Siding Replacement for Historic Kenwood Homes in St. Pete

Why Historic Kenwood's Older Homes Need a Different Approach to Siding

Historic Kenwood is one of St. Petersburg's designated historic neighborhoods, and a lot of the homes there predate modern building codes, modern house wrap, and modern siding materials entirely. That matters more than most homeowners realize. A siding replacement on a home built decades ago isn't the same job as re-siding a house built recently — the framing has settled, the sheathing may have been repaired piecemeal over the years, and whatever water-resistive barrier exists behind the old siding, if any, was never designed to modern standards. Get the replacement right and a Historic Kenwood home can look sharp and stay protected for decades. Get it wrong — cover up rot, skip flashing details, or use a material that doesn't suit the house — and the problems just move to the next layer, hidden behind a fresh coat of paint.

What's Usually Underneath

On many older Historic Kenwood homes, the original siding is wood lap or shingle siding, sometimes covered at some point with a layer of aluminum or vinyl added decades ago as a low-cost fix. Underneath, it's common to find a mix of old and newer sheathing, inconsistent nailing patterns, and trim details that don't match modern lumber sizes. None of that is a problem by itself — it just means a contractor doing a proper tear-off has to actually look at what's there instead of assuming it matches a spec sheet.

What St. Petersburg's Climate Does to Siding Over the Years

St. Petersburg sits on a peninsula in Pinellas County, and that location cuts both ways — it's part of what makes the neighborhood desirable, and it's also why siding here takes a beating that inland houses never see. Four things do most of the damage over time:

• Hurricane-force wind: Even homes that never take a direct hit still deal with repeated tropical-storm-strength gusts that work siding loose at the nail line and drive water behind poorly sealed joints.
• Year-round UV exposure: Florida sun is intense nearly every month of the year, and it breaks down paint film, caulk, and the surface of some siding materials faster than in most other parts of the country.
• Wind-driven rain: It's rarely just rain here — it's rain pushed sideways into laps, corners, and trim joints, which is exactly where old or poorly installed siding fails first.
• Salt air: Being close to the Gulf and Tampa Bay means airborne salt settles on every exterior surface, accelerating corrosion of fasteners and trim, and speeding up the breakdown of paint and caulk.

None of that is unique to Historic Kenwood, but it's magnified on older homes where the original materials, fasteners, and flashing details were never designed for the storm exposure this area now regularly sees.

Signs a Historic Kenwood Home Needs Replacement, Not a Patch

Repainting or spot-patching old siding buys time, but it doesn't fix what's happening underneath. Watch for:

• Soft or spongy spots when you press on lap siding, especially near the bottom courses and around window and door trim
• Paint that keeps failing in the same spots within a year or two of repainting
• Visible cupping, warping, or separation at the seams between boards
• Rising utility bills or noticeably drafty rooms, which can point to a compromised water-resistive barrier letting in air along with moisture
• Rust streaks below nail heads or corner trim, a sign fasteners are corroding from salt exposure
• Siding that was already patched with a mismatched material at some point in the home's history

Any one of these can usually be addressed on its own. Several at once, especially on a home that hasn't been re-sided in a long time, is usually the point where full replacement costs less over time than another round of patch repairs.

What a Correct Siding Replacement Involves on a Historic Home

Tear-Off and Inspection, Not Cover-Over

The single biggest mistake on an older home is siding over existing siding, or over rotted sheathing, just to save a day of labor. A correct job means stripping the old siding down to the sheathing, checking for rot and water damage at every window, door, and corner, and replacing any compromised framing or sheathing before anything new goes up. On a Historic Kenwood home, that inspection step often turns up problems around old window openings or additions that were never properly flashed the first time.

A Real Water-Resistive Barrier

Older homes frequently have little or no functional house wrap behind the original siding. A correct replacement installs a proper weather-resistive barrier over the sheathing, with flashing tape at every seam, window, and door opening, before the new siding ever goes on. This is the layer that actually keeps wind-driven rain out of the wall cavity — the siding itself is the second line of defense, not the first.

Matching the Home's Character

Part of what makes Historic Kenwood worth preserving is its architectural character, and re-siding an older home isn't an excuse to flatten that out with generic modern panels. A correct approach matches the original board width, reveal, and trim profile as closely as the replacement material allows, so the finished house still reads as the home it always was — just protected by materials built for how this area actually weathers.

