Why Burlington siding fails when it fails
Burlington’s residential stock spans more than a hundred years, and that range shows up plainly in the siding we replace. In the older neighborhoods north of Front Street and along the historic mill-village streets downtown, we’re frequently pulling off 1980s-era vinyl that has reached the end of its life — faded, brittle, warping in the summer heat, and in many cases hiding water damage on the OSB or plank sheathing behind it. In the newer developments north and east of I-40, near Elon University and toward Mebane, the calls look more like the rest of the Triad: builder-grade vinyl that was nailed too tight and has buckled, or window flashing that was never detailed correctly to begin with.
The common thread is that siding rarely fails as a material. It fails because of what’s underneath — missing kickout flashing where the siding meets a roof, window flashing that lets water sneak behind the wrap, or house wrap that was stapled up and never taped. By the time you see it from the street, the sheathing has often been wet for years. Every install we do is built on the assumption that water will eventually get behind the siding, so the wrap, flashing, and drainage gaps exist to give it somewhere safe to go.
What we install in Burlington
For the older mill-village homes and the higher-end houses near Elon, James Hardie fiber cement is the premium standard — it doesn’t burn, rot, or feed termites, and it holds paint 12 to 15 years. Hardie’s warranty depends on getting the fastener type, blind nailing, and gap details right, and our crews are trained on that spec. For rentals, student housing around Elon, and budget-conscious replacements, we install premium-grade vinyl (CertainTeed, Mastic) — not the thin contractor stuff that warps. LP SmartSide engineered wood is our middle-ground option for the modern-farmhouse builds going up north of town, and we install real cedar shake on the Victorian-era and historic homes where nothing else gives the right look.
Every Burlington siding job includes:
- Full tear-off down to the sheathing, with rotted OSB or plywood replaced
- House wrap (Tyvek or equivalent) properly lapped and taped
- Window and door flashing with peel-and-stick membrane at head, jambs, and sill
- Kickout flashing where siding meets a roof — the detail most often done wrong on older homes
- Trim and finish carpentry — corners, frieze board, water table, surrounds
- Final paint on primed Hardie installations
What’s different about siding work in Burlington
Burlington sits at the eastern edge of our regular service area — about a 40-minute drive east on I-40 from our shop on Reynolda Road in Winston-Salem. We work there regularly enough that the logistics are routine, but we schedule full-house siding projects so we can mobilize the crew efficiently. On multi-day jobs you may see our trucks parked overnight at the property to keep commute time from eating into install time.
The mixed-age housing matters too. A re-side on a mill-village home often turns up surprises behind the old siding — additions, layered repairs, framing that isn’t square — and we handle that finish carpentry in-house rather than handing it to a subcontractor.
Why Burlington homeowners choose Mid Atlantic
- Hardie-trained install crews — in-house W-2 employees, no subcontractors
- Full wrap and flashing detailing, not the staple-and-hope install on cheap jobs
- Set up for the drive — scheduling and crew logistics in Burlington are normal for us
- A+ BBB, 4.8 stars on Google and Facebook
- 3-year workmanship warranty on every project
- Color and profile selection at your home with physical samples
Schedule a Burlington siding estimate
Call (336) 671-5208 or request an estimate online. Siding estimates take 45 to 60 minutes for a full whole-house walk, and for Burlington we typically schedule within a week.