Aluminum siding is essentially maintenence-free, extremelydurable, and is a great insulator, even better than brick. Brickleaks air through the mortar between the bricks, especially in olderhouses that need tuckpointing. My question is, do you feel sidingstill has a declasse connotation, or is it getting more acceptableas the years go on?
Brick is certainly the most durable if taken care of properly. My second choice is aluminum siding, which is far more durable than vinyl siding any day. Vinyl is simply more affordable, which is why most home have it these days - whoever decided that aluminum siding declasses a home, is full of malarky.
No worse than vinyl. The advantage vinyl has over aluminum is its resistance to denting. Siding is a good finish, but if you've already got a brick exterior, you're wasting the hard hours the masons put in to make it. If the brick has deteriorated or is horribly scarred, like having survived a hurricane or tornado, then sure, siding will spiff it up cosmetically as well as adding insulation value. That said, I'd rather take a house with aluminum siding over wood any day...and vinyl over that. If you get the siding in the color you want, as it's the entire thickness of the vinyl, powerwashing the outside won't take the color off as it could with painted wood or (though less likely) the finish on the aluminum...unless you *like* painting :)
