Siding — Durable, Beautiful...
...and it can cover a multitude of sins!
In the Beginning
If your house was built in 1909 as a 1½ story, clapboard home, and sat quietly until the 1940s and 50s providing perfectly adequate shelter (as long as it was painted every three or four years), the original owners were probably satisfied because that is how everybody did it. But those years brought an amazing new product called aluminum siding. It didn't need to be painted, looked amazing, and would pay for itself in paint and labor savings in just a few years.
Everybody was getting aluminum siding for their homes. Whole developments of suburban homes can be equipped that way, in all sorts of colors. It was like a rainbow. Except, as it turned out, you did need to paint it (albeit less frequently), so the enthusiasm died down a bit. It was still much better than plain wood. In the 1960s something "new and improved" came along: Vinyl siding. Now, this stuff, they assured us, would never, ever need painting. You were told never to paint it because the paint wouldn't stick, and would flake off in just a few months, making it look terrible.
People loved this new product because it could be textured to look like natural wood, came in marvelous pretty colors, and was maintenance free. A new boom in beautification took hold. Still, it had its problems, too. Upon exposure to intense continuous sunlight, the colors would start to fade. If there were an overhang where the sunlight didn't penetrate, that part would stay dark, creating a stark contrast between the original and faded colors.
More importantly, as the vinyl aged, the UV light would make it more and more brittle, so that if you leaned against it, it would crack. Cold weather was its enemy, too, making it relatively fragile. Moreover, it was difficult to repair, couldn't be painted, and after a decade or two, became a bit of an eyesore.
Modern Times
Nowadays, all those problems have been solved with sophisticated new materials, additives, manufacturing techniques, and installation methods. Siding can be made from permanently colored metals, real wood, different plastics, and composite/synthetic materials that will last for decades, maintenance free. It sounds like a repeat for the promises of aluminum siding, and then vinyl siding, but this time it is true!
Using technology that didn't exist back then, manufacturers can now artificially age their products under intense conditions such as storms, UV light, high winds, heat, cold, and everything you can imagine. The government has also stepped in with various agencies that make sure what the manufacturers say is true.
Modern siding products will make your home (metaphorically) bulletproof to all the incursions of nature. It provides significant resistance to the transfer of energy in or out of your living space, too. It helps your cool A/C stays inside in the summer, and resists letting your expensive warmth leak out in the winter.
You can even get a break on your insurance rates in (for example) fire-prone areas if you have steel or metal siding of one type or another. Many homes in such areas now sport steel roofs and steel siding so that a drifting ember doesn't casually set them ablaze!
Aesthetics
Of course, if you are contemplating selling your home, there is nothing like fresh siding to enhance the curb appeal and raise the asking price. Studies have shown that the best things you can do for the exterior of your home before selling are to do the gardening, so it looks "cared for"; replace or clean up the front door, if it's shabby; and, most importantly, get rid of all those dents and the damage in the siding from where the kids always lean their bicycles, where the car door always strikes the wall, and where your little fishing boat leans between trips to the pond.
If there is cracking because of age, it needs to be replaced. If the color is faded and shabby, it needs to be replaced. And if it is actual aluminum siding dating back to the middle of the last century, it needs to be replaced.
The Takeaway
If your house is looking dated, scuffed up, and not as attractive as when you moved in, you can revitalize it, making it more like the place you first fell in love with. As a bonus, it will help you save money on your heating and cooling bills.
If it's time to move on to a new place because you need more bedrooms or a bigger garage, the entire job can be done very quickly and inexpensively so as not to delay your listing. It will add thousands and thousands of dollars to your final selling price when the buyers see your fabulous looking home.
One of our consultants would be more than happy to discuss your options with you. Whether you like good solid metal, wood, or the beautiful array of durable modern synthetics, we can help you make your home look its best.
Click here to use our free online quotation form or give us a call at 832-216-1586 and say "howdy" because we'd love to hear from you. Our experts will be pleased to help you make fantastic choices!
