Vinyl Siding

Best Types of House Siding: Top Brands, Costs, Pros & Cons

We’ve put together a comprehensive residential siding guide to assist you in researching your options for replacement and new construction projects.

Kaycan DaVinci Sreciding

What’s Included: Seven possibilities ranging from affordable to upscale – Vinyl, steel & aluminum, fiber cement & composite, genuine wood, stucco, brick & stone and faux stone.

The information for each siding type includes:

  • Materials and installation cost
  • Tables that allow you to compare these materials at a glance in all key areas
  • An introduction to each material, its construction and options
  • Pros and cons such as durability/longevity, maintenance and repair requirements and appearance including the home styles that each siding types is best suited to
  • Final summaries that might help you make your decision
  • Tips for saving money on a siding project

Cost

Siding Type Materials Installation Total Cost per sq.ft.
Vinyl $2.75 – $4.50 $2.50 – $8.00 $5.25 – $12.50
Aluminum & Steel $3.00 – $6.50 $3.50 – $10.00 $6.50 – $16.50
Fiber Cement & Composite $3.50 – $6.50 $4.00 – $8.50 $7.50 – $14.50
Wood $2.50 – $8.50 $3.50 – $8.50 $4.15 – $17.00
Stucco $4.90 – $6.50 $3.00 – $8.50 $7.90 – $14.50
Brick & Stone Veneer $7.35 – $17.00 $6.30 – $10.00 $14.65 – $27.00
Faux Stone $6.15 – $20.00 $8.55 – $11.00 $14.70 – $31.00
Breakdown of costs by materials and installation

* The materials column in the table above includes siding, trim and the supplies needed to install it.

* The installation column in the table above reflects the cost of professional labor.

The last column is the total installed cost for comparison.


Note: Each siding type in the table above is normally available in a wide range of quality and style options that affect material costs. Installation ranges from easy to difficult due to onsite factors which affect installation cost. Your project’s geography and local economy will also have a major impact on costs.

Types of Siding Materials:

This table summarizes the information in this section:

Siding Type Options Weatherproof Durability
Vinyl Excellent Good 20-30 years
Aluminum & Steel Good Good 30-50 years
Fiber Cement & Composite Good Good 35-50 years
Wood Excellent Fair 50+
Stucco Fair Good 50+
Brick & Stone Good Excellent 75+
Faux Stone Good Good 30-50 years

The next section provides more details for each siding type, including its options and pros and cons.

Vinyl Siding

This is an extruded plastic material made from PVC resin for durability and resistance to the elements. The material is tinted in the production process, so the color goes all the way through.

There are three appearance options: Horizontal, vertical and shingle/shake panels.

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Top 10 Siding Materials: Costs, Pros & Cons and ROI

Today, you have more attractive house siding options than ever before. This buying guide details the top 10 siding materials to help you decide which type will give your home the look and durability you want, while staying within your budget.

1. Vinyl Siding
2. Fiber Cement Siding
3. Aluminum Siding
4. Natural Wood Siding
5. Engineered Wood Siding
6. Brick Siding
7. Brick Veneer Siding
8. Genuine Stone Siding
9. Stone Veneer Siding
10. Stucco Siding

Did you know? Most other online estimates of house siding costs are unrealistically low. Many other resources take the cost of the basic material and add the “base” installation costs to reach their total. — This approach fails to consider accessories like trim, supplies and fasteners that can add $1.50 to $2.50 per square foot.

Vinyl Siding

Vinyl siding is made from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, a plastic. It is blended with pigment to give the siding color. Acrylics are added for strength and fade protection.

The material is extruded into panels. Most panels are textured like rough-hewn wood siding, but smooth panels are produced too.

What we like:

Vinyl siding is known for its relatively low cost and durability. — That combination produces good value. The material can easily last 30 to 40 years, depending on the quality and thickness of panels.

Vinyl offers excellent styles and color options:

Horizontal vinyl siding is made to look like wood boards from 3” to 8” wide in Dutch lap, beaded and clapboard styles.

