If you are looking to choose the best siding for your home, you can trust the James Hardie® siding experts in Raleigh to help you make that important decision. An important one for the well-being of your home’s exterior, siding is a useful solution for not only protecting it but revitalizing its aesthetic and overall appearance.
The good news is that you have a number of useful options that can turn to when you want to install the right siding for your home. So, you’re going to want to make some comparisons between some of the most popular options to determine which of these is ideal for your property and the region of the country in which you reside.
We’re here to help with this handy guide to your different home siding options. The material you ultimately pick should be considered with many factors in mind: maintenance expectations, water-resistance, energy efficiency, versatility and durability, and of course, the cost of the siding. But with so many materials from which to select, you’re going to want to read up on the advantages and disadvantages, if any, of each option.
Vinyl Siding
We’ll start with vinyl, easily the most popular option you can have installed on the outside of your home with almost one-third of homeowners going with this option because of all the convenience and affordability it offers.
That convenience can be found in the ease of maintenance of vinyl, you won’t need to do much more than take some soap and water to the surface to clean it. That can be done every once a year, more if you really prefer to do the work. It’s also one of the easiest types of siding to install. Add to that its long lifespan, resistance to the elements, and the multitude of colors and styles that are available.
Wood Siding
Deciding to put wood on the exterior of your home brings the property a beautiful, natural appearance that works with many different architectural styles. But it’s also the antithesis of everything that makes vinyl such a popular option among homeowners. That’s because wood is one of the more expensive choices on the list and it requires far more in the way of care and maintenance to preserve the look and feel of the material.
You can find wood siding in many different wood species like spruce, redwood, fir, cedar, and many others.
Metal Siding
If you go down this road with your choice of siding, you have two primary options from which to choose, either steel or aluminum. Both bring a contemporary and modern appearance with just a hint of retro sensibilities. But the biggest reason why a lot of homeowners go with metal siding is because it can stand up to any amount of damage that could come from the environments around your home.
That means heavy precipitation and even heavy levels of salt in the air for those homes that have been built near the ocean. In addition, metal siding can ward off the damage that comes from the development of mold, mildew, and rot and it’s an easy material to maintain with success. However, we are still talking about metal here, so it could rust if you don’t take steps to reduce the possibility of the material becoming marred for the long-term in this respect.
Stucco Siding
This form of siding is manufactured using a mixture of things like sand, lime, and cement, all placed onto a wood and mesh foundation to hold it to your home’s exterior. As a result, stucco can stand the test of time if you take care of it, giving you a lifespan up to as long as 100 years.
It’s also a material that can be created with many colorways to make it a versatile form of siding that can complement just about any home. But choose your color wisely, you can’t really paint stucco once it’s been installed. So be sure you’re pleased with the color you’ve chosen before it goes up. Trying to paint stucco after the fact will just have you repainting it over and over to little effect.
But stucco does dry fast after it rains or snows, so you need not worry about water damage impacting the look of your siding. It’s also one of the most resistant materials to insects and rot. Even more encouraging, if your stucco siding becomes damaged, the repairs are not only easy to perform but they don’t cost a whole lot either.
