Types of Siding

Your Quick Guide to Choosing the Right House Siding.

A quick, clean snapshot of the most popular house sidings;

What they Cost,
What they are made from,
How they hold up in tough weather,
and Why homeowners choose them.
Comparisons and Reviews.
We'll even tell you how to find the best contractors, and
How to choose the very best house siding for your climate and budget.

Contractor Tip:

click on any subject to explore deeper into the products, such as colors, costs, and reviews.

Your Home, Your Style,

Choosing the Right Siding

Quick Guide

House Siding Types

Most popular house siding styles, or looks. Each style can be produced in vinyl, cement board, engineered wood, or real wood.

First...

Pick the look that you want,

Then match the material to your climate and budget.

If you're in a high wind or high-humidity area, durability matters more than anything.

Here are the four most popular house sidings.

Vinyl Siding for Houses #1

Vinyl Siding is the #1 selling home siding material in the U.S.

Vinyl outsells all other siding materials put together!

Why?

Easy to Install -
Can be installed on almost any house -
Makes your old house look brand NEW!
Maintenance free, just hose it down a few times a year-looks brand new.
Half the cost of real wood -
Comes in many COLORS -
Insect Proof - No Termite Damage
Can Withstand Hurricane Winds -
Very Affordable -
Never Needs Painting!!

Comes in many 'styles', shapes and colors.

Comes in economy, contractor, and premium grades,

with or without factory applied insulation.

Vinyl Siding is the top selling home siding material in the US. Why? Because it comes in so many assorted colors, styles, thicknesses, types, insulated or non-insulated, and is available in most every part of the country, and is the most economical home siding you can buy!

Comes in different Styles and even insulated.

Clapboard Vinyl Siding Styles

Insulated Vinyl Siding Styles

Why choose insulated vinyl siding. Click Here

Vinyl house siding comes in many varied sizes, shapes, colors, thickness, lengths, insulated or non-insulated, styles and types. It is affordable, can be installed over any house, is very reasonable in price, had extraordinarily little maintenance, and will make you old house look like brand new without breaking the bank.

To see more information on Vinyl Siding, Costs, Colors and Styles, Click Here.

Hardie Board Siding

James Hardie-Hardie Plank, sometimes called Hardie Board Siding. Also called fiber-cement siding.

The industry leader and the name most homeowners know. Huge style selections, baked-on colors, and unmatched brand trust.

Fiber-Cement Siding; Strong, Stylish, and built to last. One of the toughest siding materials you can put on a home.

Hardie Board Fiber Cement siding gives you the look of real wood with the durability of cement. It stands up to fire, moisture, insects and extreme weather, and it holds paint better than most materials.

Homeowners choose it for its long lifespan, low maintenance and high resale value.

Hardie Board Siding

Hardie Board Siding is the world leader in fiber cement siding and backer board. They've been providing alternatives to natural wood siding for over a hundred years.

Classic look and more durable than wood.

Why Use Hardie Board Siding?

James Hardie Board Siding products grace the side of more than 8 million homes across the US. For one big reason,

Beauty, and durability.

Hardie Board Siding

Hardie Board Siding

91% of builders agree fiber cement siding increases a home's appraisal value. Re-siding your house with fiber cement siding provides the #1 return on investment of any major exterior remodeling projects, making it a better investment for your home. *

*Remodeling magazine 2020 cost vs value report, national data for exterior home replacement projects over $10,000.,

Why Homeowners Love Fiber-Cement Siding.

Fire resistant
Won't rot, warp, or attract insects
Handles hurricanes, heavy rain, snow, and high winds, even hurricanes.
Paintable, holds color extremely well
High resale value
Long lifespan, warranties up to 50 years

To see more information on the many James Hardie Board Siding products,

Click Here. Hardie Board Siding

Engineered Wood Siding

Engineered Wood Siding products have the look and texture of real wood siding only much stronger and more durable than real wood siding.

Engineered wood siding is less expensive than real wood siding, less maintenance than real wood, and looks exactly like wood. It resists insects, mold, and rot. It comes in all the popular styles such as Board and Batten, and Clapboard.

Engineered Wood Siding Looks like wood without the high maintenance of real wood.

LP Smartside Engineered Wood Siding

To see more information on Engineered Wood Siding, Click Here.