Vertical panels are produced in board & batten and flat styles.

Architectural panels are formed like wood shingle and shake siding. Most products are offered in colors from white to deep browns and dark grays.

Vinyl siding is light and easy to install. — This helps cut down costs when hiring a professional and makes a DIY option more viable for handy homeowners.

Maintenance is minimal: Lightly power wash it to remove dust and dirt.

What we don’t like:

Vinyl lacks the authenticity of wood: In neighborhoods where homes are sided with natural wood, stone and brick veneer, vinyl often looks inferior.

Vinyl isn’t as eco-friendly as metal: While vinyl siding can be recycled, most of it ends up in landfills.

Warping, cracking and water penetration are frequent problems with bad installation.

Cost:

The installed cost of basic vinyl siding is $5.50 to $8.50 per square foot when horizontal and vertical panels are used.

Architectural vinyl siding panels with a layer of insulation will cost $2.00 to $4.00 more per square foot, depending the profile, with the total installed cost of $7.50 to $12.50 per sq.ft.

Cost factors are the quality of the siding material, insulation and trim details, and the complexity of the house on which it is being installed.

ROI (Value Recouped at Resale):

Vinyl siding has a recouped value of about 78% to 80% at resale. The ROI is the percentage of the cost homeowners recoup when selling their home while the siding looks new and is in good condition.

What ROI doesn’t necessarily capture are the intangibles such as the enjoyment value, improved energy efficiency with insulated siding panels, and the additional level of protection for your home from elements such as wind driven rain.

Did you know? Vinyl siding is the most common house siding in the US and Canada. It accounts for nearly 30% of all siding jobs. However, vinyl’s market share is slipping as other siding materials, such as fiber cement and wood composite gain popularity with homeowners wanting a finer and better value siding options.


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2020 Vinyl Siding Cost vs. Fiber Cement Vs. LP SmartSide Siding

You have just spotted the first telltale signs of peeling paint from your house’s wood siding. It won’t be long now until the dreaded house painting becomes a must-do. Unless, 2020 is the year you finally re-skin the house in vinyl siding.

Vinyl siding – actually polyvinyl chloride plastic resin that is heated and extruded into sheets – has only been around for about 50 years and was developed as a cheaper alternative to metal siding back in the 1950s.

Vinyl’s reputation for “cheap” was honestly earned as plasticized siding was susceptible to cracking and sagging. Colors were limited and those colors faded. Even well-cared for vinyl siding looked like… well… vinyl siding.

But in recent years, the two most important components of vinyl siding – the quality of materials and the expertise of installation — have made giant leaps forward.

Today about one-third of new American homes are built with maintenance-free (almost) vinyl installed as cladding.

Vinyl has been rated in various surveys to last anywhere from 60 to 100 years so this will likely be the last investment you make in your house’s siding.


What to Expect in Terms of Costs?

So how much will it cost to cast those paint brushes aside and put new vinyl siding on your house?

The short answer is anywhere from $6.50 to $12.50 per square foot installed, or around $650 to $1,250 per square (100 square feet) installed, on average. This can translate to a total cost of $13,000 to $25,000 for an average two-story house or 2,000 square feet of new vinyl siding installed.

vinyl siding on a cape style home Vinyl Siding on a Cape Cod style home installed by Siding & Windows Group

In a remodeling contractor survey done by Hanley Wood, the mid-range vinyl siding cost for a typical home (1,250 sq. ft. of siding installed) in the US was about $14,300 according to the Hanley Wood Remodeling Costs report for 2020.

The survey also reports an average cost-to-value return (average percentage of cost recouped at the time of resale) of about 75% for a new vinyl siding job.

That being said, your total cost for a new vinyl siding job will depend on a couple of factors; primarily the grade of materials (low-end, mid-range, or high-end), the quality of installation, and of course your home’s geographic location, accessibility, level of difficulty, etc. Let’s explore this further:


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