" You know, lots of these urban townhouses, 2 flats and the like, often had 2-story wooden porches at the rear end. They were used for sleeping porches in the summer or whatever. Very often, in the 1930's and the 1940's, they got covered up with asphalt siding material, which is a very sturdy, long-lasting, and very ugly in most cases, and what we're doing here is replacing it not only because they don't like the look, but because we added a window up there that really makes it impossible to do a match. Carlton Bergere."

" How are you doin' Bob? Nice to meet you."

" Some might call you the tin man, but this vinyl we're putting in, right?"

" It's vinyl, yes."

" Yes. How do you get started?"

" Well, the 1st thing we do Bob is to put on a column of post. So this is the item that goes on. You can see both sides that has nail where it has elongated nail holes."

" Right."

" To allow for expansion and contraction."

" Okay."

" Now, our 1st panel is, 1st of all, we take [unk], and the [unk] you could see it right here. They're taken and laid on an even length to preserve its [unk] for the 1st course of material slipped inside it."

" Right."

" So that it will fit now. The [unk] will fit."

" Right. Into the corner."

" They'll fit right into the corner."

" And at the bottom like that, yeah."

" They'll fit right into the outside corner post, and then the 1st panel is taken and put."

" Put underneath it."

" Puts underneath of it."

" Yeah, there you go."

" And it is brought."

" Brought up to the corner."

" Brought all into the corner."

" It's all a series of interloping folds, right?"

" Sort of like building an [unk]."

" Yeah."

" It's the same idea."

" Of course, the great advantage is you're not putting up 1 single clapboard at a time. You're putting up 3 at a time, right?"

" The siding comes in 8 and 10-inch width where they would be either a triple free double 4 or an 8 inch, depending upon----"

" The exposure."

" Depending upon the exposure."

" Let me ask you 1 question, why vinyl as opposed to aluminum? Is vinyl more popular these days?"

" We find that sophistically throughout the country, there's twice as much vinyl being used than there is aluminum."

" Yeah. Why do you suppose that is?"

" Well, 1 is for the ease of working with it. Once the men get used to it, it's the easiest product to handle. Another is the solid color [unk]. There's no such thing as dirt gets on there which you can't get off. You can scrub this with [unk] wet pad or abrasive cleaner."

" Yeah."

" It doesn't dent. It [unk] while the siding is [unk]."

" Yeah."

" Nobody has to worry about the siding denting. None of this you have to come [unk] because [unk]."

" Is it less money?"

" You're gonna find the price like anything else. It's gonna depend upon the [unk] and material that [unk]. Aluminum today has become an extremely special product."

" Why is that?"

" Well, there's a shortage of aluminum. Most of your aluminum are going into commercial. The aluminum sidings that we're using today, I believe, are mostly from recycled products."

" And they're for commercial application."

" And for commercial application."

" I like this color."

" We're very proud of it. It's something that's taken hold. It's 1 of the new colors that has been developed years ago, and vinyl, when it 1st came out, you wouldn't have been able to get a [unk] like this because they did not have the tolerance to set up for expansion and contraction."

" Yeah."

" And the properties. The chemical properties was gonna [unk] through it."

" Yeah."

" We even have reds and deep browns for this."

" Now, Carlton, I've been noticing that they don't really drive these nails. They seem to just leave them out by 1/8 of an inch."

" Well, siding is not supposed to be nailed, Bob. Siding is supposed to be hung, and we have to allow for expansion and contraction of the wall, particularly with extreme temperatures"

" expansion and contraction."

" Now you don't wanna but the siding right in there because you might have buckling."

" Absolutely."

" Give it back a 14 inch."

" Then we won't have any trouble."

" Okay."

" Everything requires smooth nails to allow for it to rise."

" Yes."

" [unk] that when you look at the siding from 1 side, you don't see any of the vertical theme, and when you look at it from the other side, they're quite evident. Don't you have to worry about the weather getting in there?"

" You don't have to worry about the weather, Bob because the panels are overlapped to 34 of an inch. Of course, if we did caulk down here, that allows for expansion and contraction of the sidings. However, the idea of this thing is being laid in 1 direction and so that the job will be laid out properly, so from the street, you're not gonna be able to see."

" Yeah, you don't see any other. Good. Okay, but it actually want it to expand and contract."

" Expand and contract."