Siding in Rochester Hills, MI
Rochester Hills is not flat. The land rolls, the Clinton River cuts through it, and a great many houses here sit on graded lots with walkout or daylight basements. From the street a house can look like a two-storey; from the back garden it is three.
That is the defining feature of siding work here. The rear elevation is frequently the tallest wall on the house, the hardest to reach, and the one nobody has looked at closely in fifteen years.
Siding work on sloped Oakland County lots
Completed 3G jobs. At the estimate we can show you work on a house with a similar rear elevation.
Walkout lots and the tall rear wall
A walkout changes the arithmetic of a siding job in ways that are not obvious from a front-elevation photograph.
- The rear wall is a storey taller. More material, and more of it above safe ladder height, which means staging or a lift rather than a ladder and a plank.
- The ground falls away as you work along it. Staging has to be levelled on a slope. That takes time on the first morning and it is a real cost, not padding.
- Deck and patio in the way. Most walkouts have a deck off the main floor. Working above and below it, and flashing where the ledger passes through the wall, is the fiddliest part of the job.
- Two different wall conditions on one elevation. The lower level is often foundation or a different framing detail from the level above. The transition between them is where the flashing has to be right.
- Water arrives at the bottom of that wall. Everything the roof collects, plus everything running down the slope, ends up at the low corner. It is the place where siding, gutter and grading all have to agree.
What suits a tall rear elevation
On a tall rear wall the panel has to look right from a distance, because that is how it will mostly be seen: from the garden, from the deck, from further down the slope. Waviness and fastening errors show much more on a tall plane than on a short one.
A heavier or insulated vinyl panel is the practical choice and lies flatter. The profiles are on our vinyl siding and trim page. On the walkout level, where splash and ground moisture are a factor, fiber cement is worth considering for the lower courses even where the rest of the house is vinyl.
Many Rochester Hills houses combine brick or stone at the lower level with siding above. Getting that transition flashed rather than caulked is the detail that decides whether the lower level stays dry.
Staging on a slope, and what it means for your garden
The honest version of a walkout siding job is that the back garden is a work site for most of it. Knowing that in advance is better than finding out on day two.
What we do about it:
- We walk the rear with you at the estimate. Where the staging feet land, and what has to be moved, is agreed before anyone arrives.
- Plants and beds get protected or temporarily moved. Staging legs on a slope need solid, level bearing, and that sometimes means a bed rather than a lawn.
- The deck may need to be partly cleared. Furniture off, and occasionally a section of railing removed to get material through.
- Lawn damage on a slope is real. Wet ground plus staging plus foot traffic. We keep it to the minimum, and we would rather warn you than surprise you.
The low corner of the house
On a graded lot there is always one corner where everything ends up. Roof water, surface water off the slope, and meltwater in March all arrive at the same place, and that corner is where we find soft trim, staining and, in the worst cases, water in the lower level.
Siding alone will not solve that. What solves it is getting the roof water away from the corner in the first place, which is a gutter, downspout and discharge question rather than a panel question. Our Rochester Hills gutter page explains how sloped lots change downspout placement, and the drainage page covers where the water goes after that.
We will point this out at the estimate whether or not you buy the gutter work from us. Putting new siding on that corner without dealing with the water is money spent on a symptom.
The rest of the exterior on a walkout house
On a sloped lot these are not separate jobs, they are the same job seen from different heights:
- Gutters in Rochester Hills — walkout lots and downspout placement on a slope.
- Roofing in Rochester Hills — staging a roof on a graded lot.
- Drainage — where the water goes once it is off the wall.
- Decks — the ledger through the wall is the joint that matters most on a walkout.
Siding questions from Rochester Hills homeowners
Does a walkout make the job much more expensive?
It makes the rear elevation more expensive, because of height and staging rather than material. Whether that moves the total a lot depends on how much of the house is affected. We price the staging openly rather than burying it.
Do you have to take my deck apart?
Almost never entirely. Usually it is furniture off and occasionally a railing section removed for access. Where the ledger flashing is wrong we will show you, and fixing it is a separate decision.
Water gets into my lower level in spring. Will new siding help?
Only if the water is coming through the wall, which is less common than people think. Usually it is arriving at the foundation from the roof or the slope. We will tell you which one we think it is before you spend anything.
Can the lower level be a different material from the upper?
Yes, and on a walkout it often makes sense. A more impact- and moisture-tolerant material at ground level with vinyl above is a reasonable specification, as long as the transition between them is properly flashed.
Serving Rochester Hills and nearby Rochester, Auburn Hills, Troy and Oakland Township.
