Stucco or Vinyl siding
 

When looking at houses both new and used U see the same basic houses come in both styles but under a different model name. Of course the stucco is more expensive and probably sturdier with hopefully less upkeep I assume but never owned either type. Do y'all have some input for it against stucco vinyl that I may not know about? Thanks Ken

I've had both and prefer block/stucco. Vinyl is noisy. You hear rain and irrigation when it hits the siding. The siding gets moldy and fades after a few years. It gets bridle from the sun and breaks fairly easy. Impossible to match existing siding.

You do have to paint stucco. My house is 6 years old and still looks good. A friend had his painted after 9 years.

Have had both and prefer stucco mower can put holes in the vinyl if they hit debris

Have both. After a number of years wind loosen some vinyl and had to refasten. This was up North. Down here the wind from a hurricane could be problem. Lets see if anyone has had problems.
I would go block

I’ve had both. Honestly, don’t think you can go wrong with either. The newer vinyl is much improved and you should never have to paint. Also with vinyl you actually get a bit more total square feet. One neighbor I talked with (retired building contractor) preferred the vinyl and said the roofs of both were equal and during high winds (hurricanes) the roof would be first of the house to be damaged and go. He and I both had a hip roof. On the other hand, the block and stucco some like it for its curb appeal. Although I have bought and sold a number of houses, I don’t pretend to know “construction” practices and rely on others expertise who build for a living. From what I’ve been told, the houses here in The Villages are built to code and well built from a construction point of view. Again, my experence you can’t go wrong with a block/stucco or a viny sided house here in The VILLAGES. It’s personal choice.

First house new built in April 2010 medium gray vinyl, no fading, or issues with losing siding, or damage from any maintenance. Need power washing about every six months. About $60. Today looks about the same as when we purchased.
Second house new, built in November 2012, med beige vinyl, same as first house, no issues.

Third house preowned, built in December 2009, stucco. In 2015 When we purchased, paint was badly faded, on two sides, but otherwise looked ok. Had professionally painted in 2017, for $3995. Since it’s not builders grade paint, it should not have the fading issues of the first color.
The stucco does cost us about the same to heat and cool as the first two, even though it is the largest home. All three have hip roofs, None were effectived by the hurricane.

If you were here when the February 2007 tornado came through, after seeing the damage your choice would be block and stucco.

Block is my choice. I love the look.

Thank you all for the great sincere replies. It has been a great help. I'm thinking it's worth the extra money for stucco even if we need to paint it in several years.

Actually our third house was an empty lot that the tornado passed right through it. So I hoping tornados don’t take the same path twice

With all due respect, I beg to expand on your comment. We were here during the Feb 2, 2007 tornado. The Alexa Villas off of Timmonsville Way in Mallory are cement Villas. Most of the Villas in that group had their roofs torn off and their home’s furnishings sucked out. So yes the walls were intact and for the most part withstood the tornado but it still managed to wreak havoc on their homes and their lives. Neighboring vinyl Villas two streets away had minimal damage to their vinyl siding that was relatively easy to repair. The point of my post, there’s really not much protection here from a tornado. Better to go with the look you like.

We were on Sunset and the designers that were block had roof damage, the vinyl sided homes were condemned and the vinyl patio villas the next street over were destroyed. After seeing the devastation I would much rather be in a block home when a tornado hits without notice. Plus they look so much nicer. Selling agents use the term " all stucco street" as a selling point but you'll never here them say "all vinyl siding street".

I remember when the controversy about whether the contractors were installing the vinyl siding with the required number of fasteners the developer responded by talking about pieces of a vinyl sided home that was destroyed by the tornado but the vinyl siding was still firmly attached to the piece of the wall lying in the street.

That said, the tornado was about 12 years ago. None in this area since.

I hope we aren't due for one we were in the midst of that one and also one in Vero in 2006, that's enough for me.

The elephant in the room is neighborhoods of the nicest areas are predominantly block. That is not to say vinyl are not nice but as a rule homes on the premium lots are block by a noticeable margin. This carries to homes in less premium lots.

Consider how many premier homes are frame. That trickles down to the designer homes. Much like options on luxurious cars trickle down to the next tier of cars, but only the fully loaded models