Vinyl versus Fiber Cement Siding

What to choose – vinyl siding or fiber cement siding. Sometimes choosing between the two can be tricky, but we’re here to give you an unbiased account of the pros and cons of both.

Cost: In general, vinyl siding costs less than fiber cement siding.

Return on investment: Home sellers get an average of 98% return on their investment with fiber cement siding and 92% return with vinyl siding.

R-Factor: Vinyl siding comes attached to insulation and adds an R-factor of 5 to your existing outer walls. Fiber cement siding (without insulation) add up to 0.15. Add the insulation to the fiber cement and your R-factor will increase by at least 3.

Looks: Both products can look like real wood, but subjectively, more people seem to prefer the look of fiber cement.

Homeowners Associations: Old vinyl siding has kind of a bad wrap so some HOAs do not allow it (they used to droop and sag). Biases against fiber cement siding are not common. You will need to check with your HOA before purchasing either type.

What’s Hot and What’s Not: Honestly, both products are doing really well in the market. Fiber cement siding does have an advantage in popularity though.

Paint: Fiber cement siding comes with a 15-year paint warranty.

Woodpeckers and other pests: If your home is being attacked by woodpeckers or insects like termites – either option will provide you protection from these invaders.

Basically both options provide you with a great product. Choosing will come down to your budget and your personal preferences.

Fiber Cement Siding

Fiber cement siding – sounds heavy doesn’t it?! Well, it is – it’s made mostly of concrete, but don’t let that fool you, this is one of the most attractive and hottest products on the market.

Fiber cement siding looks like real wood, or shingles, or gingerbread, or stucco, or even smooth. This is a heavy duty product (no pun intended!). It resists damage from cold and windy climates (perfect for Colorado and Wyoming homes). Temperature swings won’t affect this product and it’s designed to withstand hurricane force winds. It resists rotting and cracking in damp climates, has the highest possible rating to stop the spread of fires, provides protection from the impact of hail, and insects like termites don’t find it appetizing!

The fiber cement siding we use, James Hardie, comes in 12 beautiful colors – or it comes preprimed for you to choose your own. Either way, this siding comes with a 15 year paint guarantee – no painting for at least 15 years!!! The siding has a 30-year limited warranty that is transferrable if you sell your house.

Speaking of selling your home – if you decide to put fiber cement siding on your home, you’re likely to get a 98% return on your investment. That’s like virtually getting it for free. If you add insulation to your installation you will increase the R-factor of your home by 3 – giving you an instant return through energy savings.

Fiber cement siding is a green product that looks beautiful and is designed to last. If you’re serious about protecting and beautifying your home, this is definitely the option for you!

Customer Testimonials – Part I

Nothing means as much as a testimonial from someone who has nothing to gain. Here are some of the very nice things people have said about us:

Rhonda P., Arvada, Vinyl Windows and Patio Door:

                I was very satisfied with my experience with 3 BIDZ.

Lann D., Fort Collins, Vinyl Siding:

                Getting 3 bids on one quote is a good idea because it gave me options.

Laurel J., Fort Collins, Vinyl Windows:

After we replaced our windows and added insulation in the attic (per Rusty’s suggestion) our heating bill went down a ton – about $50 a month!

Deanna F., Cheyenne, Vinyl Windows:

No pressure is part of the reason Rusty got the job. The others I met with were irritating – to say it nicely. I kept asking Rusty questions and he responded to all of them! The installation crew did an excellent job and they were very kind to my son, who followed them around and asked questions all day. That meant the world to me.

That’s only part of what people have said about us! If you’d like referrals from people in your area, let us know and we’ll be happy to provide them. Give us a call at (970) 206-8311 or send an email to Kristi@3-bidz.com.

Vinyl Siding

Vinyl siding has come a LONG way! Say good-bye to the days of sagging, ugly vinyl siding and say hello to the incredible siding of today.

The vinyl siding we offer at 3 BIDZ is virtually maintenance free (you’ll still need to hose off the spider webs), is a “green” product, and looks like real wood! That’s not all though – our vinyl siding is attached to it’s insulation which makes it a firm product so it doesn’t sag or gap which prevents weather damage.

