Siding plays a major role in your home’s aesthetics. Finding siding that accomplishes all of your home’s needs can sometimes prove to be difficult. Most people can find a style of siding that they like, but that doesn’t mean that it will work with their home or their budget. When looking for the perfect siding to put on your home, you should consider five things:
Budget – It is import to establish a preliminary baseline budget for your project. We have a few simple tips for establishing a siding budget. You need to know how many ‘squares’ of siding your home requires. A ‘square’ is a unit of measurement representing a 10’x10’ area. Most major brands of siding are sold in squares. You can either measure this yourself or ask a contractor to measure it for you. Either way, you should add 15% waste factor onto your number. The waste factor will give you little bit of cushion depending on the complexity of your home’s exterior. Once you know how many squares you will need, you can begin to get per-square pricing on both material and labor. Take your per-square price for material and labor multiplied by the number of squares with waste, and that will give you a tentative estimate for a particular project. Remember that this is for establishing a “baseline budget” only. There will be a variety of hidden items that you are not able to account for. The exercise will simply help you to see the price differences between products. Now that you have established a baseline budget, you can eliminate some of the products that may be too expensive.
Home style – Not all homes work with all types of siding products. We recommend identifying the style of your home and searching the internet for images with homes like yours. This will give you the largest sample size to see what you like.
Durability – Although style and aesthetics are important, you need to keep in mind that just because it looks great doesn’t mean that it is the best option. Finding a siding that will work well in the climate that you live in is important to its durability.
Application restrictions – This is a bit more of a technical area that you should consult a contractor about. Certain types of siding will not apply well to some homes. For example, some types of siding can become more costly if the application is more difficult due to the style of home.
Curb appeal – Last but not least, you should try to find a siding that will enhance the curb appeal of your home. I’m not just talking about finding a style that fits your home nicely and works with your budget, but more about what it does for the overall feel of your home when approached by a stranger. Does it pull everything together? Is it attractive from the street?
We install and repair all types of siding products, including the following:
- Vinyl – lap & shake
- Fiber cement – smooth & beaded lap, wood grain & shake
- Cedar & wood – lap & shake
- Aluminum & steel – lap and shake
- Vinyl & fiber cement – vented & unvented soffit
- Vinyl & fiber cement – fascia & trim
- Aluminum fascia & window wrap (trim coil)
- Stone veneer
We recommend starting with some of these products:
Vinyl Siding
Fiber Cement Siding