Exterior siding is an important choice in the new home building or exterior remodeling process. Siding is an important part of the home as it is one of the 1st things we on a house. There are lots of choices but mostly our customers are interested in the top 3 exterior siding products – Fiber Cement, Vinyl Siding, or Cedar Wood Siding. To guide someone in the right direction, it helps us to know what you are trying to accomplish as far as maintenance, overall upfront cost, environmental impact, and aesthetics.
My personal favorite is fiber cement siding with the color pre-applied in the factory. The paint baked on in the factory will provide a 15-20 year guarantee on the paint finish making it almost maintenance free. The final result is really sharp, high-end look to a home.
Remodeling Magazine just did a study that showed fiber cement siding to provide the best return on investment for remodeling projects on existing homes. The study showed the following:
- Residing with fiber cement gives a 31% better return than adding a bathroom and costs $61k less to complete
- Minor kitchen remodel gives you a 10% less return on investment than residing with fiber cement
- Adding a second story addition nets you 23% less return on investment than fiber cement residing
Also, fiber cement is much more fire resistant then Vinyl or Wood, is Hurrican Resistant, will resist decay, rot, or termites much more effectively, is more durable, and has a higher lifetime value. Fiber cement is definitely an upgrade but it has a lot of benefits. On average it runs about double the cost of Vinyl, and slighly more than wood (when you factor in painting on site). You will have to use composite or wood trim, where vinyl you can get away with vinyl trim corners and aluminium wrapped rake boards.
Fiber cement is probably the “greenest” of all the sidings because its made with recycled materials and readily available materials. Vinyl is an oil based product making it the least green product on the market, but it also never needs any painting and the manufacturing process is being improved on every year to incorporate recycled vinyl materials. Wood siding is dying breed of siding, but still used on higher-end homes. Provides a similar look to fiber cement siding, but without most of the benefits.
At Built By Adams, we install all 3 sidings for custom new homes and remodeling projects. It all depends on the customer and what they are trying to accomplish and the budget.
