RC: So why do many consumers feel that vinyl siding is an inferior product?
JH: Because of what it used to be like ? and people have long memories. Vinyl siding was once very limited in terms of colors, profiles, and trim products. Today it comes in many colors and profiles, and there are a lot of trim and accessory items that allow the product to conform to just about any architectural style. It’s a new world out there. But the average consumer doesn’t know that.
RC: How can salespeople counter that perception in the home?
JH: That salesperson in the home can call up the VSI Web site, or he can order brochures to use in his presentation. We have a ton of information about aesthetic changes, design, how vinyl can work with any architectural style, meet all building codes, about certified products and installers. All that will help salespeople counter the myth and talk instead about the beauty and durability of vinyl.
RC: Don’t a lot of the issues having to do with the ‘look’ of vinyl involve shoddy installation?
JH: It’s not difficult to install vinyl siding, but it’s easy to install it incorrectly. And in the days of the building boom, anybody with a truck and ladder could call themselves a vinyl siding installer. We’ve addressed that.
First, VSI put together an installation manual. It’s inexpensive and you can download it for free from our Web site.
Second, we put together an installer certification program. We now have 3,600 certified installers across the U.S. and Canada. Vinyl siding is the only exterior cladding with a product certification program and certified installers, and both are administered by an independent quality control agency.
RC: How do you go about attracting new students to the VSI installer certification program?
JH: Right now manufacturers have been driving it. They’ve had their employees certified as trainers who can teach classes. But the distributors have started having their own certified trainers. And we’re moving toward certified installer companies. So far there’s only one, but that’s the future. Certified installers and trainers are listed on our Web site.
RC: What would be required for a company to be listed as certified?
JH: They’d need to have a quality-control program and a certified installer on every crew. It’s also necessary to have an administrator audit their records to make sure they’re complying with installation standards.
RC: What do you see as vinyl siding’s greatest strengths?
JH: People want low maintenance and value. We have a no-maintenance product at the lowest installed cost of any cladding. In the future?say by 2040?there will be more families entering the housing market at the lower end than at the higher end. Vinyl siding will help them get a house. Do you want to spend $20,000 more for brick?
RC: You’ve been arguing that vinyl siding is a green product. How is it green?
JH: We hired certified engineer, Rutgers professor, and former Environmental Protection Agency scientist, Tad Razinski, and asked him to use accepted green building standards such as the National Association of Home Builders programs and LEED and tell us how we rate. He found that using vinyl siding contributes points in both building programs and that it contributes more points than other claddings. It contributes to the R-value of a home, uses fewer toxic chemicals, and generates less waste in manufacturing, and if certified installers are used on the job, there’s less waste because they use less product. We’ve published a “green paper” about this.
