This may be a really daft question… one of those things that is really obvious…
When did "allumina siding first appear?
(Hope my spelling is right [%-)])
I guess that it replaced board and batten, tarpaper… and? Did those structures get left to fall apart… especially old RR buildings?
Are those big, bland industrial box structures allumina or something else?
I suppose that it doesn’t mater too much what they’re actually made of (we just use resin, platic or hydrocal)… BUT… what would be the significant diferences in appearace, size, colour …?
How does allumina weather? Does it fade? Does it collect soot/dust? Does it go stripey? Do the edges break, split or curl?
Is it self coloured, painted or coated? Can it be painted later?
Anything else I should ask?
As far as I know I’ve never seen the stuff over hear. Maybe it’s the stuff they make mobile homes out of?
TIA
[8D]
Talking of which, which of the model trailer homes are the best please/
I remember an endless parade of commercials on TV in the late 60’s. It came pre-colored. I don’t recall it fading much. (they used real paint back then)
In the immediate post-WW II era. It did not catch on until, oh, 1960 give or take.
It’s actually aluminum, which is deliberately different than the British aluminium, I think for commercial reasons that have since gone away.
Not replaced, covered over. Covering over with aluminum siding was just another maintenance method, so the status of the building was based more on available money rather than the wall covering.
Those are usually steel panels that make up the entire wall (over a structural frame). Aluminum siding has to be applied over a full wall, usually wood.
They were created to match the look of wood siding, so figure 4, 6, or 8 inch wide horizontal laps. They are predominately white, or off-whites, but in the 1968-1976 period you could see green, blue, yellow, red, brown, and gray.
The older stuff chalked badly. If there was brick below it would get stained and streaked. It can also get grimy. The worst problems were scratches, dents and the attaching nails working loose and th
I remember alumimum outbuildings such as garages and storage sheds being available as early as the 1950’s. Back in those days it was bare aluminum because no way had yet been devised to get any type of coating or paint to stick to it.
Aluminum (or aluminium to you, I suppose, Dave) siding was invented in 1947. Lots of newer houses were built using it and many older ones were sided-over with aluminum. On older structures, the usual practice was to strap the exterior walls with 1"x2", then apply the siding. It came in several colours, which went in or out of fashion over the years. The factory applied paint was reasonably durable, although susceptible to scratches from trees and bushes planted too close to the building, or from careless kids leaning their bicycles against it. Minor scratches could be removed by lightly rubbing the area with a gasoline-soaked rag. Over time, the colours faded, and the paint “chalked”, dulling the original semi-gloss finish. Aluminum siding can be repainted: a friend repainted his with a spray gun, using lacquer-based paints, and I recently repainted a house using exterior latex paint applied with a brush. Both look good. Before my repaint, I had a friend do some repairs to a couple of damaged areas, and he noted that the use of aluminum siding had been largely superseded by vinyl siding.
with the “planks” - were they put on horizontally, vertically or both (on different buildings or the c=same)?
when a building was sided over what happened about window frames and doors? Did they get extended or “sink” back into the side? Was this an indicator that the building had been sided over?
Were RR buildings sided over? Maybe yard offices and the like?
I take it that “chalking” was a washing out of pigment/powder… did it leave clear to the eye streaks or a general “dusting”… was there any way of solving the problem?
Does anyone have any pics please?
Among our vast range of forum readers don’t we have at least one siding salesman or maintenance man that has used the stuff regularly?