How to Choose the Best Siding for Your House?

The exterior of your home is exposed to extreme temperature changes and all sorts of atmospheric occurrences. Now, while the outer walls and façade materials are sturdy, sometimes, they are not sturdy enough.

How to Choose the Best Siding for Your House?
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Sure, it could survive for years and decades, but the signs of wear and tear will become visible sooner than you would like. Siding is a method that can help you prevent (or at least postpone) this.

Still, this raises more questions than it answers. For instance:

What is siding?

Why does it matter?

How to choose the best siding for your home?

Let’s try to answer some of these questions and more!

What Is Siding?

Siding or cladding is a process of applying protective material to the exterior of your home. Its primary purpose is to protect your home’s exterior from various elements. It provides protection from the sun, moisture (snow/rain), and extreme temperature swings.

Siding makes your home energy-efficient, so the project is almost always worth it.

While siding can be costly, it could also last decades. When you calculate the damage prevented on your home’s exterior, you’ll quickly realize that installing it was worth it. Cladding maintenance is also considerably cheaper, which is worth considering when dealing with the ROI.

Lastly, it keeps your home’s exterior new-looking for a longer period. Needless to say, this is also a great way to give your home a face-lift.

Why Is Siding Important?

As we’ve mentioned, your home needs protection from various weather elements. However, this is not the only issue worth addressing.

You see, there are massive temperature differences between the interior and exterior of your home. In winter, you can walk short-sleeve indoors with a blizzard outside. In the summer, some people tune up their AC so much that they shiver, while people outdoors suffer from sun fever.  

This is not great for your façade, insulation, or even walls. With siding, you can lower the impact of these temperature differences by adding an extra layer. This layer is specially designed for temperature resistance to make it even better.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Siding for Your House

One of the biggest questions is how you choose the right cladding for your home. Sure, sidings come in many colors, textures, and materials, but are these just aesthetic differences? Also, remember that not all regions are as cold/hot and as likely to get rainy. Therefore, you need to consider the climate, as well. With all of this in mind, here are a few things you must consider when choosing siding for your house.

Climate 

The first thing you should think about is the climate. In places like Minnesota, where temperature differences can get extreme, siding is a requirement rather than an optional thing. You might even want to consider steel siding in a region with extreme temperature differences. This siding is durable and sustainable; you can choose from many different alloy options.

House style 

Previously, we’ve mentioned the aesthetic options for your home’s cladding. Now, you could go with materials like:

• Wood
• Vinyl
• Fiber
• Metal

Some people even opt for the most expensive stone cladding option. The thing is, however, that you can improve your home’s exterior on a budget without spending too much. You see, there’s a difference between stone and stone-looking. Some vinyl cladding plates come with a pattern of natural stone. Sure, you’ll know the difference, and the properties are not the same, but you can get the look you want without spending too much.

So, which material should you pick?

Well, the answer is not too easy. While wood gives you a natural look and provides decent insulation, you’ll have to invest heftily in coating and pick the right wood type to make it termite resistant. Naturally, this requires a bit of maintenance and won’t come cheap.

The best way to proceed is to use metal for protection or vinyl/fiber for cost-efficiency. Just remember that you’re probably doing this once in your lifetime. There’s no reason to rush things.

Budget 

The next thing you should take into consideration is the budget that you have for the project. For instance, timber is costly. Sure, it’s great for insulation and even amazing for protection, but this is not what you’re paying for. Instead, you’re paying for making the ethical choice (the eco-friendliest option) and the look of natural wood.

Many people dream of having their cabin, but many love the comfort and advantages of modern architecture. So, what do they do? They clad their home in timber.

Stone is also quite expensive, but it’s more durable than timber. You don’t have to pick the right type out of the fear of termites, and there’s no need to apply the coating to make it resistant. Stone is forever, so if you want it to stick in the next century, you can also go for this.

Those who want to save money should go for vinyl. It’s the cheapest, but this doesn’t make it low quality. The protection it provides is quite impressive. It also comes in a wide variety of looks.

Lastly, metal probably provides you with the most cost-efficiency. It just provides an incredible value for the cost.

Maintenance 

Siding reduces your need for façade maintenance, in general. Because it’s more durable, cracks aren’t showing anytime soon. Concrete and stone wool fiber is known to be the best for maintenance. Other than this, vinyl and metal are your safest bets. Timber, on the other hand, probably requires the most maintenance.

Wrap Up

In the end, cladding is always a good idea. It’s a great way to protect your home’s exterior and improve the energy efficiency of your home. It lowers the maintenance requirements and, by reducing the impact on your home, pays off in time. However, before picking the material, you need to ensure that it’s suitable for the local climate and that it goes well with the design of your home. Lastly, the professional installation makes a world of difference. This is why adding a siding needs to be done by professionals.