Louisiana's contracting statute
Louisiana law counts improvements or repairs to an existing residential structure with a project value of $7,500 or more as contracting. The same law defines a home improvement contractor as one who takes on a home improvement project of at least $7,500 but less than $50,000, and contracting requires an active license from the State Licensing Board for Contractors (R.S. 37:2150.1 and 37:2158).
Monroe's Inspections & Permitting office
The City of Monroe's Inspections & Permitting office reviews permit applications for construction, renovation and land development projects and inspects construction for compliance with building codes and zoning ordinances.
Ask each siding company which permits, if any, the job at your address needs, who pulls them, and when any inspection would take place.
Drinking water in Monroe
The City of Monroe Water System says it serves over 100,000 residents, about 70% of them within city limits, and that its first water treatment plant was built between 1927 and 1929.
A sketch with lettered walls
Before the first estimate, draw a rough outline of the house as if you were looking down on it from above. Mark the street side, then give each wall a letter, going around the house in one direction. Add the porch, any addition, the garage and the deck, and leave a small gap in the line wherever a window or door sits.
Give a copy to every company that comes out and ask them to use your letters in the written price. If one bid mentions the back gable and another mentions wall C, you can tell at a glance whether they mean the same thing. The sketch is also a handy place to jot down what you have seen: a cracked piece low on wall B, paint lifting again beside a kitchen window, an outside corner that has opened up. Date those notes and pair them with photos.
How much of the house is in the price
A spot repair, one or two walls, and the whole house each raise their own questions, so ask every bidder to say plainly which one they are pricing.
For a spot repair, ask how they will find pieces that match, and what the plan is if the old color has faded enough that new pieces stand out. For a partial job, ask where the new work will stop and how the seam between new and old cladding will be finished. For the whole house, ask whether everything comes off down to the sheathing, and what happens if an older layer turns up underneath the current one.
Choosing a cladding by asking about upkeep
Instead of asking which material is right, ask each bidder what the product they suggest will ask of you over the years:
- How is it cleaned, and which cleaners does its maker allow?
- Does it need paint, and roughly when would a repaint come up?
- If one piece is damaged, can it be replaced without disturbing the pieces around it?
- Will this color and profile still be sold when a repair comes up, and should you keep spare pieces in the garage?
- What does the maker's warranty leave out, and which installation mistakes would void it?
Write the answers on the back of your sketch so the products can be compared later.
Openings, corners and edges
Windows, doors, outside corners and the places where a roof line meets a wall are among the places where flashing does its work. Ask each bidder to stand at one window from your sketch and describe, in order, what goes on around it: the wrap, the flashing at the sill, sides and head, then the trim and the sealant. Ask the same about one spot where a lower roof runs into a wall. Ask whether the existing trim will be wrapped, replaced or left alone, and how any added thickness on the wall will be handled at window and door edges.
The layers behind the siding
Siding is meant to shed rain, and the layers under it are there for water that gets past. Ask which water-resistive barrier is in the price and how its seams and laps will be handled. Ask whether there will be a gap behind the siding so water can drain down and out at the bottom. Ask how hose bibs, vents, lights, the meter base and cable entries will be mounted so the barrier stays unbroken around each one.
Damage found mid-job
Damage to the sheathing may not show until the old cladding comes off. Ask the contractor to write into the contract how damage found under the old siding will be priced, whether by the sheet, by the foot or by the hour. Ask to be shown photos, or the spot itself, before anything is replaced or covered, and ask who makes the call when a board looks borderline.
Money and paper
- How much is the deposit, and which stages of the work are the later payments tied to?
- How are changes priced and approved: in writing, before the extra work starts?
- Will you receive receipts or releases showing that material suppliers have been paid?
- Can the written price be broken down wall by wall, using the letters on your sketch?
Questions for every bidder
- Does the job's value put it under the State Licensing Board for Contractors' license rules, and what license number covers it?
- Can you send proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation? Your own insurer can help you read the certificate.
- Who will be on the wall: your own crew or a subcontractor, and who is in charge on site each day?
- How will shrubs, the air conditioner, windows and the driveway be protected, and how will nails be picked up from the yard?
- What workmanship warranty is written into the contract, and for how long?
Put the same questions to each company and keep their answers with the bids.
Closing out the job
Before the last payment, take your sketch outside with the crew lead and go wall by wall, letter by letter. Look for panels that sit flat, closed joints at the corners and trim, fixtures and vents back in place and sealed, and a yard cleared of scrap. Ask for the product name, color and profile in writing, the leftover pieces, both the maker's and the installer's warranties, and any permit paperwork the job produced.