Click here to read a story about melting vinyl siding.

My good friend Bruce is always kidding me about how good vinyl siding is, but even HE can’t deny this!

Blue Ridge Exteriors doesn’t install vinyl siding.  We specialize in the installation of HardiePlank siding from James Hardie.  HardiePlank is fiber cement siding and is actually FIREPROOF.  It can certainly withstand reflections!

Call us today at 804.405.3683 for your free no hassle estimate!

Every single siding appointment I go on I make it a point to tell homeowners that on 40% of the homes we work on we find some rotten or insect infested sheathing (the wood your siding is nailed to).  And on a small percentage of those homes we find rotten wood under the sheathing.  It’s not a scare tactic….it’s the truth.

We are working on a house right now that had absolutely no evidence of rotten wood under the siding.  There was no reason to believe that there was an issue.  However, when the siding came off there is was!  And under the rotten sheathing we discovered even MORE rotten wood.

The culprit?  A badly placed nail in the siding to attach a garden hose holder.  You know the kind.  You may even have one on your house.  The homeowner who has owned the house for 15 years says there used to be a hose holder there from the previous owner. 

Well, that nail that was used to attach the holder to the house punctured the water line from the sink.  Water has been leaking from that pipe for 15 years!!

We had the homeowner fill his sink and then pull the stop.  Paul says water just sprayed all over!

After seeing this the homeowner said that it’s the exact reason he decided on HardiePlank siding rather than covering up the existing siding with plastic siding. 

HE WANTED TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON UNDER HIS PRESSBOARD SIDING!

The outcome would be much different had he decided to go with plastic siding.  This issue would keep festering until it became an emergency and he’d have paid dearly for the repairs.

The lesson learned is that not knowing can hurt……and not only financially!

For a free no hassle estimate on HardiePlank siding for your home give us a call at 804.405.3683.

Blue Ridge Exteriors is the ONLY VIP Preferred Remodeler in Central Virginia and specializes in the installation of fiber cement siding from James Hardie.

Well, the Vinyl Siding Institute wants to set the record straight for you right here.  If you go to page 2 you can read that vinyl siding is considered a “supplemental rain screen”. 

An umbrella can be considered a “supplemental rain screen” too since it doesn’t keep you 100% dry either.  The big difference between the two though is that you can dry yourself off when you get inside your house.  Your siding stays wet under the vinyl for a while which can lead to rot and mold that can end up costing you THOUSANDS of dollars to fix.

You only want to side your house once, right?  Then do it right the first time with HardiePlank siding from James Hardie.

HardiePlank siding isn’t a cover-up.  It actually replaces your existing siding so you don’t have to worry about what you’re covering up with vinyl.

Blue Ridge Exteriors is proud to be one of only 7 VIP Preferred Remodelers in the nation.  Call us today at 804.405.3683 and see the difference for yourself!

We here at Blue Ridge Exteriors have been saying for years that vinyl siding isn’t the right choice.  What with the “lifetime warranties” and the foam backing and the “thicker is better” pitch and all the other good stuff vinyl salesman tell you.

Hey, if thicker really is better check out HardiePlank siding.  It’s 5 1/2 times thicker than the thickest vinyl siding on the market!  I bet the plastic siding salesman hasn’t told you about that has he?

How about that “fade warranty” that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy?  Certainly that has to be proof that your new plastic exterior will look good forever.  Read the fine print…….there’s usually an “excessive fade” disclaimer.

Do your homework.  The internet can tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about EVERY product.  If someone has had a bad experience you can bet it’s on the internet!

Blue Ridge Exteriors is one of only 7 VIP Preferred Remodelers in the entire country and only offers HardiePlank siding from James Hardie.  It looks like wood, feels like wood, is termite resistant and fire resistant.

Give us a call today at 804.405.3683 for a free no obligation estimate for your home!

And remember, wrap your leftovers in plastic….not your home!

Let’s start the year 2010 off with an FAQ page, huh?

Q:  I’ve been told that your company uses subcontractors.  I’ve heard horror stories about unreliable subcontractors.

A:  I’ve heard the same horror stories about subcontractors, but there are actually 2 different definitions to the word subcontractor in home improvement lingo.  The first is the way you are thinking; a company sells you a job and calls a friend of a friend to install whatever they just sold you.  Or worse yet, they drive down to Lowe’s or Home Depot and hire the first guy who has a pickup to install your job.

That is NOT what we do.  We decided long ago when we started this company that we would pay our installers as 1099 labor.  That means that technically they are subcontractors because we pay them as such, but they are in reality OUR HardiePlank siding installers. 

It’s a good story by other companies to scare you into thinking that we don’t care who works on your house, but the truth is that Paul trained our installers on James Hardie’s Best Practices years ago WHEN HE WORKED FOR JAMES HARDIE and they constantly are trained by Paul when James Hardie makes changes to Best Practices.

Look, when you hire Blue Ridge Exteriors to install HardiePlank siding for you our intallers will finish the HardiePlank siding job they are on now and then come do your house.  After your house they will start another HardiePlank siding job.  They won’t be installing a kitchen or even worse a deck before coming to install your job.

Q:  Isn’t a vinyl siding lifetime transferable warranty better than the James Hardie 30 year non-prorated transferable warranty?

A:  You might think so, but again you need to do some research on your own here.  Vinyl siding warranties have disclaimers that usually aren’t mentioned at the point of sale.  For instance, did you know that while you may get a fade warranty from a vinyl company you don’t get a warranty against EXCESSIVE fading?  Weird, huh?

Also, if you read the fine print you’ll see another disclaimer against reflections from windows and car windshields melting your siding.

