Selecting Siding for your Home

Increase Your Home's Value with New Siding - Selecting Siding - Siding Types

By Susan M. Keenan

Siding is available in aluminum, vinyl, and wood, including clapboard and shakes. If you are in the market for siding, you will want to do a bit of research to discover the benefits and disadvantages of each. Additionally, you will need to make some calculations as to the square footage that you will be covering with the siding. Most siding is purchased in a square, or 100 square feet, so the pricing will match accordingly to this measurement.

Make an informed choice when selecting the type of siding for your home. Vinyl and aluminum are less expensive and require less maintenance than siding constructed from wood. However, if you select aluminum or vinyl siding, your color choice is set in permanent siding, so to speak. The color cannot be changed once it has been placed on your home.

Wood siding is considered a very upscale feature for any home. Therefore, if you are planning on selling the home in a few years, wood siding may be an excellent selling feature for upscale clients. In fact, painted or stained siding requires an even greater amount of maintenance. On the upside, however, you can always update the color of your siding whenever you do full scale maintenance on it.

Since you will look at the siding every time you return home from an outing, work, or even a trip to the edge of your property to pick up the mail, you should consider the eye appeal the siding has for you. Although pricing and the total cost may factor into your decision, the fact that the siding is such a prominent feature of your home will need to be addressed.

Visit a few home centers and check out the home siding offered there. Since it is difficult to visualize what your home will look like with a particular siding sitting in the aisle of a store, your next step is to visit a few different neighborhoods and see it first hand. Drive around until you have seen the different types of materials employed in siding. You can also invest in several home design and style magazines. They provide excellent photographs and information on the various products and materials used to construct homes. You are sure to get a few ideas from these, making it easier to make your decision.

Once you have made your choice, take a day or two to think about it. Attempt to visualize the new look your home will have. Once you are comfortable with your decision, visiting a few home centers is the next step. Check out the pricing for the type of siding that you have selected. Ask for quotes from each of the stores.

It is essential to consider the quality of the materials that each manufacturer offers with the particular style of siding that you have selected. All brands of siding are not the same in quality and the differences should be easy enough to see. For example, a better quality vinyl siding will be heavier than one that does not have the same high level of quality. Moreover, it will have a nicer appearance than the poorer quality vinyl siding. Better or higher quality siding has a less artificial look to it. Additionally, a better quality vinyl siding will hold up longer than a cheaper vinyl siding.

Higher quality wood siding will have a nicer appearance and will have been made with a better quality of wood than lesser quality wood. The wood used will have fewer knots in it and therefore, the siding will have fewer knots, giving it a better look. Ask pertinent questions about the varying levels of quality in the siding at each store. Typically, the price and the warranty are affected by the difference in quality. You will need to make a choice based upon which factors are more important to you: price, warranty, and appearance.

Once you have considered the different quality of the style of siding you have selected, the selection of your siding contractor should be easier. Consult with your contractor prior to finalizing your decision and purchase. Ask specific questions about the contractor’s level of experience and training, particularly with the type of siding that you have selected.

Finalize your purchase, verifying the quantity needed. Set up a date for the work to begin, acquiring an estimate on the amount of time necessary to complete the job first. Now, sit back and relax while you wait for your home to receive its new look.

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