Insulate the whole house exterior of my house

My cousin was staying this week. He’s an energy wonk, so great to have his perspective on my current renovations and sound out some ideas. He suggests new sidings and insulation.

I currently have PVC fake wood, which I hate. The idea of this old house being shrouded in plastic doesn’t sit well. I do a lot of thinking and adding ideas to my ‘La la land’ project list. A while back I add ”removing all the cladding, wrapping the house in wool insulation and then white oak boards”. This gets the idea out of my head so I can focus on more important things like fixing broken windows.

I don’t currently have time or money but I do have a five year plan. This year is all about getting the house ready for winter with limited budget. Next year is insulation. Once the house is fully insulated then I can look at how I’m going to heat it.

I hadn’t considered leaving the existing cladding and adding sidings over the top. It does appeal to me though. It’s only going to add insulation and I don’t have to dispose of a ton load of plastic waste. The architecture with hanging eves allows for an additional 4 inches. It would also give me deep external windowsills - I’d love to have lots of window boxes.

Have you done something similar? Is it something a contractor would do? Personally, I’d like to do it myself but I need to be practical . . . I have a lot of stuff already on my plate. DIY gives me full control over materials and better control over costs but would take a lot longer. Thoughts . . .

Hi Ed;
I'm guessing that under the white vinal fake boards is a thin layer of insulation.
A common "improvement" on older homes,  no more painting required and sealing up drafts.

I think I would leave it in place, you can't have too much insulation... but I'm not a contractor.

My parents bought a 1950's house which had been built with minimal insulation and wood clapboard siding. The last owner worked in the building industry, so he'd put a layer of Styrofoam insulation on the outside of the wood siding, followed by steel siding. Unlike the crappy plastic siding which I wouldn't use myself because it doesn't last, this steel stuff has lasted for over 40 years and is still going strong.

The only issue I see is figuring out where the condensation point is going to be, and where any condensation is going to run to and exit. A new house I had in London had some water issues in the basement and it was because they hired an insufficiently trained brick layer who failed to get the flashing and tarpaper properly organized near the bottom of the bricks about the concrete basement walls, so that instead of the water coming out intentionally left gaps in the bricks, it was flowing into the basement. The builder was able to get the problem fixed, but I recall it taking two tries. I hadn't heard of permaculture or read anywhere near enough about how houses should/could/ought to be built, so I certainly would make different decisions now than I did then, but live and learn!

thomas rubino wrote:
I'm guessing that under the white vinal fake boards is a thin layer of insulation.
A common "improvement" on older homes,  no more painting required and sealing up drafts.

I think I would leave it in place, you can't have too much insulation... but I'm not a contractor.

Sounds about right. It’s getting close to end of life - very brittle in some places and damaged. Also stained and yellow in other areas.

I’ll leave it in place and work over it, you’re right about insulation.

Jay Angler wrote:My parents bought a 1950's house which had been built with minimal insulation and wood clapboard siding. The last owner worked in the building industry, so he'd put a layer of Styrofoam insulation on the outside of the wood siding, followed by steel siding. Unlike the crappy plastic siding which I wouldn't use myself because it doesn't last, this steel stuff has lasted for over 40 years and is still going strong.

The only issue I see is figuring out where the condensation point is going to be, and where any condensation is going to run to and exit. A new house I had in London had some water issues in the basement and it was because they hired an insufficiently trained brick layer who failed to get the flashing and tarpaper properly organized near the bottom of the bricks about the concrete basement walls, so that instead of the water coming out intentionally left gaps in the bricks, it was flowing into the basement. The builder was able to get the problem fixed, but I recall it taking two tries. I hadn't heard of permaculture or read anywhere near enough about how houses should/could/ought to be built, so I certainly would make different decisions now than I did then, but live and learn!

The house we had in NJ had metal siding. The neighbour said it was about 40 years old and looked in great condition. I like the idea of metal as it’s a forever material, in a good way, recycled and made into new stuff indefinitely.

I’ve got my moisture covered and the basement project is well underway.

Time to dive into youtube and see what the crazy folks over there are doing. Thanks Jay.