Originally Posted By: dvalley This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Jeff,
This doesn't appear to be asphalt siding by looking at the pic. There's no granular surface that I can see, and paint will not adhere to asphalt due to the course and weathered surface.
Did you break apart an inconspicuous area? I usually go to an area under the deck or behind the shutters and break off a small piece.
Originally Posted By: jcampbell This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
your right in that sense… i did poke, prod and bend at one particular area, it was similar to the asphalt siding I have seen, minus the granuals of course… more like the backing portion… have you seen the stuff that looks like brick and colored as such… I just did not knwo what it was called. It is some type of covering… I am just not familar with it…
Originally Posted By: dvalley This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Sorry Jeff. I’ve never seen your style of brick surface. I’ve seen many Insul-brick (which most contain Asbestos) but your surface is not the style I’ve experienced with.
So you are saying that this material has a black tar material to it? Is this tar all the way through?
Originally Posted By: lewens This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Jeffery
I can almost quarantee this is indeed an asphalt based siding. Ask any old time builder and I mean old if they remember tentest. Real junk but very popular with the after war builders and often used as a covering. So much in fact the manufacturer started to put a design on it to look like brick. Where you come from in Maine I will bet the stuff came from Quebec. As they say in England Cheep and Cheerful
Originally Posted By: jcampbell This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Thanks Guys… I believe it to be simply an asphalt grade siding… patterned to simulate some type of brickwork at one time… it has been painted over the years. There are some cracks, but the consistency for the most part is pliable… not ceramic… cracks due to the paint… thanks for the input or imput…
Originally Posted By: ckratzer This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Jeffery
It is absolutely an asphalt product derived from the common roof shingle.It was manufactured in the early 30’s in small strips with a faux brick surface.
Sometime in the 40’s heated rollers were devised to roll out sheets as large as 3’ X 43’ and imprinted with faux brick or stone patterns on the surface.
Sears sold a lot of this siding calling it “Inselstone”. ( you may be aware that Sears sold catalogue order house as well).The big selling point was that this siding was a good insulating product.(At best it was a good draft stop).This would have made Sears very cutting edge since Insulation wasn’t a huge concern back then.
I’ve worked on antibellum homes that had absolutely no insulation.
Over time different variations of the siding were made but began to fall out of popularity in the late 60’s.
Now you will find that people paint over it when the slate granules flake off or to just spruce th place up.
It was basically an inexpensive way to side.Kind of like vinyl is today.
Just a little old house history. 