Removing Aluminum Siding

Ross Ott, who has a neat bungalow house in Rockford, IL, hates his aluminum siding.

"I have a 1924 bungalow that has aluminum siding over the original siding. I hate it, and now it has hail damage and I need to figure out what I'm going to do with it.

My desire is to remove the aluminum and restore the original. But, for planning purposes, I'd like to know if I'm a lunatic for even wanting to do this. So, the question is, can aluminum be removed without destroying the original?

I just want to know if it can be. I am aware that I can find ANYTHING under the aluminum. I just want to know if I should even bother being careful when I remove the stuff or if I should just rip it off and plan on removing the original with it. Have you ever been able to do this? I appreciate your time constraints."

Ross, you bet you can remove the aluminum siding. The installer just used short nails to install it. What you're probably going to discover is the original painted wood siding is fine and just peppered with holes that you can fill with exterior spackling compound.

You have nothing to lose by going to the most remote part of your home that few see and start to remove the aluminum. You already know you hate it.

The worst that can happen is you'll have to replace some rotten original siding.

Go for it!