L-P Siding Woes Are Nationwide More Than $46 Million Paid To Homeowners

By the time birds started drilling into the siding on Adam Herbst’s home, it was clear paint wouldn’t solve its problems.

His house, near Rathdrum, was the “the classic example” of the complaints made about Louisiana-Pacific’s Inner-Seal siding, he said. Nationwide, those complaints include stories of the siding swelling, cracking, growing mushrooms and falling apart - long before the 25-year warranty runs out.

Herbst’s siding had all of those afflictions, he said. And “when the siding began to rot, flickers started drilling for bugs,” the retired salesman said. “You could find all kinds of holes … it really made a mess.”

Herbst and his family moved to the area three years ago and purchased a relatively new home. Herbst - among a dozen people to respond to a Spokesman-Review request for information from homeowners with Inner-Seal troubles - said he knew the siding needed attention when he bought the house. He thought paint would take care of it.

A closer look revealed that the best solution was to send the siding to the county dump. His insurance company wasn’t sympathetic and Herbst didn’t know that he could turn to L-P. So he had to pay the $6,000 bill for residing his house.

L-P has paid more than $46 million in claims to 17,000 homeowners in the last decade. Industry analysts expect the total to reach $200 million. The siding also is the subject of a dozen class lawsuits and investigations by attorneys general in Oregon and Washington.

Still, L-P defends the siding as a quality product. Most of the problems are caused by improper installation, L-P said.

In addition, less than 2 percent of the 2.7 billion square feet of the siding sold since 1985 is failing, company spokesman Barry Lacter said. That’s a small defect rate, according to Lacter.

Experts disagree on both points. “A 1 to 2 percent failure rate is deadly for any manufacturer,” said Bill Dost, former head of the Wood Building Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

Installation isn’t the prime culprit, added Dost, who is now an expert witness in lawsuits against L-P. Inner-Seal is doomed to fall apart because it is far too easily penetrated by water, he said.

The siding is a mixture of glue and either pine or aspen chips that are compressed and then covered with a resin-coated paper. It was manufactured just north of Coeur d’Alene, at a Chilco, Idaho, mill until last March and is still made in the Midwest and Canada.

It is “the siding of choice” in Washington state, L-P said. It also is featured in North Idaho housing developments, like Coeur d’Alene Place.

Jody Rowe thought Inner-Seal siding was a good choice for his $200,000 custom-built Coeur d’Alene home. Six months after it was finished, the siding began to bubble, buckle and pull away from the house.

His contractor immediately changed the warped pieces of siding. He is sure the installation was sound, but the problems continue, he said.

Rowe recently called L-P about the warranty, but wonders if he won’t be stuck spending an estimated $30,000 to reside his home.

The Washington attorney general’s office is investigating L-P’s 25-year warranty. Investigators want to know what data L-P has to prove the siding should last that long.

Data or not, the warranty may not help Marcia Fauske or Corey Peterson.

Fauske’s contractor never finished residing her Spokane house in March 1993 so the siding wasn’t painted. By summer, it was warping.

L-P requires painting within 90 days or calls the warranty void.

Like many people, Peterson took a closer look at the siding on his home when he thought it needed paint. Instead, he discovered the Inner-Seal siding was swelling and pulling out the staples used to attach it to the house.

There won’t be any check from L-P. Using staples instead of nails also voids the warranty.

Such experiences leave some area Inner-Seal owners jaded, especially when they listen to L-P’s explanations. “Hey, the first responsibility is the manufacturer’s, to make sure his product is used properly and will perform properly,” Herbst said.

The company’s denial of problems is symptomatic of the problems with business in this country, he said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Problems? Homeowners who need to report problems with InnerSeal siding can call Louisiana-Pacific Corp. at (800) 648-6893.