# Vinyl siding j channel HELP!!!



## jmk9911 (May 16, 2011)

I'm hoping someone can give me advise asap. I hired a contractor to install certainteed vinyl siding on my house. I showed him a house nearby and said basically that this is what i want my house to look like. Well..they started the siding, i went to work, and when i got home I was very very pissed at what I saw. The house looks like a billboard for j channel. Its everywhere. Around all the doors and windows, around the base of the house. It looks awful. I called immediately and complained. I said my neighbors house has no j channel and thats what i said I wanted my house to look like. I was told that the other house has newer windows and that they used lineals and lineals cant be used on my windows. Is it true that lineals cant be used on older windows? I'm guessing my windows are around 10yrs old. They are anderson double hung. Also if I cant use lineals, is there any other way to avoid the ugly look of j channels? Please help me on this as I have to deal with the contractor first thing in the morning.

Thanks!!!


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## Tom Struble (Dec 29, 2008)

lineals can absolutely be used on ANY type of window or door [except curved units] using the correct starter...your installer is ''mistaken'

wasn't this written up in your contract?


show the knuckle head this post

http://www.certainteed.com/resources/cts154.pdf


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## loneframer (Mar 27, 2009)

These are Andersen windows and they are Certainteed lineals.


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## Tom Struble (Dec 29, 2008)

nice workmanship there Loneframerman:thumbup:


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## jmk9911 (May 16, 2011)

I dont have a contract per say. There were several back and forth emails outlining the job in which i stated i wanted lineals. He said that i cant use lineals on my windows because they are wood anderson double hung with brick mould. I then had him look at my neighbors windows and he said he could trim mine like theirs are which looks like aluminum coil framing out the window in about a 31/2 " frame but no j channel showing. Now the job is 1/2 done and it is the worst thing ive ever seen. The back of the house has j channel everywhere. The windows look nothing like my neighbors and his excuse now is that my neighbors windows have a built in j channel. There was no mention of this before the job was started. My windows have aluminum surrounded by j channel. It looks like a job done in 1985. I'm so pissed off. The only thing i have going for me is that i have not paid a dime towards the job yet. I have a feeling that this is going to get ugly because i dont plan on paying until the job is done right.


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## Tom Struble (Dec 29, 2008)

there are no 10 year old Andersen windows that i know of with a wood brickmould,but regardless lineals can still be used

no contract is not smart:no:your opinion on what is right may not stand up


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## jmk9911 (May 16, 2011)

I guess I should have had a contract although the emails outlined the whole job. I just figured this guy would do the right thing. Either way I haven't paid for the job yet. I was also wondering if theres different grades of the aluminum coil used to wrap the windows. What was used on my houses looks like a dingy white. Are there better grades where the color is brighter?


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

It’s not to late for a contract. Don’t let the job continue until you both agree on what’s to be done and for how much money and get it in writing. Take the day off work if you must to get this resolved. Stay calm be professional yet civil.


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## jmk9911 (May 16, 2011)

I just got off the phone with the contractor. I also called certainteed to make sure lineals could be used on all applications..they said yes they can. So i called the contractor and asked why I was told that I couldnt use them. He said that its not proper to use them on my type of windows and that certainteed is just trying to push their products. I then told him that I spoke to two other contractors that said I could use them and his story changed to " my foreman who has been doing siding jobs for years told me that you cant use them". I'm now waiting for him to call me back as the steam is coming from my ears


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## jmk9911 (May 16, 2011)

Just got off the phone with the contractor. He is now saying that in order to use lineals on my windows they would need to cut off the brick mold. This would ruin the integrity of my windows. That is why lineals can't be used on my house. Does this make any sense? I'm lost on this


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## jmk9911 (May 16, 2011)

Kwik...the hardest part is remaining calm..but thanks for your advise. When i start to feel like i'm being taken advantage of I lose my temper fairly quick. Thanks for bringing that up as it is a valid point


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

I don’t know that your being taken advantage of. I’m sure you contractor would just assume be working on your house today than ordering more materials. It’s pretty obvious you two didn’t have a “meeting of the minds” which is a contract, verbal or otherwise. This is why we write there things down and sign them.

Brick mold is window trim, lineals are window trim, to have lineals around brick mold would be double trim and look retarded IMO, it‘s one or the other.

You do know the lineals cost quite a bit more than the J which is something I’m sure the two of you need to work out.

Just be sure he comes back with a contract and "all" of your concerns are addressed before you go any further or this could turn into a way bigger mess.


