I am guessing that depending on how "extreme" your weather is would have alot to do with the longevity. I have seen vinyl siding in a dry climate on a fairly new home that had cracks and bulges from the sun! I have also seen it on homes in a damp climate where moss tends to grow on it; so the homeowner used a pressure washer to clean it and it split the siding!!! I am not a huge fan of the stuff but I am sure there is a market for it. I would ask contractors in your area about their experience with the siding.

also if you have vinyl you have to keep heat away from it. my wife's grandfather had the ceiling of his carport done in vinyl when his siding was put up. the heat from the cars during summer has warped and ruined a spot over each vehicle. he also has some warping on the south west face due to the sun.

personally i would rather use aluminum even though it requires painting every few years. at least it won't split, crack, warp, burn.

A lot depends on the grade of the vinyl you purchase. If you get that cheap stuff from the big box stores, don't expect much out of it. It will crack easily after a few years. But if you get something like Certainteed Momogram siding, I have personally found it to be a very durable product. It is very color-fast too. We started out house around 2001. The siding is Granite Gray. this year, we finally finished the sunroom and installed the new siding, and the match is perfect. the old siding has been in full sun for 7 years and it is a perfect match to the siding that has been in it's box all this time. No fade at all. The old siding is as flexible as the new stuff, so over that time period it has not degraded. I am very happy with it. Great product!!

PVC depends on expensive plasticizers for durability and you can't even generalize about a brand name because the companies change their products just like paint manufacturers do.

Thanks. Well, when we first started talking about building, DH was all happy about the idea of no more painting--we've been painting and painting and painting a 200 y.o. farmhouse for 22 years now. OK. Then I started reading about vinyl, brittleness, fading, hail, flapping in the wind, etc., and also about the pros of fiber cement siding--except, of course, that it will need painting at some point.

What I'm now trying to figure out is, if one has to re-side the vinyl every 20 years or so anyway, it would still be cheaper (over the operating life) to have the fiber cement professionally repainted vs. re-siding the house? And I'm gathering that it would look, wear, and function better, too?

But that equation might not work if vinyl is really going to last 30-plus years....

Any insights on that?

how about fiber cement board? nichiha has a great looking product. they're stained, guaranteed for 20 years, i believe.

Cement board is the way to go...you can get a factory finish with a 15 year finish warranty so that you don't have to worry about painting for at least a good while.

I'd have to say it would be quite odd to get 30 years out of vinyl siding. Most vinyl siding looks aged after only 7 or 8 years let alone 30.

Our last house was beige vinyl sided and looked bad after about 8 years. It faded and developed a chalky appearance.
Our current house had Hardiplank and I love it.

We put vinyl siding on about 8 years ago and it looks as good now as the day we put it on. It was a higher end vinyl, though.

Here in Michigan vinyl must hold up a lot better than other areas. I know specifically of homes that are 12-20 years old and look as good as new. The expensive neighborhoods that I used to install carpet in 23 years ago have homes covered in vinyl that look no worse for wear.

I really believe it depends on the brand and grade of vinyl. MANY builders go with low end to save on their costs. Looks good now, won't last though. If you look at many of the high-end vinyl companies, they offer long warrentys and have even hurricane proof siding that wont come loose and flap around. Our old house is tan and we installed that siding around 1990. It still looks as good as the day we installed it.