Our vinyl siding increases the R factor of your house (the resistance to the sun – see our post R-Factor for more information) by a factor of 5 – which increases the normal R factor of the walls of your house by more than 50%! This increase in R-factor saves you about 40% on your energy bills.

Even more pros for vinyl siding: you get 88% of your investment back in resale pricing, our siding comes with a 60 year warranty, and no seams!

The only “negative” to think about if you’re considering vinyl siding is you’ll need to check with your HOA (Homeowner’s Association) to make sure they don’t have any restrictions against vinyl siding. The vinyl siding of years gone by has such a bad reputation not all areas allow it because they don’t know it’s changed!

Look for our post about Fiber Cement siding next week.

How did Rusty get his name?

As you may have guessed, the parents of 3BIDZ owner Rusty Huelle, didn’t put “Rusty” on his birth certificate. He doesn’t have red hair, so where does the nickname come from?!

Back in the “old” days during a horse race they would release a dog for the horses to chase (why horses needed to chase a dog is a mystery to us!). When the dog came running by people would say “There goes rusty,” referring to the dog!

As you may have guessed, our Rusty was quite the speedster when he was younger (he’s slowed down a little!). In high school Rusty played football - offense and defense! On offense he was either the Wide Receiver or the Quarterback. If the team was doing a running play, Rusty was the quarterback. If it was a passing play, Rusty was the Wide Receiver. (Seems like the other team may have noticed a theme here and planned their defense accordingly!!) As he would go speeding past the crowd, people would say “There’s goes Rusty” and the name stuck. (His birth name is Russell – so it wasn’t too much of a stretch!)

New Referral Program

For a while we’ve been considering ways we can thank our customers for spreading the news about how 3BIDZ saves their family and friends time and money. Even more importantly, you know we don’t pressure people to use our service and how focused we are on customer satisfaction.

 

Nothing means more than a referral from a trusted source (you!). To thank you for your referrals we’re going to be running quarterly contests. Here’s how it works:

 

1. Starting January 1st we’re going to run quarterly contests (January – March, April – June, July – September, October – December).

 

2. We will track how much your referrals spend with us for each 3 month period. The person with the highest referral amount for that quarter will receive a Visa Debit Card (so you can reward yourself however you’d like to!).

 

3. The winner will receive a minimum of $100 up to a maximum of $1,000. We’ll base your reward on 5% of the total your referrals spent with us (with appropriate rounding to the nearest $25 increment).

 

4. With your permission, we’ll post our quarterly winner in our newsletter!

Financing Options

A lot of people need to replace their windows, siding or patio doors but think they can’t afford it. We can help! We offer 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, or 12 month financing at 0% interest.

All of our options charge no interest if they’re paid within the time frame of the contract. In other words, if you’ve chosen a 12 month  financing option and pay off the loan in that 12 months – you aren’t charged any financing fees!

Please note – if you don’t pay off the loan in that amount of time, the interest gets charged on the balance from the BEGINNING of your loan. We suggest you pick a loan you can pay off in the contract time to save yourself some money! Contact us today to ask us about the financing option that would work best for you.

What is “R” Factor?

“R Factor” is often talked about when you’re talking about siding and insulation. Unless you’re in the building industry you may not know what that means and why it’s important. The “R Factor” is the resistance of the product to the sun. The higher the R factor the better because it means less fading, warping and cracking. When a home is built the walls usually have an R factor of 9 – from the outside of the house all the way to the inside wall.

When you put new siding on your house you’re adding R factor to the wall of your home. All of our siding adds an R factor of 5 to you home – which decreases your energy costs and adds value to your home! See our blog about the pros and cons of Vinyl and Fiber Cement siding – coming soon!

$1500 Tax Credit Ends This Year

The $1,500 tax credit from the government for window and siding replacements ends this year. It’s not too late to save money on your energy bills AND and have the government pay for it!

Replacing old and/or damaged windows and siding is a smart move on so many levels – it increases your home’s enery efficiency, it’s improves the look of your home, and it increases your home’s value. On top of all of that, the government will give you money to do it!

Beware – not all the windows and siding options out there qualify for this tax credit. You can rest assured all of our windows DO qualify and we’ll let you know if the siding option you chose qualifies or not. We also provide you with all the documentation you need for your taxes.

Let us know if you’re interested in getting $1,500 for improving your home and we’ll be happy to help!