Ontario's Plain-English Guide to Custom Home Buildingπ 705-533-1633 | βοΈ 1-866-868-6606 | βοΈ info@icfhome.ca
How to Compare Siding Quotes: The Twelve-Line Grid That Puts Three Different Quotes on the Same Page, With a Real Re-Side Worked Through
Exterior Finishes
Three Siding Quotes Are Three Different Jobs Until You Put Them on One Grid, and the Grid Has Twelve Lines
The low siding quote is not the cheap contractor. It is the one that left things out, and you will pay for those things either as a change order in July or as a wet wall in five years. The cure is boring: a sheet of paper with twelve lines down the side and the three quotes across the top, and every blank is a question for the contractor before you sign. Here is the grid, what belongs on each line, and a real re-side with three quotes $8,760 apart that are actually $5,050 apart once the blanks are filled.
The twelve lines
| Line | What a complete quote says | What the low quote says |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Product and grade | Brand, product line, profile, thickness or series, colour, finish (factory or site painted) | “Hardie” or “vinyl siding”. A brand name is not a grade. |
| 2. Measured area | Net sq ft of wall per elevation, with the waste stated (10% siding, 12% batten) | A lump sum. You cannot check a rate without a quantity. |
| 3. Tearoff and disposal | What comes off at a rate per sq ft, plus the bin | “Remove existing”. Fine until the second layer turns up. |
| 4. Sheathing membrane | Named house wrap or the ICF surface, taped, lapped, as a line at $0.85 where the old wall has none | Not mentioned, or “as required”, which means not. |
| 5. Flashing at openings | Sill pans, head flashing, tapes at every window and door, $85 per opening on a re-side | “Per code”. Code says to do it; the quote has to say who is paying. |
| 6. Rainscreen | Strapping at $2.50 where the product or the wall wants a cavity, or a stated reason it is not needed | Blank. |
| 7. Trim and corners | Corner posts, trim boards, J-channel, by material and linear foot | “All trim”. Aluminum capping over rotten wood is also “all trim”. |
| 8. Soffit, fascia, eaves | In or out, and if in, lf and depth, 5 or 6 in. eaves, downspout count | Not mentioned; it is a different crew and a different page. |
| 9. Rot and repair | Unit rates: sheathing $6.50 per sq ft, framing $400 to $900 per opening, plus an allowance reconciled at the end | “Extra if found.” Found by whom, at what rate, is the question. |
| 10. Access | Ladders, scaffolding or a lift, and the premium on walls above 20 ft | Assumed. Then the lift shows up on the invoice. |
| 11. Warranty | Manufacturer’s product warranty, registered by whom, plus a written workmanship warranty with a term | “50-year warranty”, which is the paint on the siding, not the installer. |
| 12. Payment and schedule | Deposit, draws tied to stages, 10% holdback, start and duration, who signs change orders | “50% down.” Walk away. |
The same logic, with the lines that matter for that trade, is on how to hire a roofer and the flooring contractor page. Siding has more lines because more of the job is behind the finish.
Three quotes on one grid
The house: a 1990s two-storey in Simcoe County, 1,800 sq ft of net wall in faded vinyl, 18 windows and doors, going to mid-grade fibre cement lap. Three quotes came in at $31,500, $36,550 and $40,260 before HST, which looks like a choice between a contractor and a thief. It is not.
Quote B, $40,260, itemized. Fibre cement, named product line and colour, 1,800 sq ft at $18 is $32,400. Tearoff of the vinyl at $2.00 is $3,600, bin $550. House wrap, because a 1990s wall under vinyl often has building paper or nothing, 1,800 at $0.85 is $1,530. Flashing kits at every opening, 18 at $85, $1,530. A rot allowance of 100 sq ft of sheathing at $6.50, $650, to be reconciled against what is actually found. Two-year workmanship warranty, 10% deposit, 10% holdback. Every line on the grid has a number.
Quote A, $31,500. “Supply and install James Hardie siding, remove existing, all trim and corners, five-year workmanship warranty.” Take off the tearoff and the bin and what is left is $27,350 for 1,800 sq ft, which is $15.19 a foot, below the $16 builder rate for fibre cement with the wrap and standard flashing that the rate is supposed to include. So either the area is short, the product is not what you think, or the wall is going up with no membrane and no sill pans. Add the missing lines at list, wrap $1,530, flashing $1,530, rot allowance $650, and Quote A is $35,210 with the grade still unknown.
