A railroad town and its walls
Johnson City started as a place where locomotives stopped for a drink. According to the Tennessee Encyclopedia, before the Civil War the settlement went by Johnson's Tank, since trains took on water there, and later by Johnson's Depot. On December 1, 1869 the state chartered it as Johnson City, and Henry Johnson became its first mayor.
Whatever the house, the questions worth asking a siding contractor stay steady: what will the new cladding have to put up with, what goes underneath it, and how will you know whether two bids describe the same job.
Where the temperature numbers come from
Johnson City has no engineering weather station of its own in NOAA's data set. The nearest one is Bristol/Tri-City (elevation 1,519 feet), roughly 17 miles north of town, so the figures here are that station's, not a reading taken in Johnson City. For Bristol/Tri-City, NOAA lists:
- a 1% summer design temperature of 87°F, with a mean coincident wet-bulb temperature of 72°F;
- a 99% winter design temperature of 14°F.
NOAA gives no wind speed, rainfall rate or freeze-thaw count for that station, and this page does not supply any. When a bidder talks about storms or wind ratings, ask which product instructions or local code they are working from.
Siding moves, so let it
A span from 14°F to 87°F at Bristol/Tri-City is a useful reminder that cladding grows and shrinks through the year. Each material handles that in its own way:
- Vinyl moves the most. Panels should hang on nails driven in the center of the slots, not pinned tight, with a gap left at corner posts and J-channel so the panel can slide. Ask the crew what gap they leave and whether it changes on a cold morning versus a hot afternoon.
- Fiber cement moves less, but its butt joints need the spacing or joint flashing its maker specifies, and every field-cut end gets sealed or primed.
- Engineered wood wants its cut edges sealed and its joints gapped to the manufacturer's sheet.
- Real wood expands across the grain with moisture as well as heat, and it needs a paint or stain schedule you can keep up with.
Ask every company to hand over the installation instructions for the product they propose and to say whether their crew follows them as written. Many warranties depend on it.
The part of the wall you never see
What sits behind the panels often decides how long the job lasts. Ask each bidder to describe, in writing:
- The weather barrier. Which housewrap or other water-resistive layer, how the upper sheets lap over the lower ones, and which seams are taped.
- A drainage path. Whether there is a rainscreen gap, furring or a drainable wrap, and what adding one would cost.
- Flashing. Head flashing over each window and door, and a kick-out flashing anywhere a roof edge dies into a sidewall.
- Penetrations. How hose bibs, dryer vents, meters, light fixtures and cable entries get blocks or trim rings rather than a bead of caulk alone.
- Sheathing. A unit price for replacing soft or damaged sheathing once the old siding is off, so a surprise does not become an open-ended charge.
Tear-off or overlay
Some bids leave the old cladding on and add new siding over it. That saves labor, but it hides whatever is going on underneath and can complicate trim around windows and doors. Removing the old layer costs more and lets the crew see the sheathing. Ask each bidder which approach they recommend for your walls and what they expect to find. On an older house, also ask how they will handle old painted surfaces during tear-off.
Trim, soffit and the edges
The edges of a siding job are where water and pests get in. Ask whether the bid covers corner boards, window and door casings, frieze boards, soffit and fascia. If soffit is being replaced, ask how attic air will still flow through it. Ask how far the lowest course will sit above soil, mulch and paving, and where gutter downspouts will discharge.
Tennessee's contractor license and the board lookup
In Tennessee, a construction project totaling $25,000 or more, counting materials, labor and profit, requires a state contractor's license, and that license has to be in place before a price is bid or offered.
Whatever the size of your job, ask the company what state license, if any, it holds and for the number, then look the contractor up on the state's Verify tool at verify.tn.gov. Ask for proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation, and call your own insurer if you are unsure what to request. Ask which Johnson City or Washington County permits the work needs, who will apply for them, and whether an inspection follows.
Setting the bids side by side
A bid you can compare names the same items as the next one. Ask each company to list:
1. tear-off and disposal, or overlay; 2. the product line, profile, thickness or grade, and color; 3. the weather barrier, any drainage layer and the flashing; 4. trim, soffit and fascia; 5. a unit price for sheathing repair; 6. permits, cleanup and a start and finish window; 7. the manufacturer's warranty and the installer's own workmanship warranty, each in writing.
Then read the bids line by line. A low total that skips flashing or the weather barrier is usually a smaller job, not a cheaper one.