Here's the short answer: Guthix Roofing's complete vinyl siding system costs about $750 per square installed. A square is 100 square feet of wall. That price covers tearing off the old siding, Tyvek housewrap with taped seams, fan-fold insulation board, and CertainTeed vinyl siding. A ranch with 12 to 18 squares of wall comes to about $9,000 to $13,500 for the siding itself. Soffit, aluminum trim wrap, and window and door openings are separate lines on the quote, so the finished total is higher than the siding line alone.
That $750 figure is the price published on our vinyl siding replacement page, not a number pulled from a national cost database. Because it's a flat per-square rate for a defined system, estimating your own project mostly comes down to measuring your walls. The rest of this guide shows how.
What is a "square" of siding?
Siding, like roofing, is measured in squares: one square covers 100 square feet of wall. A house with 1,500 square feet of exterior wall is 15 squares. Wall area is not the same as your home's living space. A one-story ranch has far less wall than a two-story colonial with the same floor area, so stories matter more than square footage.
How much does vinyl siding cost by house size?
The table uses typical wall areas for common Downriver house types. They're estimates from usual house dimensions, not measurements of any particular home, so use them for budgeting and measure your own house for a closer number.
| House type | Est. wall area | At $750/sq |
|---|---|---|
| Small ranch or bungalow | 10–12 squares | $7,500 – $9,000 |
| Typical ranch | 12–15 squares | $9,000 – $11,250 |
| Story-and-a-half or large ranch | 15–18 squares | $11,250 – $13,500 |
| Two-story colonial | 22–28 squares | $16,500 – $21,000 |
Book a Free Siding Measurement
How to estimate your own squares
- Measure around the outside of the house at ground level (the perimeter), in feet.
- Multiply by the wall height: about 8 to 9 feet for each story.
- Add the gable ends. Each triangle is half its width times its height.
- Divide by 100 to get squares. That gross number is close enough to budget with; your written quote is based on our measurement of every wall.
Worked example: a 28 × 44 ft ranch with 8.5 ft walls has a 144 ft perimeter, so 144 × 8.5 = 1,224 sq ft of wall. Two gable ends 28 ft wide and 6 ft tall add 168 sq ft, for 1,392 sq ft, or about 14 squares. At $750 a square, the siding line is about $10,500.
What's included in the per-square price
- Tear-off of the old siding, dumpster and disposal. We don't side over old siding.
- An inspection of the sheathing once the walls are open, with photos of anything we find.
- Tyvek housewrap with taped seams, which stops the air leaks that make old walls drafty.
- Fan-fold insulation board, a continuous layer over the studs.
- Steel starter strip and CertainTeed vinyl siding.
- Cleanup and a final walkthrough.
What's priced separately
These are real parts of a siding job, but they vary so much from house to house that a per-square price can't fairly include them. Each one is its own line on the written quote, so you can see what it adds.
- Soffit: ventilated soffit panels under the eaves, which also keep the attic breathing.
- Aluminum trim wrap: custom-bent aluminum over fascia boards, frieze boards and corners, so no bare wood is left to paint.
- Window and door openings: each opening is trimmed and priced on its own.
- Rotted sheathing: only if we find it at tear-off. You see the photos first, and it's billed at the unit rate written into your quote.
- Upgrades: foam-insulated siding, vinyl cedar-shake accents in the gables, shutters and column wraps.
What drives the cost up or down
- Wall area. By far the biggest factor, and mostly a matter of stories: a two-story house has roughly twice the wall of a ranch with the same footprint.
- Windows and doors. More openings mean more trim lines, even though they take away a little wall area.
- Height and access. Second-story walls and gables need ladders or staging and slower work.
- Trim detail. Dormers, bump-outs and lots of corners add trim and labor.
- What's under the old siding. Many older Downriver homes have aluminum or vinyl over the original wood clapboard. What's underneath, and its condition, decides how much tear-off and sheathing work the job needs.
- Profile and upgrades. Insulated siding and shake accents cost more than standard lap siding.
Is vinyl the right choice for a Michigan house?
For most homes here, yes. Quality vinyl never needs paint, handles freeze-thaw, and costs meaningfully less to install than fiber cement. Its weak spots are cold-weather brittleness, which makes it more likely to crack from a hard hit in January, and heat: panels nailed too tight can buckle on a sunny south wall. Both come down to the panel quality and how it's hung, which is why we install CertainTeed Monogram and leave the nails loose enough for the panels to move. If your siding is showing those problems now, read signs your siding needs replacing in Michigan.
Doing the siding and roof together
If the roof is due in the next few years, price both at once. The roof edge, gutters and walls are one water path, and one contractor doing all three can lap the drip edge, gutter and wall flashing in the right order, on one schedule and one itemized quote. The usual order is roof first, then siding, then gutters. See roof replacement, and our roof cost guide for that side of the budget.
Paying for it
Siding is a large one-time cost, and many homeowners spread it out. You can check financing options through Acorn Finance in about a minute with no impact to your credit score, and see offers from several lenders side by side.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Can I replace siding on just one wall?
You can, but matching is the catch. Vinyl fades over the years and colors get discontinued, so new panels on one wall often read differently from the other three. It makes sense for storm damage on one side, or when the matching color is still made. Otherwise, whole-house replacement usually looks better and costs less per square.
Q: How long does vinyl siding last in Michigan?
Quality vinyl, installed well, commonly lasts several decades here. The sun-facing walls age first, and the biggest threats are panels nailed too tight, water getting behind them from bad flashing or overflowing gutters, and hard impacts in the cold.
Q: How long does the job take?
Most single-family homes take a few days once material is on site. Larger two-story homes with full soffit and trim work can run about a week, and weather can shift the schedule.
Guthix Roofing is a licensed and insured Michigan residential builder (License #262600716) based in Wyandotte, installing vinyl siding, roofs and seamless gutters across Downriver and metro Detroit. For a measured, itemized number for your house, book a free siding appointment or call (734) 360-0805.
Want a roofer to look at yours?
See our vinyl siding replacement page, or how we work across Downriver from our shop in Wyandotte.