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## jmk9911 (May 16, 2011)

I think that by saying i couldnt use the lineals the contractor was trying to lower his costs. The j channel looks absolutely horrible and cheap. Had I known this is what he was going to do I would have never agreed to it. His solution now is to re trim the windows with aluminum so that the j channel can't be seen.What is the correct way to do this? Does this sound like a good solution or is he just trying to get away with an easy fix? Will the vinyl siding have to be removed from around the windows in order for him to do what he's saying? I know I'm asking a lot of questions. I really appreciate the help


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## Tom Struble (Dec 29, 2008)

cut off brickmould?on a 10 year old Andersen?...no way:no:remove yes,maybe, cut no...


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## loneframer (Mar 27, 2009)

I've installed well into the thousands of Andersen windows over the last 25 years and have never seen one with a brickmold either factory installed or field installed. I'd love to see a picture of what it is you have going on over there.:huh:


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## jmk9911 (May 16, 2011)

Here's a picture of the garage and one window. I'm curious how this is going to be fixed. If they take aluminum and go over what is there now with a bigger piece and nail it on top I have a feeling that it will eventually look like crap and is probably not the right way to fix this. What is the right way to fix this? I'm so pissed that I'm even involved in this situation. Help


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

The window looks good to me.


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## jmk9911 (May 16, 2011)

It's all colonial white perfection shingle..just the lighting


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

Sorry, edited that comment as you were typing yours.


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## oldfrt (Oct 18, 2007)

jmk9911 said:


> I'm hoping someone can give me advise asap. I hired a contractor to install certainteed vinyl siding on my house. I showed him a house nearby and said basically that this is what i want my house to look like. Well..they started the siding, i went to work, and when i got home I was very very pissed at what I saw. The house looks like a billboard for j channel. Its everywhere. Around all the doors and windows, around the base of the house. It looks awful. I called immediately and complained. I said my neighbors house has no j channel and thats what i said I wanted my house to look like. I was told that the other house has newer windows and that they used lineals and lineals cant be used on my windows. Is it true that lineals cant be used on older windows? I'm guessing my windows are around 10yrs old. They are anderson double hung. *Also if I cant use lineals, is there any other way to avoid the ugly look of j channels?* Please help me on this as I have to deal with the contractor first thing in the morning.
> 
> Thanks!!!


 There is a way to avoid all the J on the trim.A good brake guy could have bent
the J into a window trim to mimic the lineal look you wanted.
Kind of late now,but at least it looks like the installer is doing a pretty neat job otherwise.

He can still re-wrap the windows using coil stock to give you the J-less look,
although I'd question how watertight that trim job would be.
Have him do one to see how it looks.
Another concern would be where any water goes that enters that J.It could be
dumping behind the siding if he didn't divert it correctly near the bottom of the 
windows.

Here's a pic of a trim with the J built in on an Andersen unit.


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## firehawkmph (Dec 12, 2009)

loneframer said:


> I've installed well into the thousands of Andersen windows over the last 25 years and have never seen one with a brickmold either factory installed or field installed. I'd love to see a picture of what it is you have going on over there.:huh:


I think your windows are older than ten years. Andersen used to make wood windows with brickmold years ago before they were encasing the outside in vinyl. A lot of houses around by me built in the seventies have these windows. How your contractor did the one window you show in the pics is a common way to cap the brickmold and channel around it. He looks to be doing a fairly neat job. You shouldn't come on here and raise all kinds of hell when you didn't sit down with him and write up a contract and clearly communicate what you wanted your house to look like. There are more than one way to do a job, and evidently you both weren't on the same page. I think the fault lies with both parties. You could have been a lot more specific, and so could the contractor. You should both sit down civilly and work this out. If you get mad, or he gets mad, nothing good will come out of it. 
Mike Hawkins


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## jmk9911 (May 16, 2011)

Oldfrt..Thank you..that was the answer I was looking for. I finally figured that out yesterday after spending about 2 hrs on the computer and doing searches. Now the problem is that the guy made the window trim too big and to wrap it in aluminum and cover the j channel i'm going to end up with a 4" frame which looks way too big. The only way to make it smaller would be to cut the j channel or to take the siding down and re do it!! And to firehawk, youre right it should have been in writing but I specifically showed the guy my neighbors house who's windows are done the way oldfrt described and said " that's the way i want my windows too look". I dont see how i could have been more specific. How this guy did something different is beyond me. So now I'm still left with an issue..the guy made the original aluminum trim 3" and that plus the j channel now needs to be wrapped and its going to look too big just under 4".


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## Tom Struble (Dec 29, 2008)

loneframer said:


> I've installed well into the thousands of Andersen windows over the last 25 years and have never seen one with a brickmold either factory installed or field installed. I'd love to see a picture of what it is you have going on over there.:huh:


 
i think it's a permashield unit with wood brickmould applied around it,just could have pulled it off and installed the lineal


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## Collardcarpntry (May 25, 2011)

Sounds like you should have talked to your neighbor and had his siding guy do your house. Just saying.:whistling2:


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