Quote C, $36,550. 1,800 sq ft at $18, tearoff, bin. Wrap “included as required”, flashing “per code”, rot “time and materials”. Add the flashing and the rot allowance and it is $38,730, and “as required” on the wrap is a phone call. Now the grid reads $35,210, $38,730 and $40,260, a spread of $5,050, with B the only one you can hold to a drawing. The exterior cladding cost calculator builds the complete version of any quote in about ten minutes so you have the reference column before the quotes arrive.
How to read a lump sum
Divide it by the net wall area, which you measure yourself from the perimeter and wall heights less the openings, because the quote did not give it to you. Subtract the tearoff and bin at the schedule rates. What is left is the installed cladding rate, and if it is below the builder-grade number for that product, something on the grid is missing. A rate that is above the premium number means either the house is hard (three storeys, three materials, a lot of trim) or the margin is.
Then ask three questions, in writing: what is the product line and thickness, is there a sheathing membrane and flashing at the openings in this price, and what is the rate if the sheathing is rotten. A contractor who answers all three in a day is one you can work with at any of the three prices. One who says “do not worry about it” has told you what the warranty will be worth.
Where homeowners go wrong
- Comparing totals. The total is the last thing to compare. Compare the twelve lines, then the totals.
- Taking a brand as a spec. Every brand has a builder line and a premium line. Fibre cement comes in two thicknesses and three finishes; vinyl in 0.040 and 0.046 in. panels. The grade is a $2 to $6 a square foot difference on the same name.
- Accepting “extra if found” for rot. The sheathing will be opened. Agree the unit rate now, $6.50 a square foot for sheathing and $400 to $900 per opening for framing, and the finding is not a negotiation with a crew on your wall.
- Mistaking the product warranty for the installer’s. A 30-year siding warranty covers the siding against defects in the siding. Water behind it because the head flashing was skipped is the installer, and only a written workmanship warranty with a term reaches him.
- Not asking for the measured area. If the quote has no square footage, the contractor either did not measure or does not want you to check his rate. Neither is good. The siding hub has the measurement rules.
Questions people ask
Why are my siding quotes so different?
Because they are for different jobs. One includes house wrap, flashing kits and a rot rate; one does not mention them; one says “as required”. Put them on the twelve-line grid and fill the blanks at list rates, and the spread usually shrinks by half.
What should a siding quote include?
Product and grade, measured net wall area, tearoff and disposal, sheathing membrane, flashing at openings, rainscreen or the reason there is none, trim, whether the eaves are in, unit rates for rot, access, both warranties, and the payment schedule with a holdback.
Is the cheapest siding quote always missing something?
Nearly always, and the way to find out is to divide the price by the wall area and compare it to the builder-grade rate for the product. Below that rate, something is out. Occasionally the cheap quote is a good crew in a slow month, and the grid will show that too.
How many siding quotes should I get?
Three, from contractors who all measured the house themselves. Two is a coin toss; five is a month of your life and the fifth one is the same as the second.
Should I give the contractors my own takeoff?
Yes. A takeoff with the net wall per elevation and the opening count means every quote is priced on the same quantities, and you can see the rates. The $249 exterior finish takeoff does it from plans or photographs and measurements.
Put your quotes on the grid
The exterior cladding cost calculator is the reference column: your house, every line, at the schedule rates. The $99 exterior quote review takes up to three of your quotes, fills the twelve lines for each, and sends back a written sheet that says what each one is missing and what it would cost to add.
Sources and further reading
- Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs: Ontario government: the 10-day cooling-off period on a contract signed at your door, the written contract rule, estimates, and the door-to-door rules.
- James Hardie installation instructions: the clearances, fastening, flashing and primed-cut rules a fibre-cement warranty depends on; the installer is held to this sheet.
- Ontario’s Building Code, Section 9.27 Cladding: the first and second planes of protection, sheathing membrane, flashing at openings and transitions, and the clearances from grade and roofs that every siding and stucco job has to meet.
