[stvaughn]

I need to have one piece of vinyl siding replaced because it is too short and there is a gap in the siding. Got any recommendations on who can do it and match the color?

Steve

[schrdr]

Try calling Al Burgeson 352-266-7044

[JGVillages]

Call The Villages Home Warranty Dept. They can tell you who did it originally and if they are available, or recommend another vendor.

[TVMayor]

I think I recall a lawsuit in The Villages about siding and improper installation. I recall the issue being improper overlap, nails not in the center of the mounting slot which could cause the panel to buckle during heat expansion and not using “J” channel around windows and doors. The instructions for installation was later altered and an optional no “J” channel was then acceptable.

Retirees in The Villages plagued by bad siding say they're getting the runaround
January 25, 2008|By Adrian G. Uribarri, Sentinel Staff Writer

THE VILLAGES -- Retired nurse Carolyn Reichel thought she was ordering her dream home. In 2005, her son helped her pay $238,689 for a custom-built three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in this sprawling retirement community.

Reichel, 67, opted for a vinyl-sided, rather than block-built, home in the megadevelopment. Now, she fears that was a big mistake.

Less than a year after her home was built, she noticed that the plastic panels that cover it were warped, loose and fluttering in the wind.

Reichel, who said her primary income is Social Security, may have to pay thousands of dollars for repairs. Villages officials, she said, aren't helping her.

"People keep talking about The Villages being 'America's friendliest hometown,' " Reichel said. "They certainly weren't friendly when it comes to this."

Property-owner advocates in The Villages, about 60 miles northwest of Orlando, say hundreds are in the same predicament. They say many people who moved to the retiree haven envisioning a life of golf and leisure now face expensive repairs after siding was badly installed, and that they're stuck in a bureaucratic runaround.

Home inspections have revealed clear violations of installation guidelines. Panels about a dozen feet long are attached with nails or staples that are 2 and 3 feet apart.

Some are fastened so tightly against walls or insulation that there is no room for them to expand in the heat, so they warp during warm days. Some panels have fallen off altogether.

"Our question to The Villages is, 'How could this happen?' " said Ray Micucci, who heads the vinyl-siding committee of The Property Owners' Association of The Villages.

The Orlando Sentinel contacted The Villages' home-warranty department. Staff there referred questions to Gary Lester, spokesman for the developer. Lester has not returned several messages left with his assistant.

Reichel, who said she contacted The Villages after she realized her siding problems in July 2006, said the home-warranty department advised her to call F&R Aluminum Construction, a Villages siding subcontractor cited during interviews with other homeowners.

"The problem is The Villages won't talk about it," Reichel said. "They just referred me to the contractor, who insisted this was all my fault."

No one at F&R's Lady Lake or Belleview offices returned calls seeking comment.

Other homeowners who have spoken with F&R said they met with heavy resistance from staff.

Maxine Marcella, 65, bought a home in The Villages in 2005, about a year and a half before she retired.

By January 2007, when she moved into the home, her one-year warranty with The Villages had expired, she said, so home-warranty staff told her she needed to contact the contractor who installed it.

When she called F&R, she said, she was treated rudely and told the problem was related to the durability of materials, not installation.

"They told me it was problems because of wind and age," she said, and F&R never called back.

But Micucci said the vinyl-siding problems didn't stem from wear and tear.

"The siding is supposed to last decades," said Micucci, a 65-year-old former contractor from New York who doesn't question the material. "Wind and age don't do this. It's bad installation."

Micucci said he and independent contractors paid by Villages residents to perform inspections have found at least 400 Villages homes with vinyl-siding problems.

The deficiencies could have serious effects on homeowners' safety and financial well-being, said Joe Gorman, president of The Property Owners' Association.

Rusty, substandard staples could crack in hurricane winds, Gorman said, or moisture could seep through because panel ends aren't properly concealed.

"Insurance companies could take the position that any damage to vinyl siding isn't covered because it wasn't installed properly," Gorman said. "Then there's the question of property values. People might be reluctant to purchase homes in an area where they know there's been shoddy workmanship."

Vince Mazone, a retired plumber from New York and a fellow member of the vinyl-siding committee, said a piece of siding fell off his house in November 2006, about a month after he moved to The Villages.

"I thought it was a fluke," said Mazone, 60. "I called them [the home-warranty department], and they put it back on."

But problems with his siding persisted. He said The Villages sent workers to his house at least five times for about nine days' worth of work, but that, despite improvements, the siding is still not properly installed.

Now that his warranty has expired, he said, The Villages has refused to work on his house again.

"It's like hitting your head up against a brick wall," Mazone said. "If they don't want to do anything, you can't force them to."

Gail Kennedy, a retired English tutor who moved from Indiana to The Villages in December 2006, said a piece of siding had fallen off her house by the following March.

Kennedy, 65, said she had 43 contacts about the siding with the home-warranty department, her home builder and various contractors through Dec. 7.

"What I'm really upset about is the amount of time and effort I've put into this," she said.

Kennedy said The Villages has promised to fix the siding on her home next week. She's hoping for the best.

"So many people have just given up," she said. "I'd love to give up on it, too, but I'm not going to."

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...lages-warranty

[cst4villages]

Give Scott a call at Village Home Repair. 352-503-8250. Timely service and very reasonable rates.

[bbbbbb]

Originally Posted by stvaughn

I need to have one piece of vinyl siding replaced because it is too short and there is a gap in the siding. Got any recommendations on who can do it and match the color?

Steve

Steve> Try to call Bill McKenzie of Gable Insulators, he is great. Also may try Action Jackson in the Sun paper listings. bbbbbb

[JP]

Sometimes you can slide the siding yourself---there are slots in the siding where it is nailed to the house and heat/cool sometimes causes it to "walk" and open up a gap. Get a good hold of it and give it a sideways yank and you might be able to fix it.

[jnieman]

Originally Posted by stvaughn

I need to have one piece of vinyl siding replaced because it is too short and there is a gap in the siding. Got any recommendations on who can do it and match the color?

Steve

Brian Terry Vinyl did ours when the lawn mower took a chunk out of it