Best Siding Buying Guide

Siding is a protective material attached to the exterior side of a building’s wall. Whether you’re looking to install a curtain wall or another type, you’ll have to decide what the best siding for the house would be, since there are several types, and there are various features of their application.

Best Home Siding: 7 Most Popular Types

Cladding, or the application of one material over another on walls and buildings, is distinguished by its beauty, attractiveness, and uniqueness. It makes any building look more prestigious. It is made of various components, each of which has its pros and cons.

Vinyl siding

Vinyl siding is the most popular and most commonly used type of building cladding. It was first used in America and had appeared in the second half of the 20th century.

Here are the pros:

• Easy to maintain.
• Simple mounting siding panels: They snap into one another and are fixed with screws or nails.
• Installation can be done at any time of the year since there are no limitations due to weather conditions.
• Panels can be used to decorate not only the facade but also the interior or even a box for plants.

It is made of polyvinyl chloride, plastic characterized by chemical inertness and a wide temperature operating range. Cladding is presented in the form of thin plastic based on PVC. The material is characterized by durability and affordable pricing.

Acrylic siding

Acrylic siding is a material designed for facade cladding. It’s to make a building look luxurious and modern. Also, this material serves as excellent protection against climatic influences extending the life span of the structure.

The pros are:

• High level of protection against ultraviolet rays
• Shock and heat resistance remaining throughout the entire material life span
• Resistance to acids, alkalis, oils
• New embossing structure making panels look like a real tree
• Unique design and color scheme

Reliability, variety of colors, and ease of installation make acrylic siding one of the most widespread methods of exterior cladding.

Metal siding

This facade material is often made of stainless steel and used for coating shops and industrial facilities. The product is not affected by corrosion or mechanical damage, but there are risks of collapse from its weight in case of improper installation.

Pro: More durable material.

Con: Instability to weather conditions.

Metal siding is:

• Environmentally friendly but limited in color. It’s also possible to paint steel with a powder of the desired color.
• The best siding for durability.
• Resistant to temperature changes.

It also has special fastenings, which make it the best material for coating facades.

Metal siding can withstand quite large loads, but when a certain limit depending on metal thickness is reached, dents appear on it, which can only be removed by replacing the panels.

Fiber cement siding

Fiber cement siding is made from cement with mineral fillers and fiber mixture. It is thin glass, polymer, or cellulosic fiber that gives panels strength and ensures cracking resistance. Main advantages include:

• Heat and sound insulation properties.
• Ease of installation: There are several ways to mount panels.
• Environmental friendliness: All components are harmless to human health.
• Wide color range as well as visual imitation of natural materials.
• Fire and high-temperature resistance: The material is non-combustible.
• Low panels’ weight ensures an optimal load on the external walls.

Outdoor wall cladding panels will serve for several decades. They are not subject to rotting, fungus, corrosion, insect attacks. The average cost is from $6-12 per square foot.

Wood siding

This type is the least durable of all. However, it is widely used and quite popular because it’s the best type of siding for the environment. Now, wooden houses are not built, but some are cladding their houses with wood. Nevertheless, this material has more cons than pros:

• Quite expensive
• Highly flammable
• Absorb moisture, rot, and deteriorate quickly
• Have to be constantly tinted and repaired.

At the same time, wood is a natural, environmentally friendly material that’s easy to use. It has a wide range of colors, which makes it possible to easily choose the right one. It usually costs from $5-10 per square foot.

Plastic siding

Plastic siding, despite the PVC fragility, is the most durable of all. The claimed life span is 50 years due to the fact that:

• Plastic doesn’t absorb water at all, which means it is not subject to frost damage.
• Chemical inertness makes the siding insensitive to weathering.
• UV resistance is ensured by the addition of stabilizers.

Despite the use of photo stabilizers, PVC color changes over time. Color loses its intensity, and white plastic may become a little yellow. Therefore, plastic siding is painted in bright colors with low saturation.

Brick siding

Recently, brick siding has become increasingly widespread. Before you start building a new house, you need to think through all the points associated with choosing the best exterior siding. It depends on the facade cladding, how durable the house will be, and how quickly it will start collapsing.

The material is characterized by:

• How lightweight the product is.
• Its resistance to different microorganisms: It can withstand mechanical effects and not swell or delaminate.
• An ability to withstand a temperature range from -50 to +60 degrees.
• How to can maintain its original appearance for two or even three decades.
• Its wide range of colors and shades.

This is one of the best house sidings, which costs about $6-15 per square foot.

Best Exterior Siding: Comparison of Characteristics

The main danger associated with the curtain wall systems use is the risk of fire. Fiber cement siding is the most fire-resistant of all. It does not burn, and it can survive local fires without consequences.

Metal siding is also completely non-combustible. But when exposed to fire, it loses its appearance, corrosion protection, and it becomes unsuitable for further operation. PVC is combustible, but it doesn’t spread flames and burns only with external exposure.

In terms of environmental friendliness, any of the mentioned best siding materials can be used. The preference can be given to fiber cement cladding since it only contains natural components.

In terms of ease of use and maintenance, plastic is beyond the competition. Its smooth surface can be easily cleaned from dust and dirt. Scratches on it are invisible since surface damage doesn’t lead to a color change. Metal siding is also simple in terms of maintenance; nevertheless, any scratches need to be painted over.

When choosing one of these options, you’ll need to consider the convenience and ease of use, as well as the cost of acquiring the material, its delivery, and the complexity of installation. Metal and plastic sidings are known for their installation convenience. Metal siding is somewhat heavier than plastic, but this difference can be neglected in most cases.

When deciding which siding is best, plastic or metal, it’s worth considering the fact that plastic siding is easier to cut and bend. Various bending techniques are often used during installation, which is much easier to do with plastic. Plastic parts can be bent without irreversible deformation, which also simplifies the work. You can also give preference to plastic/metal composite.

Due to the ease of installation, plastic and metal sidings are inexpensive. Plastic is especially economical since the material is cheap. Fiber cement siding is expensive to purchase and more difficult to install. It has more weight, which makes higher demands on the subsystem. This also increases the total cost of the curtain wall installation.

If you need help choosing the best siding material for your project, call us at +1 267-961-7088