Siding Decision

sidingGoal:  You are to make a recommendation on the type of fiber cement lap siding to be used. Should it be prefinished (already painted) or should you recommend unfinished fiber cement lap siding? It will need to be painted if you use unfinished cement lap siding.  The house is a 32’ by 40’ single story home with a 5:12 pitch.

Research the cost of painting, frequency of painting, maintenance needed on the pre-finished siding, and any other specifics. Provide a one page recommendation including a detailed cost analysis, citing references. Provide a list of all assumptions with your recommendation.

paintMath Standards: This open-ended problem focuses on the Common Core Practice Standards:

  1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
  2. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

Teacher Notes:   This has a different spin than the traditional cost estimation problem we give in construction.  (Note that our Quarter 2 problem is a cost estimate problem).  The task requires students to research and decide what is best given the facts they have uncovered.  As a teacher, you will need to decide how much information/leading you will want to give to your students. Your students may need more/less guidance than provided in this problem.