Why We Install Only James Hardie Fiber Cement Siding

We don't install vinyl siding, LP SmartSide, Cemplank, Allura, or bare cedar and primed spruce siding — not because those products can't be installed correctly by someone, but because we've made a standard for our own crews, and James Hardie fiber cement is what we're willing to put our name behind in this climate.

Material	How It Handles Salt Air & Humidity	Wind/Storm Performance	Maintenance Over Time
Vinyl siding	Doesn't rot, but softens, warps, and fades faster under intense year-round UV	Can crack or blow off in high wind if not fastened and rated correctly	Low, but limited repair options once faded or brittle
LP SmartSide (engineered wood)	Wood-based core is sensitive to sustained moisture exposure if any seal is compromised	Performs well when installed to spec	Requires consistent caulking and repainting to protect the wood substrate
Bare cedar / primed spruce	Natural wood is vulnerable to moisture, salt, and UV breakdown without constant upkeep	Performance depends heavily on installation quality and ongoing maintenance	High — regular refinishing needed to prevent rot
James Hardie fiber cement	Non-combustible, engineered for humid coastal climates, resists moisture-related warping	Rated for high-wind regions when installed to manufacturer spec	Low — factory ColorPlus finish holds color without repainting on the manufacturer's schedule

James Hardie also builds region-specific HZ product lines engineered for exactly the conditions Pinellas County homes deal with — humidity, moisture cycling, and UV exposure — and backs the product with a long transferable warranty that matters when an older home eventually changes hands. That combination is why it's the only material we put on the homes we work on, historic or not.

What Affects the Cost of Re-Siding a Historic Kenwood Home

Every home is different, and on an older house the honest answer to "what will this cost" depends on more than square footage. The main variables:

Cost Factor	Why It Matters
Square footage and number of stories	More wall area and higher elevations mean more material and more time on staging or lifts
Amount of trim and architectural detail	Historic homes often carry more window trim, corner boards, and decorative elements than a simple modern elevation
What the tear-off uncovers	Rotted sheathing or framing found once old siding comes off adds repair cost that can't always be quoted sight-unseen
Existing layers to remove	A home with wood siding under a later layer of vinyl or aluminum takes longer to strip than a single layer
Number of window and door openings	Each opening needs its own flashing and trim work, which adds labor beyond the flat square footage

Because so much of that depends on what's actually behind the existing siding, an honest estimate on an older home always includes an in-person look — not just a number quoted over the phone.

Our Process for a Historic Kenwood Siding Replacement

1. On-site assessment: We walk the exterior, check for soft spots and existing damage, and look at trim, window, and corner details specific to the home.
2. Written scope and estimate: You get a clear breakdown of what's being replaced, what board profile and color we're recommending, and what the job actually costs — no vague allowances.
3. Tear-off and structural check: Old siding comes off, sheathing and framing get inspected, and any rot or damage gets repaired before we move forward.
4. Water-resistive barrier and flashing: A proper weather barrier goes on with flashing at every penetration and opening.
5. Hardie installation to manufacturer spec: Correct fastening pattern, gapping, and clearances — the details that determine whether the warranty is actually valid.
6. Trim, caulking, and final paint detail: Finish work that matches the character of the home rather than fighting it.
7. Final walkthrough: We go over the finished job with you before calling it done.

Why Hiring a Crew That Already Works in Historic Kenwood Matters

A siding crew that's worked in Historic Kenwood before already knows what tends to be hiding behind old wood siding in this neighborhood, what trim profiles read as in-character instead of generic, and how the local climate — the salt air off the bay, the wind exposure, the intense sun — has already treated the home before we ever showed up. That experience shows up in small decisions throughout the job: where to expect rot before the tear-off even starts, which flashing details matter most on a home this age, and how to match reveal and trim so the house still looks like itself when it's done. It's the difference between a crew that's re-siding "a house" and one that understands what re-siding an older St. Petersburg home actually requires.

If your Historic Kenwood home needs new siding, we're happy to take a look and give you a straightforward, no-pressure estimate — no guesswork, no pressure to decide on the spot, just an honest read on what your home actually needs. Fill out the form below and we'll set up a time to come take a look.