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Brian Haiprin shows just some of

the colors and styles available.

Staff photos by Angie Baan

Vinyl Sided

For cost and upkeep reasons, vinyl has become the home siding of choice.

Steve Raphael
Special to the Jewish News

I

nstalling vinyl siding on the exterior
of his home was a no-brainer for
Brad Lavey. "Cost and durability"
says the construction manager for Green
Building Services in West Bloomfield.
Lavey, of Pinckney, installed the vinyl
himself in January. He also owns Visions
Construction Co. in Pinckney.
Unless you're a wealthy homeowner able
to afford the most expensive siding mate-
rials, notably fiber cement with its upscale
air, the siding material choice is pretty
much made for you. Aluminum has long
since declined in popularity and in virtu-

ally all categories, such as cost, durability
and aesthetics, trails vinyl.
According to 2007 U.S. Census Bureau
statistics entitled, "Principal Type of
Exterior Wall Material of New One-Family
Houses Sold:' twice as many homeown-
ers choose vinyl over any other material,
with vinyl siding especially strong in the
Midwest. Vinyl siding holds a 32 percent
market share among all single-family
homes — up one percentage point from
2006.
The data also reveals that vinyl siding is
the number one choice for homes priced
up to $250,000, and second only to stucco
on homes priced between $300,000 and
$500,000.

Brian Halprin, owner of Halprin
Construction Inc. in West Bloomfield,
believes the national census statistics
parallel the preferences of Detroiters.
Halprin Construction is a nine-year-old
general contractor that builds and remod-
els homes.
"I've done a lot with vinyl siding;' he
says. "I don't push any materials ... it
all comes down to my clients' budgets:'
Haiprin is a partner with Lavey in Green
Building Service.
Sara Bruhn of Bloomfield Township
hired Haiprin last fall to remodel her
home. She liked the fact that vinyl basi-
cally requires no maintenance.
The only other thought she gave to vinyl

was color, settling with husband Rob on
natural clay, chosen only after thumbing
through brochures and looking at samples.
Most of the vinyl was installed on the
back of the Bruhn home, taking up two-
thirds of the exterior. Brick is the other
third. The front of the house has a brick-
dominant facade and vinyl installed on
the new peaks Halprin built.
Vinyl siding was first introduced into
the exterior materials protection market
in the early 1960s and steadily has grown
in popularity because of its durability,
versatility and ease of maintenance. The
product is manufactured primarily with

Vinyl Sided on page C2

September 18 • 2008 Cl