January, 2007

Siding-Master System

This unique system lets users create a critical rain screen under siding to prevent moisture problems.

By Staff Report

Installing siding has always been a labor- and time-intensive job. Improper installation can lead to headaches such as poor siding alignment, buckling, or blow-off, not to mention the mold and moisture problems that have become increasingly worrisome.

Vision Building Products, Inc. headquartered in Omaha, Neb., believes it has solved those issues once and for all.

Five years ago, Vision Building Products introduced the Siding-Master System, the result of 12 years of research and testing on siding installation. In a nutshell, the Siding-Master System is a high-tech, steel furring alignment system engineered to enable siding installers—or dealers who sell siding on a installed basis—to work faster, smarter, and deliver a superior finished product.

The product works like this: Heavy-duty galvanized steel strips are spaced every 16-in. on an outside wall and attached with screws through a self-sealing membrane. The Siding-Master System’s built-in alignment feature is designed to make it nearly impossible to install the siding wrong. In addition, the Siding-Master System also creates a 1/4 to 3/8-in. air space (rain screen) between siding and a wall. That’s a critical point, given the latest discussions and repercussions that center around mold in homes.

President Greg Albracht, who has been in the industry for more than 20 years, is effusive about his company’s product. “There’s not a product on the market that offers all of our features and benefits,” he says. He ticks them off: The system offers faster siding installation (50% faster than conventional methods); lower labor costs (unskilled workers can achieve perfect results), and most importantly, it helps prevent mold and moisture problems that result from water trapped under the siding (a permeable membrane self-seals moisture out and a built-in air space around the walls drains rain and snow).

According to a March 2006 PATH Study commissioned by The U.S. Department of Housing, a rain screen is a “Best Practices” method for installation of fiber-cement, vinyl and wood siding. Albracht says that remodelers and other siding installers need to know about this new development because he believes liability issues will become a huge problem down the line, even if installers have followed manufacturer’s directions and local building codes.

“Current building practices are insufficient because of what’s going on with wind-driven rain,” he says, “and improper installation is a huge factor here. All it takes is a small amount of rain…to get behind siding.” With a proper rain screen construction, however, the walls behind the siding dry quickly.

The Sliding-Master System has been installed in more than 16 states in a variety of weather conditions. The strips can be placed over insulation, housewrap, stucco, block wall, foundation and so on. The Siding-Master System works with most fiber-cement, wood and vinyl panels and overhangs and comes in 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-, and 12-in. increments to accommodate various siding panel and overhang exposures.

Albracht also notes that a typical 1,500-sq. ft. vinyl installation requires more than 1,600 nails to secure the siding. The Siding-Master System eliminates up to 75% of the fasteners needed for that conventional installation, so it requires fewer nail holes, and also means fewer missed studs during nailing.

“I’m just sick of the way siding is being put up,” says Tom Erickson, owner of TNT Distributing in Coon Rapids, Minn., and a national distributor of the Siding-Master System. “I like the idea that for vinyl siding, you don’t put in all the nails and wreck the house-wrap,” he says. Erickson says that he found mold in his own home while removing old siding, so he likes the Siding-Master’s careful design.

“Once the strips are up, you just can’t make a mistake.”