And your vinyl siding isn’t guaranteed to look pristine for lifetime.  It’s just guaranteed not to fail……What was it that Tommy Boy’s dad used to tell him?  “You can get a good look at a t-bone steak by sticking your head up a bull’s [butt}, but I’d rather take the butcher’s word on it”?  In this instance don’t take the butcher’s word on it.

James Hardie realizes that everything be it vinyl or HardiePlank siding will weather.  It’s just that with HardiePlank siding you can remedy that by applying a fresh coat of paint.

Q:  Yes, but I was told I have to paint it every 2 years or so.

A:  Of course you were told that.  Vinyl companies want to sell vinyl.  HardiePlank siding is dimensionally stable meaning it doesn’t expand and contract so the factory applied paint won’t expand and contract.  It will never crack, peel, flake or blister.  Sometime between 15-20 years you’ll notice the color isn’t as vibrant.  That’s when you may decide to brighten it up with a fresh coat of paint.  Of course, you may decide to change the color altogether and which you can do at any time too.

Q:  What’s the difference between being a James Hardie VIP Preferred Remodeler and a just a Preferred Remodeler?

A:  James Hardie has criteria that a company has to meet to become a Preferred Remodeler.  A VIP Preferred Remodeler has even more including 2 very important ones for consumers.  The first one is that we have to install a certain amount of HardiePlank siding per year.  The second is that we agree to allow James Hardie to come out to any and all of our jobs, unknowingly to us, and allow them to audit the installation of your job.  This means that you could get a call from James Hardie during the job and they would ask to verify that it’s being installed correctly.  How great is that???  The manufacturer is willing to audit jobs that VIP Preferred Remodelers do!  How much more could you, the consumer ask for?  

 I do know that it is VERY difficult to achieve VIP status because as of today there are HUNDREDS of regular Preferred Remodelers and ONLY 7 VIP Preferred Remodelers nationwide.

The only exterior cladding that Blue Ridge Exteriors installs is HardiePlank siding.  We want to make money just like every company, but we’re not willing to intall inferior vinyl siding just to make a buck.  We are specialists who know what we’re doing. 

Call us today for a free estimate for your home at 804.405.3683!

But is thicker better?  If that’s the selling point I guess it is.  Let’s take a quick look.

Thickness of plastic siding is measured in “mils”.  1 mil = 0.001″ (mil is the abbreviation for 1/1000 th). 

Alcoa sells a plastic siding that is called XL55 that is .055 mils thick.  Royal sells a plastic siding called Duraplank that is .054 mils thick.  Alside sells a plastic siding called Prodigy that is .050 mils thick.  Crane Board is a plastic siding that is .046 mils thick.

So which is best?  As it turns out NONE of them may be the best!  Just look at the side of your garbage bag box.  Believe it or not Hefty bags and the like are advertised to be up to TWICE as thick as the thickest plastic siding that people put on their house!  Click here to see different thicknesses of garbage bags.

I’m not suggesting that you go out and have garbage bags installed on your house.  For one thing you could only get your house covered in white or dark green, but it does put things in proper prospective doesn’t it?

Blue Ridge Exteriors is one of only six VIP Preferred Remodelers in the country and we specialize in the installation of James Hardie fiber cement siding and trim components.  HardiePlank siding is 5 1/2 times thicker than plastic siding which also means it’s thicker than those garbage bags too.  See the difference for yourself here. 

So tell me…..what would YOU rather have on your house NOW?

For a free no obligation HardiePlank siding estimate call us at 804.405.3683 today!

This is especially important for you to see for a couple of reasons.  First, you can see just how quickly vinyl siding accelerates the flames into a potential inferno and you can see how wood siding smolders for a while before finally igniting.

Secondly, and maybe more important, is the fact that vinyl companies install their materials over your existing exterior cladding whether it’s real wood or press board.  You will now have 2 highly combustible materials on the outside of your house!

Watch this video and honestly ask yourself if you still want vinyl siding on your house then call us at 804.405.3683 for a free HardiePlank estimate.  You’ll be glad you did!

HardiePlank siding by James Hardie Building Products is noncombustible and approved for fire-rated construction.  You can accidentally put your grill too close to it and it WON’T burn! 

How much more piece of mind do you need? 

Blue Ridge Exteriors specializes in HardiePlank siding and installs more residential HardiePlank siding in Central Virginia than any other company.  Do your homework and you may find out that HardiePlank is more affordable than you think.

Call us at 804.405.3683 for your FREE estimate today!

Wrap your leftovers in plastic…..not your home!

Blue Ridge Exteriors specializes in residential HardiePlank siding.  With more residential HardiePlank installations than any other company in Central Virginia you can trust Blue Ridge Exteriors to get the job done right.

Call us today at 804.405.3683 for your free estimate!

There are many other projects you can tackle, but only residing with fiber cement gives you the best return on your investment 4 years in a row.

• Residing with fiber cement gives a 31% better return than adding a bathroom and costs $61k less to complete
• Minor kitchen remodel gives you a 10% less return on investment than residing with fiber cement
• Adding a second story addition nets you 23% less return on investment than fiber cement residing

Remodeling magazine is the industry’s leading home improvement magazine.  Since 1988, Remodeling magazine’s Cost vs. Value Report has compared construction costs for common remodeling projects with the value they add to a home at resale in the current real estate market.  The results- upscale siding projects using fiber-cement return the highest value at resale.

Blue Ridge Exteriors is Central Virginia’s Only HardiePlank specialists.  With more residential HardiePlank installations than any other company in Central Virginia, you can trust Blue Ridge Exteriors to get the job done right.

Call us at 804.405.3683 today for your free estimate!