Jay and Kathy Slack bought their home for the single-level floor plan, the lofty ceilings and the location.
The $323,000 home was the first in a three-home development built on an idyllic chunk of land near Stanwood. Since the home was new, the couple, both real estate agents, didn’t expect to deal with a serious problem with the home’s siding, a problem that would cost thousands to fix and sabotage the home’s resale value.
Nine months after buying the home, Jay Slack was working in the yard when he first noticed cracks and warping on parts of the lap board siding, a composite fiber cement product called MaxiPlank. He also noticed splits in the siding where nails were driven in. As the months went by, the damage worsened.
He later learned both his immediate neighbors have similar problems.
Repairing the siding will cost the Slacks an estimated $20,000.
“We bought a new house,” Kathy Slack said. “You’d expect the siding to last more than nine months.”
Somebody ought to be responsible for fixing the problem, the Slacks said. Somebody should be paying the $20,000 bill. Who that should be isn’t sorted out. With another winter approaching, the Slacks may pay the money rather than let their home rot around them as they wait for a resolution.
This story probably has a familiar ring to the thousands of homeowners in Washington who have dealt with composite wood siding prone to swelling, rotting and buckling when regularly exposed to water. In the past 10 years, homeowners have sued every major American manufacturer of composite wood siding, and most of the cases are now settled.
As the Slacks’ situation illustrates, newer siding products touted as long-lasting, easy to maintain and durable aren’t necessarily worry-free.
Exterior Restorations, Tony Connell’s Stanwood-based business, specializes in fixing problem siding. Last year his company redid the siding on 55 homes and the majority, about 90 percent, had siding that had been part of earlier class-action lawsuits.
However, the rest of the jobs were for homes with relatively new siding. In the last few months he bid on several homes with the same type of siding as the Slacks’ home. He also has bid or worked on jobs replacing a wood composite product called SmartSide Lap by Louisiana Pacific.
Fiber cement siding, the type of siding on the Slacks’ home, is a popular product, accounting for about 65 percent of all siding sold in Oregon and Washington, according to a June report by Builder News. Homeowners and builders like it because fiber cement offers the look of wood without the cost.
The composite is made with cement, sand and cellulose fiber that has been cured with pressurized steam to increase its strength and stability. Several major manufacturers produce different versions, and the leader is James Hardie, which makes Hardiplank, a product that Connell and other experts interviewed for this story say is holding up well here.
MaxiPlank, the siding on the Slacks’ home, is the subject of an ongoing class-action lawsuit filed in California. The lawsuit doesn’t extend to Washington homeowners, but the law firm handling the case is considering including this state, said Jeff Cereghino of Berding &Weil in Alamo, Calif.
Homeowners reported that MaxiPlank is prone to cracking, separating, and delaminating, damage that resembles “layers of puff pastry,” Cereghino said.
MaxiTile, the manufacturer of MaxiPlank, maintains faulty installation and lack of maintenance are responsible for problems.
Claims on MaxiTile siding products are insignificant, about one complaint for every 10,000 installations, company president Marty Bender wrote in an e-mail. The most frequent complaint issues arise from faulty installations, he wrote.
“Have we had customers with problems? Of course we have. Name a manufacturer that doesn’t. But we do try to amicably resolve any issue that arises.”
The company offers a 50-year warranty, but it includes a number of exclusions and limitations, including that the company must receive written notice of any defects 30 days after they’re discovered and that the homeowner must pay to “provide for protection” of the damage until a resolution is reached.
The warranty stipulates that the product must be installed and maintained exactly as specified in the company’s instructions. Cereghino said the instructions require far more precision than is reasonable of the average builder.
“If a nail is a centimeter off, all hell shouldn’t break loose.”
Rick Bunzel, a certified home inspector based in Anacortes who inspects more than 400 homes a year, said many of the sidings manufactured after 1998 hold up if maintained properly. However, proper maintenance, particularly for composite wood sidings, is more onerous than homeowners may be used to. It’s essential the bottom edge is sealed or the siding begins absorbing water and delaminating, and homeowners need to closely examine their siding each year.
“Homeowners don’t expect to be caulking or painting the bottom edge of their siding every couple years,” he said.
But depending on where the home is located and the type of siding, that may be necessary.
He also said that while proper installation shouldn’t be too hard, problems arise when builders trying to save money hire less than qualified help, employees who aren’t reading the installation instructions or aren’t supervised.
“The phrase ‘good enough’ comes to mind,” Bunzel said.
Bunzel also suggested that homeowners consider a product like the SmartSide Lap siding made by L-P as “not necessarily a lifetime product.” Siding requires vigilance and regular maintenance, and like most everything “if it’s a cheaper product, there’s a reason why.”
Meanwhile, the Slacks continue to search for a resolution to their $20,000 problem. They asked the builder orally and by letter to replace the siding, and so far, he has declined. Through letters to the Slacks from his lawyer, he maintains the problem is with the siding, not his work.
The couple considered suing the builder until they learned it would cost just as much for legal help as it would to repair the damage.
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.
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