Siding Repair on Long Island

We are not a new-install crew that does "occasional repairs" as an afterthought. Siding repair is about 15% of our weekly volume, especially in the fall and spring storm seasons. Here is what we see most often on Long Island houses.

Tree damage. A nor'easter pushes a limb through the wall. A summer storm drops a branch on the soffit. Somebody backs a truck into the corner. We replace the damaged panels, repair the sheathing if there is rot behind it, color-match to the existing siding, and most of the time you cannot tell which panels are new.

Popped or cracked panels. Expansion and contraction over years, combined with nails that were driven too tight originally, cause vinyl panels to buckle or crack. We pull the affected course, replace the damaged panels, and re-nail to proper tolerance so it does not happen again.

Water damage behind siding. Failed J-channel sealant, missing kickout flashing, or a bad caulk joint above a window lets water get behind the siding and rot the sheathing. We pull the siding, replace the rotted OSB or plywood, reflash, reinstall.

Missing or loose sections. High wind events (anything over 60 mph on LI) can rip whole sections of vinyl off if they were installed too tight. We re-clip and replace as needed.

Trim and fascia rot. The old wood trim under the soffit and around the windows rots before the siding does on a lot of LI homes, especially the 1950s-70s tract homes. We replace rotted wood trim with PVC or aluminum-wrapped, and reseal the interface with the siding.

Cedar shake replacement. Individual shakes can be replaced when they cup, split, or get woodpeckered. We carry real cedar shingle blanks on the shop truck and can color-match Maibec for in-stock replacements.

Hardie panel repair. Fiber cement is durable but not indestructible. A thrown baseball, a ladder fall, a tree limb. We carry spare HardieTrim and HardiePlank in three common colors and can order more in about a week.

Woodpecker holes. Annoyingly common on cedar gables in wooded areas of Smithtown and Stony Brook. We patch with matched cedar and treat the area to discourage return visits.

Most siding repair calls fail because the contractor does not have the color in stock and has to wait 2-3 weeks for the manufacturer to ship a matching bundle. In the meantime your house has a hole in it covered with blue tarp.

We solved this by loading the shop truck with the 20 most common Long Island siding colors in CertainTeed Monogram and Mastic Quest. These cover roughly 75% of the vinyl houses in Nassau and Suffolk built after 1995. The colors we carry:

• Colonial White
• Sterling Gray
• Granite Gray
• Heritage Cream
• Cape Cod Gray
• Flagstone
• Cypress
• Autumn Red
• Sable Brown
• Sandstone Beige
• Seaspray Blue
• Natural Clay
• Autumn Yellow
• Charcoal Gray
• Pearl Gray
• Forest Green
• Silver Sage
• Harbor Fog
• Desert Tan
• Wicker

If your siding color is in that list, we can almost always be on-site within 24 hours and done with the repair before lunch. If it is not in our inventory, we order the match and come back in 7-10 days.

Step 1: Text us a photo. Text the damaged area to (516) 555-0100. Include a wide shot of the wall and a close-up of the damage. If the sheathing is exposed, tell us in the text.

Step 2: We look and reply. Ryan or Mike will reply within a couple of hours during business hours (7am-6pm Mon-Sat). We will tell you if we have your color in stock, if we can come out same-day or next-day, and what the repair will cost. Most repairs fall in one of three price brackets, see below.

Step 3: Emergency board-up if needed. If the sheathing is exposed and rain is in the forecast, we can come out the same day to tarp the wall and stop the water. That service is $275 flat regardless of distance within Nassau or Suffolk, and we do not charge if we already have the repair contract.

Step 4: The actual repair. We show up when we said we would, with the right color on the truck, fix the damage, sweep the yard, send you the invoice. Most repairs are done in a morning.

Repair pricing varies wildly based on what is wrong, but most calls fall into one of these three brackets.

Bracket 1: Minor repair ($275 - $650)

• 1 to 4 damaged panels, no sheathing damage
• Popped or loose panels reseated
• Minor trim damage (one corner board, one window wrap)
• Emergency tarp only (for storm calls)

Usually done in one visit, under 2 hours on site. Same-day turnaround if the color is in stock.

Bracket 2: Medium repair ($650 - $2,400)

• 5 to 20 damaged panels
• Some sheathing repair behind the damaged area
• Trim and fascia replacement on one elevation
• J-channel re-seal around 2-4 windows

One to two visits, 4-8 hours on site.

Bracket 3: Major repair ($2,400 - $8,500)

• Whole wall section needs redoing
• Extensive sheathing rot discovered
• Multiple elevations affected
• Integrated with other repair work (soffit, fascia, partial trim replacement)

Two to four days on site. May require a permit depending on scope and town.

Above $8,500 and into full wall replacement territory, you should just reside the whole house. We will tell you honestly when that crossover makes sense. Sometimes a $6,000 repair just delays a $24,000 reside by 18 months. We will show you the math.

We do repairs. We also do full resides. We are not incentivized to upsell you from one to the other because we do enough of both. Here is how we actually think about it.

Repair makes sense when:

• Damage is localized (one wall, one section)
• The rest of the siding is under 15 years old and in good shape
• The color is still in production or we have it in stock
• The underlying sheathing is mostly sound
• You plan to sell in under 5 years and do not want the capital outlay

Reside makes sense when:

• Siding is over 25 years old and failing in multiple places
• Color is discontinued and the repair will stand out visually
• Sheathing damage is extensive (more than 20% of the affected wall)
• You plan to stay in the house 10+ years and want to be done with it
• The aesthetic is dated and you want to change materials anyway

When we walk out to a repair call and see that it is really a "this house needs a full reside" situation, we will tell you. Sometimes customers push back ("just fix these four panels"), and we will do the repair if that is what you want. But we will also tell you honestly what we think the house needs.

If your damage is from a storm, falling tree, fire, or vehicle impact, it is usually covered by your homeowners insurance. We work with insurance adjusters all the time and we know the format carriers require for estimates.

If you are filing a claim:

1. Take photos yourself before anyone arrives (insurance + us)
2. Call your insurance company and file the claim
3. Call us and tell us it is an insurance claim
4. We will come out, document the damage in the format your carrier wants (Xactimate compatible), and send the estimate directly to the adjuster if you give us permission
5. Once the claim is approved, we do the work

We will not inflate the estimate to "help you get more money" and we will not tell you to claim unrelated damage. That is insurance fraud and it ruins contractors' reputations. We give the carrier an honest assessment of the damage and our fair repair price.

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