@Edyta Salata they remove the edges around the window in order to get a tight fit with the siding. This is good if done well as it saves the wood underneath. It is easily replaced. Our crown was intact as the vinyl soffits they used fit right over it. They do as little as possible to ease their job so hopefully that is the case on your home.

We replaced all guttering / downspouts and the roof so if that is needed best to do all at the same time due to the overlap with the painting etc. c

It would look better with half round gutter and running the gutter downspouts down the rear side instead of the front of the house.

I poked around and saw something along those lines…

Completely restorable with elbow grease. Typically 90% of the siding can be restored, that which is damaged is easily replaceable with simple tools. It is a lot of labor though.

following

Hire excellent painting crew and will be completed in short order. a lot to be said for expertise if you can afford it . we were very lucky. the prep was painstaking but it sure paid off. we did 1/2 round gutters and standing seam roof. its all so beautiful now and worth every penny. i hope you can restore your beautiful home as well

Thank you for all the tips and encouragement! The feedback from this forums has been great!