The Nightmare of Historic Homes
Estimating siding in Upstate New York, Long Island, or the Hudson Valley often means dealing with homes built in the 1800s or early 1900s. These homes do not have standard OSB sheathing. They have plank wood sheathing, no house wrap, and lead paint.
When you strip the old siding off a historic New York home, you almost always find rot. If your contract does not include a strict "Rotten Wood Replacement" clause (e.g., $85 per sheet of plywood, $10 per linear foot of framing), you will lose your entire profit margin rebuilding their walls for free.
Additionally, EPA RRP (Renovation, Repair and Painting) lead-safe certification is mandatory. The labor required to lay down heavy plastic, wear Tyvek suits, and properly dispose of lead-painted cedar shakes must be explicitly calculated in your estimate.
Selling Energy Efficiency (Rigid Foam)
The winters in New York are brutal. Heating oil and natural gas prices are major pain points for homeowners.
Siding contractors in New York should never sell a basic house wrap (like standard Tyvek). You must always quote insulated vinyl siding (like Alside Prodigy) or add a layer of 1-inch rigid foam insulation (like Kingspan or XPS) behind fiber cement. The material cost increases the bid by $2,000, but you can sell it at a $4,000 premium because you are solving their heating bill problem.
Logistics and Scaffolding
Houses in New York (especially downstate or in the boroughs) are often built incredibly close together. You cannot fit a massive boom lift between two houses in Queens.
Your estimate must account for manual pump-jack scaffolding setup, tight-quarters staging, and off-site dumpster parking. Logistic friction in New York adds a minimum of 15% to your base labor burden compared to building in a wide-open suburb.