Is the rot mild and in the siding? Or is it extensive and threatens the house? Missing flashing could mean water incursion and a leak in your future.

In short, a big part of the question is how urgent new siding is now.

Are the quotes for siding plus installation? DId they give you a breakdown of costs?

There are various areas of rot. Some is near windows and probably isn't horrible BUT one big problem is that they don't make this siding anymore....There is rot above our porch door that is questionable. Whoever installed the gutters did it wrong so water has been seeping above and around door for who knows how long. We've basically been told they'd have to rip it out to see how much damage there is.

Yes, it's installation which includes wrap, prep, etc. The current company we are leaning toward also includes new gutters as well because they were all basically installed incorrectly. The flashing is a bit of an issue. Luckily it's on the east side, which is probably the most protected since most of our weather comes from the south or the west.

Texas here, that seems like a bargain.

Don't expect the pricing to come down appreciably if at all.

If you plan to live there >5 years... get it done, properly. If less than five years I'd look to find a similar material (if possible, maybe needing to spot paint to make things blend) to make spot repairs AND fix any situations that may be causing the problems your having.

I think we're going to have to do a whole house siding job. My question is more around if the pricing I'm getting is reasonable, or out of line, or if I should wait maybe a year to see if prices of siding jobs goes down.

Most people who wait a year or two for prices to come down are sorely disappointed. Even if material costs do decline somewhat, labor costs often increase and the overall result is that waiting is a good way to pay even more for a job.

You have a lovely house and a beautiful lot. If you have three quotes from reputable builders, do it. Any money you spend on good repairs is investing in your house, which is for most of us, the biggest investment we have. You can investigate, but new siding, etc may qualify you for a tax abatement, good thru 12/31/22.

There's a lot of underlying issues as well. Rot around windows and a door...incorrectly hung gutters. I can do some things myself but not this much work. And I don't have a shed to practice on.

If you have active water intrusion causing rot, any possible gains from waiting may be offset by additional damage to repair later. And there’s no guarantee prices are going down.

I agree, with sandk. If you can afford to do it, do it now. It may cost you a lot more if you wait a year. That will be one more year of rot and mold and deterioration spreading, so more things to replace. I am not a fan of vinyl, but, thats just me. It is a good product, if done correctly.

@cat_ky - I always said I wouldn't do vinyl but nearly $50K for composite is heart wrenching. I do like the Provia CedarMax 6" insulated vinyl. It at least doesn't look like the cheap development stuff.

If costs concern you, dump the insulated vinyl siding. Doesn't give you a whole lot of benefit, sounds like a salespitch hooked you. Go with standard vinyl.

@3onthetree - no sales pitches. Mostly just weighting price and product. I'm not a fan of standard vinyl. i think it just looks like development grade stuff. I would prefer more of a composite siding, but that stuff has gotten so out of hand on pricing that I don't think it's worth the ROI so I'm trying to find a happy medium. I'm guessing we'll be in this house another 5-10 years, probably closer to the 5 year mark so I'm trying to figure out what is worth investing. We've done a complete kitchen remodel, all new flooring, updated bathroom (still need to update one more bathroom), new fencing, and lots of new lighting. All in all we've probably already put in about $55K into the house.

Insulated vinyl siding looks exactly the same as non-insulated (standard run-of-the-mill) siding. The difference is it has polystyrene behind it, following the section profile. You get little insulating value, because of the variation in thickness for the lap look, and as the last 2 decades has progressed, air sealing has been recognized as being as important as insulation, where insulating vinyl siding does not address that - so air gets behind the insulated vinyl siding anyway (all the vertical connections, gaps at ends, corners inherent in lap siding). But if you want to knock on it, it is more solid feeling and could resist damage more. $10K-$15K more worth it though?

If you don't like the look of vinyl, go Hardie or fiber cement for the lap look. Nothing to do with having insulated vinyl. I suspect the look of "development grade" is defined by the aesthetic of what corner trims, J-channels, and radiused edges inherent with vinyl contribute, then on top of that cheap builders use integral vinyl window flange J channels and siding <0.042" thick becoming wavy. Hardie and fiber cement as a whole system emulate the natural wood look better.

The difference I see is the size. I don't like the 4" standard stuff. What I am looking at is the 6" siding that looks more like the hardie that is rotting on the side of my house now.

What I've been getting quotes for is:

4" standard vinyl - $34K

ProVia 6" insulated vinyl - $40K

Everlast composite - $47K

I had one guy come out to get me a quote on hardie, but he never sent me the quote. I even called and he said he'd get it out to me and he never did. Checked my spam, all that.

Would hardie or lp come out to about the same at the everlast composite? If anyone is familiar?

The right contractor could probably do the repairs and proper detailing for 1/4 or 1/3 the cost of replacement. It's insane to not start there first.

I feel your pain. My builder broke the news to me this week that the Everlast siding I want is double ($56k) what he's budgeted for which is hardie board ($28k). Granted, the materials cost includes a cedar shake composite on the dormers (Cedur) which is just as good as a product as Everlast except its technically a roofing product. I was expecting 20-30% more than hardie board, but not 100% more. The ROI is still there in my eyes because I plan on being in the house long term. Not having to paint my house at least 3 times over the life of the siding alone would save me about the cost of materials now given the cost of hiring a good exterior painter (and inflation?). For context my house will be around 4000sf, but the main level will be 2100sf and I'm not putting siding on the basement walls. So, I definitely got sticker shock and I don't think I can absorb the additional cost...

We ended up going with the Cedarmax which was the middle of the road vinyl and we love it. It was still painful to write the check but it looks like a new house! We will be painting the columns and cement white in the spring but missed the window of weather in 2022.