Guide to Siding Types 101

Use this site to compare and research many different siding products. Make notes on the products that you like, and think would look good on your home.

Use these notes to talk to your contractor to make sure you get the absolute best siding for your home.

Installing siding should always be done by a professional. Professionals can do it better than the homeowner because they do it all the time!

Always use a licensed contractor to install your vinyl siding!!

Print out this Siding Worksheet to make note on. Siding Worksheet Printout Click Here

History of Home siding

There is a long history of home siding. Ever since man left the cave and started to build houses, he has wanted to put material around it. Sometimes to protect it from the weather, frigid winter winds, or freezing rain, or animals.

Sometimes just to make it look nicer.

Homeowners have used wood to cover their homes since there were homes. Click here to see more on the history of siding on homes.

Vinyl siding is made to mimic real wood siding. So, any type and style of wooden home siding is now available in vinyl.

Other Topics of Interest

Don't forget about your trim.

Don't forget about your trim. You should replace trim around windows and doors if needed. Also, the soffit and facia when rotted or weathered.

Don't forget your trim! Adding vinyl trim to your windows and doors help make your home maintenance go away.

Cover everything so you never have to paint again!

For more information on Trim - Click Here

Good articles for homeowner's DIY Articles

How to clean vinyl siding

How to Buy Siding...The Easy Way?

Mr Contractor says

This site is designed by some old home improvement contractors. Every day we work with homeowners who what to install siding on their houses but have no idea how to get started. We will show you how to get started and what to do first, second and so on.

Our goal is to guide you along and show you how to work with your contractor to ensure that you choose the best siding products for your house and get the very best price possible.

Homeowners need to have done some basic homework and have several basic facts about siding they have chosen to go on their house... before calling any contractors, otherwise you will not know the proper questions to ask the contractor. If you don't know exactly what to ask for, you won't get it!

We will show you how to gather important that will allow you to pick the best siding for your house and how to work with your contractor to get the very best price possible.

Click here for more information on How to Buy Siding

Comparing Different Products

Save time and money by doing a little homework before calling contractors for price quotes:

Pick out the type of siding you think will look good on your house; vertical, horizontal or shakes (most people mix and match several distinct types to use on their homes).
Choose the style; colors, profiles, texture, and thickness that you like.
Compare prices, see what other people are paying for comparable products in your area.
Then call several contractors and have them give you prices based on the products you have already picked out. Now you can easily compare different quotes apples 2 apples.
This will save you a lot of time and money!

Click here for more information

When people say Style, they are usually referring to one of the three main 'styles' of siding, horizontal, vertical or shakes. Of course, each of these styles comes in many different and diverse selections. Each has its own profiles, textures, thickness, and colors.

Each type of siding has different 'Profiles' that are characteristic to that type of siding. Clapboard, dutch lap, beaded, cedar shake, board and batten all come in different widths.

Profiles are how wide each board or panel is and whether it has a notch or shadow groove. There are wide boards and there are are very narrow boards. Generally, each panel will run approximately 3" to 10" in width.

In addition to the profile, there are different 'textures' of the boards or panels. Since vinyl siding is made to look like real wood, and real wood has a texture that ranges from exceptionally smooth like sanded boards, to a deep grain that looks like real cedar wood.

To see more about the different Siding Styles, click here.

Comparing Prices

Comparing prices can be done once you have chosen the type, style, amount needed, insulated or non-insulated, thickness, color and so forth. Follow this site and we will guide you through the process.

You need to shop around and compare some prices from the local home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowe's. Otherwise you will have no idea if the price the contractor quotes you is a fair price or not.

What goes into the quote?

What goes into the quote when the contractor gives you a price to install the siding on your home?

How much does it really cost to install new siding on your house?

Total cost is made up of several different pricing components.

How much siding (sq ft) you will need, and the quality of the siding you choose. Quality + Quantity.
What the contractor charges to install the siding.
How much labor will it take to make your house ready to have the siding installed.

Every house is different so the amount of siding needed will vary house to house and so will the amount of work the contractor has to do to make your house ready for the siding to be installed.

Do you have old siding that needs to be removed?
Do you have rotted wood that needs to be repaired or replaced?
Do you have termite damage that needs to be repaired?
Do you need new soffit or facia?
Do you want new gutters?

There are many different items that goes into the final 'cost' of your new siding installation.

For more information Click Here