Vinyl siding is a good choice for only one reason: It won't rot or corrupt structurally due to moisture or intense UV/Sun.
But, if you live in an area with above average rainfall or the like, you can't put mildewcide in the material. Mildewcide is an additive that you put in latex paints to ****** mildew from attaching itself to exterior surfaces. If the home is painted, any mildew (green, black or orange discoloring) seen is not inbedded into the siding if mildewcide is added to paint. It's simply a surface problem and can be washed off easily. With vinyl siding, the mildew gets into the product and becomes a part of the vinyl if not maintained.
Cleaning a vinyl sided house is also more touchy than cleaning a wood-sided home. Power washers are normally powerful, as they should be in order to clean what they're made to do. Vinyl sided houses have a tendency to not be "air tight" due to the abundance of gaps between the panels. If you're not careful and too aggressive while washing, you'll shoot water between each siding "overlap" and get water all in the house.
Also, they say that "vinyl siding cannot be painted". Well, that's not necessarily true. Anything can be painted if it's prepped and primed correctly. And therein lies the rub with vinyl siding. Because, if you ever decide to change the color of your home, it's a cumbersome and expensive proposition. I'm a painting contractor and have painted my share of vinyl homes.
First, the entire surface (after a power wash) needs to be "etched", or scratched up for any paint to adhere. Unless you sand the entire house down, it's like painting glass or a car hood, and the paint won't stick. It'll peel off in sheets like wax-paper if you don't etch the entire home.
Then, for a correct paint job, you'll hafta' caulk between every vertical or horizontal panel or "slat", which are generally 4" or 6" panels that make up the entire siding of the house. THIS is a TON of work. Then, the home would have to be primed of course, and the only primer that works on vinyl is "Fresh Start". Fresh Start is an expensive primer (around $140.00 per 5 gal.) made by Benjamin Moore. Most primers run around $55.00 to $65.00 per 5 gal. Fresh Start is made for just that, a "fresh start" on "re-paint" projects. It is "over specified" and not made for regular priming for new projects and the like. It's specifically made for existing projects that need to go back to the beginning and start all over again. Thus, the "Fresh Start" logo. And IT'S EXPENSIVE!
After that, you could paint the vinyl house with whatever you please because the hard work is done.
In a nutshell, unless you're committed to the same color house for the rest of the life of the home, then don't go "vinyl". Because the cost any re-paint project for a vinyl home is around triple the cost of a normal re-paint project on a stick house.
Also, should any damage or need to replace anything on a vinyl home (high winds, if your car bumps the siding and damages it, earthquake repair, etc..............) you're gonna' have to track down the EXACT SAME siding to match. This becomes a problem if the home was completed, say, a dozen or so years ago, and you have to find the original siding from the original vendor or supplier in order to match. Your siding may have been discontinued by then, or out of stock. Or, the supplier may have gone out of business or relocated, etc, etc.................Trying to find a few pieces of YOUR siding that was installed in 1994 in the year 2009, I'll guarantee ya' is gonna' turn into a major hassle. If the house is a wood-sided and painted house, you simply go to the nearest Lowe's or Home Depot, buy the siding, install the repair and paint it to match existing.
Finally, the ONLY thing you can clean ANY VINYL with is water and extremely mild water-soluble cleaners (Windex, light bleach, "green" cleaners, etc....) Any cleaner even remotely strong (denatured alcohol, thinners, Xylene, MEK, TSP, etc.............) will burn the surface. It'll melt it. Instead of being able to let the cleaning product to the bulk of the work (and all you have to do is rinse), you're gonna do the bulk of the work with a lot of "elbow grease" applied. If you paint a wood-sided house, you can "TSP"-it a ton and simple rinse and the home will be clean as new.
These are just a couple of tid-bits from my own experiences as a painting contractor for over 20 years. I'm sure other's in the field will concur and agree. Of course, I'm biased. The less vinyl homes out there, THE MORE WORK FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!
