Picking The Best Siding For Your Home

When you live in Oregon or Washington, your home will need to withstand tremendous amounts of wind, rain, and moisture as well as freezing winters and extreme summer heat. Siding is the skin that protects your home, so you know it’s got to be tough to stand up to the Northwest weather. While there are great options in spectacular home siding available – including, vinyl, stucco, brick, metal, and cedar – we find the highest value in James Hardie fiber cement siding, so will review this first.

Over 30 years ago James Hardie developed James Hardie® fiber cement siding, which represented a landmark improvement in the durability, performance and appearance of home siding. Fiber cement siding combines cement with wood pulp to achieve the performance of masonry, while maintaining an appearance of painted wood. To date, the most effective, long-lasting and valuable siding on the market is undoubtedly manufactured by James Hardie.

Here’s why:

A great deal of technology goes into ensuring that the siding you get from James Hardie is equipped to endure and combat the impact of the climate in which you live. Having invested millions in research and development, James Hardie has a trademarked Engineered for Climate® system of siding construction that enables you and your contractor to choose the specific siding that is best for your home location.

Vinyl siding is fairly popular, yet is markedly inferior to fiber cement siding in many ways. To begin with, vinyl siding is basically made out of plastic, which in terms of durability is simply no match for fiber cement. James Hardie fiber cement siding is significantly more substantial than vinyl siding, and about five times thicker. In addition to providing better home protection, the greater depth enables fiber cement siding to be constructed with deeper grooves that convey the look of authentic wood-grain.

Due to being a more substantial product, James Hardie fiber cement siding far outperforms vinyl siding as regards weather resistance, resiliency, durability, and longevity. It also conveys a more aesthetically pleasing appearance and tends to increase the home value more than vinyl siding. In essence, installing James Hardie fiber cement siding on your home is simply a good investment.

There are some benefits to vinyl siding. As compared to aluminum or wood siding, vinyl siding requires less maintenance, is more energy-efficient, more cost-effective, more durable, and has greater moisture protection. In the overall scheme of siding options, vinyl can be considered the middle of the road. It is a fairly common home siding that works for many people.

But In The End, It Simply Can’t Stand Up To Fiber Cement Siding.

Whereas vinyl siding will warp from excessive sunlight, crack and sag when inundated with torrential Northwest weather, and quickly melt in a fire—fiber cement siding by James Hardie will not. Fiber cement siding is considerably stronger, so it won’t deteriorate in harsh sun or weather conditions, and it is a noncombustible product that resists fire.

One of the main differences between wood siding and fiber cement siding is that wood is porous and susceptible to inundation of moisture, whereas fiber cement siding is impermeable. Wood that becomes even 20% wet can be invaded by the fungus that creates dry rot, which is seriously detrimental to the integrity of wood. Wet wood can also breed mold which may cause or worsen respiratory problems.

Being an organic element, wood is apt to crack, become bleached by sunlight and warp over time. As such, it is more easily damaged by rain, wind and extreme weather conditions, whereas fiber cement siding is much more durable.

If your home is exposed to fire, wood siding will ignite quickly and your house will become engulfed in flames, whereas fiber cement siding is fire resistant and will protect your home from external fire sources.

While there are benefits to wood siding, including the charm of a truly nature-based aesthetic, fiber cement siding is the obvious choice in terms of practicality and performance.

The top priority and number one purpose of home siding are to protect your home—which means your siding must defend against all the forces of nature that seek to penetrate and destroy it. James Hardie fiber cement siding performs this task better than any other siding on the market.

Fiber cement siding is impermeable and keeps out the moisture, which maintains a dry environment in your home structure that safeguards it from rot and mold. Fiber cement siding maintains its structural integrity longer than any other siding. It won’t burn, but rather will protect your home from fire.

Fiber cement siding is supremely tough – animals can’t chew, peck, or gnaw through cement and will look elsewhere. It won’t buckle in extreme weather, won’t chip in hail or fall apart in turbulent storms. All in all, fiber cement siding is simply the best siding you can buy.

Cedar is probably the most durable wood siding available and is definitely the most beautiful. For folks who simply can’t resist the allure of a wood home, cedar siding is the best siding. Among wood siding varieties, cedar is the most resistant to moisture, rot and mold. It is the most durable wood siding, and after years of use its natural beauty can be effectively restored with natural oils and stains.

Western red cedar is also the most sustainable wood siding you can buy. With a low carbon footprint, cedar is harvested from forests that are managed with sustainable ethics. Cedar wood siding can also be installed in distinctive ways to create the look you want. While a layered bevel approach is most traditional, tongue and groove siding offers more possibilities for a modern sensibility.

Either way, cedar siding creates a fantastic look and represents the highest performance wood siding on the market.

Contact SFW Construction today for a free consultation on the right siding for your home!