What are the Best Siding Brands?
Siding replacement projects can completely upgrade the exterior aesthetics of your home. It makes sense that you would want to do your research and choose the best siding brands for your home. Some siding brands focus on providing consumers with a unique look, while some tout their weather resistant qualities, strength, and energy-efficiency. Some siding brands brag on their affordable siding installation costs as their key selling point. Here are a list of some of the best siding brands to help you start your siding installation project:
- KWP Eco-Side
- KWP Naturetech
- LP Smartside
- Alcoa Siding (now Mastic Siding)
- Alside Siding
- CertainTeed Siding
- KWP Eco-Side
- Georgia Pacific Siding
- Kaycan Siding
- Mastic (Ply Gem) Siding
- Norandex Siding
- Royal Siding
- James Hardie
- Nichiha
- Allura
Is your home in need of siding replacement or repair? Tired of the color or look of the cladding your home came with? Maybe you’re hoping for something that will be easier to maintain than your current cedar board siding, or you’re looking to get higher energy efficiency savings or storm-proof your home’s siding. Modernize helps homeowners save money by comparing quotes from four local and reliable contractors so you can get the best price in your area as quickly as possible. Let us help you today!
When Is It Time for New Siding?
Obviously, there are times when the need for new siding makes itself plaintively clear– it’s easy to know when you’re tired of your home’s exterior look, for instance. However, if that’s not the case in your home, you may have to get a closer inspection in order to make the call. Extensive mildew, warping, rotting, cracks, and holes are all good reasons to replace, and will all be visible after a quick walk around your home. By extensive, we mean that the problem extends over half the house– for smaller areas, a partial repair may do.
Meanwhile, you can also perform a quick test to check the sidings’ brittleness: take an edge and gingerly pull it away from your home. If it comes away easily, cracks, or warps, it may be time to replace. Other less apparent signs of damage include bubbles in the siding, if your home needs to be repainted very frequently, or the interiors need re-wallpapered more often than usual.
Selecting a Siding Material
The material you choose for your siding will ultimately inform your brand selection. Siding companies are generally specialists that focus on one particular surface or another. Amongst homeowners, vinyl is overwhelmingly the most popular siding material as it’s installed on about 30 percent of houses, but the fastest growing type is Engineered Wood Siding. Engineered Wood Siding continues to grow in market share. Vinyl is not for everyone– vinyl definitely draws its detractors who say it just doesn’t have the natural appearance of organic material. Homeowners and builders who feel this way may eventually select milled wooden boards for their project, or they may instead opt for fiber cement or engineered wood, especially if they’re looking to take advantage of this material’s easy maintenance. A detailed breakdown of the benefits of each material can be found here however, the general items to consider are:
- Appearance– What are you looking for in terms of color or detailing? Is there a specific color or style that you want for your home? Some materials will better accommodate certain looks. For instance, you may find that in Engineered Wood the appearance of natural wood grain boards better than vinyl.
- Weatherproofing– Are you hoping that your siding will deter cold, or perform well in weather extremes like high winds and heat? Some brands can stand up to strong weather and even add protection to your home.
- Maintenance– How important is it to you that you not have to repaint your siding frequently?
After you assess these areas, decide which is the most important to you. Prioritizing what you’re looking for in new siding will help you in selecting the right brand for your needs.
New Siding Costs
The price per square foot for siding varies vastly depending on the material and the contractor you use– even the location of your home can affect the cost. That being said, siding manufacturers will tend to offer more affordable material prices.
Generally, costs range from $2.00 to $9.00 per square foot for vinyl, with slightly higher prices for Engineered Wood Siding. That initially seems like a pretty small range, but the final total can vary wildly when you start multiplying for square footage and factoring in labor– running anywhere between $6,000 to $8,500 for an average-sized home. You’ll also need to add in an additional $1,000 to $2,000 to tear down the existing siding and you may need to budget for soffit, fascia, trim, and molding as well, all of which can usually be purchased from the siding manufacturer you choose. Those aren’t just extras either– soffit, for example, protects your rafters from weather exposure, preventing rot, mildew, and increasing energy efficiency. While it’s possible your contractor may be able to get you a deal on extras like these, if cost is an issue, wise brand selection will make all the difference.
Even within a single brand, however, there are price distinctions. Most siding manufacturers offer basic and deluxe versions of the same product, and the difference between high and low end materials could be as simple as aesthetic details like more historically accurate detailing on the panels. You’ll also tend to pay more for insulated boards like foam-backed vinyl siding, but of course, these may return your investment in the form of savings on your energy expenses.
Environmental Impact Considerations of New Siding
Weighing the environmental impact of different building materials often feels like six of one, half dozen of another. Vinyl is technically made from Polyvinyl Chloride, or PVC, which means it’s not biodegradable. And due to its durability issues, it needs to be replaced more often than others, like fiber cement. On the other hand it can recycled, unlike its cement counterpart. Additionally, since vinyl contains no organic products it does not contribute to deforestation, unlike fiber cement and wood. However, KWP is constantly refining its business strategies and activities that meet the needs of the enterprise today. KWP is committed to protecting, sustaining, and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future.
KWP leads the way in ecologically-conscious manufacturing of engineered wood siding and trim board. KWP has implemented stringent and effective measures to minimize our energy consumption in our 18 manufacturing plants and distribution centers across North America. At KWP, they use the best and latest technology to produce our wood siding and trim board providing products to the building industry which are intrinsically better for our environment.
The wood they use to manufacture wood siding and trim board contains 100% pre-consumer recycled content. Besides being EPP certified and conforming to CCMC and ANSI standards, wood has negligible emission levels, exceeding norms in North America, Europe and Asia. These unique green features make our wood siding the only siding choice on the market that can easily help homeowners, architects and builders LEED certify their projects.
This is where distinctions between brands can really come into play. Some companies really perform their due diligence when it comes to building green, boasting zero-emissions goals and revamped facilities to reduce materials waste and carbon offsets. Whether your goal is getting your home LEED certified or just buying green, it pays to look beyond materials and into a brand’s reputation for sustainability.
