Siding Services for Weirton Homes

Siding work for a steel town’s housing

Weirton formed on July 1, 1947, when Hollidays Cove, Marland Heights and Weirton Heights merged with the unincorporated settlement that had grown up around the Weirton Steel mill (city history). Much of the housing went up in the decades around that merger. The American Community Survey puts the median year built at 1958, and about 12% of Weirton’s housing units date from before 1940. That puts a typical Weirton house at well over 60 years old, which usually means its exterior has been through several rounds of weather and repair.

The city also has a high share of owner-occupied homes: about 6,000 of roughly 8,700 occupied households own their home. When the cladding on an owner-occupied house fails, the owner usually makes the call, and that call is what this line is for.

When a Weirton house needs siding attention

How the call works

1. Call (304) 317-8115. You may be asked to enter your 5-digit ZIP code first.
2. Your call is connected with an independent siding contractor who covers that ZIP.
3. Talk through the house, the problem and the timing directly with the contractor.

The contractor sets the scope, schedule and terms of any work on that call. Weirton Siding does not do the work itself.

Permits for siding in Weirton

The City of Weirton’s Building Inspections & Code Enforcement department handles permits and enforces the city’s building and property maintenance codes, following the 2018 International Code Council standards. The city’s building permit ordinance says no construction, alteration, repair or remodeling of a building may start before the Inspections Department issues a permit, and the city has a separate “replace existing” permit application for like-for-like work. Applications go to the Inspections office at the Municipal Plaza, and the city is testing online permit submissions. Under the city’s business licensing rules, contractors working inside city limits need a Weirton business license and must file a current West Virginia contractor license with the application.

The “replace existing” application includes an asbestos and lead abatement statement. By signing it, the owner or agent acknowledges that West Virginia regulates asbestos- and lead-containing materials and that abatement is required before any building material is removed, siding and roofing included. Older houses sometimes carry asbestos-cement shingles or lead-painted wood clapboard under a later layer, so ask the contractor how they handle tear-off on an older home.

Siding materials, briefly

This is general background to help you talk with a contractor, not a list of what any one contractor offers.

• Vinyl: the most common cladding on American houses. It doesn’t need paint, and it comes in many profiles and colors. Thicker panels resist wind and impact better.
• Fiber cement: a heavier board made from cement, sand and cellulose. It is non-combustible and takes paint well.
• Engineered wood: treated wood-strand panels that look like lap siding and weigh less than fiber cement.
• Wood: traditional clapboard and shingles, still found on many older valley houses. It needs regular painting or staining.
• Aluminum and steel: metal siding, common on mid-century houses. It dents rather than cracks.

Weirton has a humid continental climate with hot summers, cold winters and precipitation spread across the year. That means freeze-thaw cycles, damp river-valley air and summer storms. Ask how the contractor handles flashing around windows, doors and rooflines, because water gets in at those details.

Siding services around Weirton

Calls are also taken from towns across the Upper Ohio Valley on both sides of the river. Local detail is available for siding services in Steubenville, OH and siding services in Wheeling, WV, and the full ZIP list is on siding service areas near Weirton. Read about Weirton Siding to see how the line works.