Home improvement – Siding

Replacing the siding on your home is considered on the of the top five home improvement options you can do.  Here are a few siding ideas you should think about when considering adding siding to your new home project or a remodeling project.  Because siding is so important, especially in Wisconsin, our top siding recommendations are as follows.

Horizontal Lap Siding

Probably the most common siding of all residential choices is horizontal lap siding.  This siding can be made from wood, vinyl or fiber cement and can be finished in an unlimited range of colors.  Most people choose vinyl as it lasts a very long time and is durable in all kinds of climates.  Aluminum was used years ago but it has since disappeared from common use.

This siding choice is a natural fit for a colonial, ranch or traditional-style homes as it works well with simple, boxy forms and symmetrical compositions. Lap siding is a do-it-yourself kind of thing but the person would have to be skilled to pull it off so that it looks right.

Horizontal lap siding is pleasing to the eye and visually a great choice for just about any home project.

Board and Batten

This is a wonderful look, in my opinion, as it brings an old-world style to a modern day home.  Available in wood and fiber cement, board and batten siding can be much like horizontal lap siding and a good choice for traditionally designed homes. Unlike the horizontal lines of lap siding, board and batten provides a visual emphasis on the vertical, creating taller-appearing houses.

This style isn’t for every home as you see it used on barns and other farm buildings as a low-cost and material-efficient approach to siding but on ranch homes, it works well.

Board and batten have come to be evocative of those rural structures. But it’s no longer the least expensive option, costing about the same as lap siding in either wood or fiber cement.  What I like about board and batting is that you can mix this look with wood lapsing for a fantastic look.

Shingles

It’s a pricey choice but when you see it on the right home  – it’s amazing!   There are a definite charm and elegance to shingles but they have to be the right shingles.  No plastic or vinyl for me it’s the wood or cement shakes for me.  You can expect to pay quite a bit more for shingles as the cost can sometimes be in the labor.  This look is a labor-intensive prospect but when it’s done you will have something special.

Wood Strip Siding

Beautiful!  One of my favorite looks for contemporary homes.  Pleasing to the eye and visually exciting, wood siding can also be used as a flat, horizontal siding and sometimes installed in a tongue-and-groove configuration which is great as well.

The key to this type of siding is to have a continuous waterproof membrane behind it. Otherwise water that gets behind the siding will damage the interior of your home.  What makes this choice of siding expensive is the cedar and other exotic woods you use.  Some people in our area have problems with woodpeckers with their wood siding, it’s infrequent, but it is worth mentioning it.

So if you’re in the process of deciding how to approach the siding on your new home project or your remodeling come in and talk with one of our specialist and we can help you decide on what to do nd how to approach this all too important part of your home.