Wood Siding - when to replace?

[amazon.woman]

I have a 110-year old house. There were train tracks that ran approx. 25 yards away from the home until about 5 years ago the trains were stopped and the rails taken away.

My home was in major disrepair and was renovated by 3 area high schools before I bought it 15 years ago. Since then, most areas of the siding will NOT hold paint and peels and chips after 2 years. I have never had a contractor spend much time at all with scraping and sanding because they say that the wood is too "soft" and may get damaged. Another contractor used about 20 coats of primer because it kept soaking into the wood, and the paint stayed for about 5 years. He also replaced some of the wood which, of course, holds the paint very well.

I am thinking about replacing the siding but that is very expensive. Does anybody have any ideas?

[pushkins]

Replacing the siding with wood siding would be an expensive approach, like all things wood is becoming much more expensive now a days, especially in regards to cedar siding etc..., have you considered siding the home with vinyl siding, it would be much cheaper now and in the long run.

[KSever]

I was told to reside my 126 year old victorian house too with vinyl siding. I did not and in fact this house I just bought that is 38 years old has brand new vinyl and I will be taking it off next year to reinstall wood siding. It looks cheap, warps, chips, and you lose your R-value rating of the wood lap. Just my opinion.