New siding is a great investment as it offers a range of benefits, both aesthetic and functional, to homeowners. However, before you contact a local siding supplier, it’s crucial to ensure that your existing siding is incapable of protecting your home from snow, rain, and other strong weather elements. Here are some factors to consider before replacing your current siding.
1. Siding’s Age
It’s important to know your siding’s age to make an informed decision about whether to repair or completely replace your current siding. Although most high-quality siding lasts between 20-30 years, there are several factors that can cause premature aging and damage to your sidings, such as poor ventilation, improper installation, and exposure to moisture or mold. If you aren’t sure of your siding’s age, there are some telltale symptoms of aging to look for like rotting of the layer underneath the siding or small holes in the siding itself.
2. Energy Efficiency
It’s not easy to keep a house at a comfortable temperature 365 days a year. In fact, cooling and heating appliances suck up more energy than all other appliances combined.
That said, if your existing siding isn’t performing well in terms of efficiency (i.e., it’s allowing higher quantities of air to enter and exit the home), you may be using cooling and heating appliances more often than necessary and paying more in the process. Why? Because the HVAC system will need to work harder to meet the requirements for maintaining a balanced temperature.
An energy bill that is more expensive than usual (or a gradual increase in your bill amount) can be a sign that you need to replace your house siding. New siding can help make your residence more tightly sealed, which is key to creating an ideal environment for HVAC systems to operate at maximum efficiency.
3. Existing Color
If you’ve recently bought a new home with existing siding, you may want to evaluate the color of this protective material. If your house is situated in a warm region and the color of the siding is bold or dark, you may want to replace it with a lighter shade that won’t absorb as much moisture as a bolder shade. A lighter color of siding will also save you money and energy when attempting to keep your house cool in the summer season, because it want attract as much heat.
Consider the colors of your window frames and door before you settle on a new shade of siding. You can go for a contrast or look for hues in the same color family.
4. The Extent of Window Capping
If you’re not familiar with capping, it’s the process of applying aluminum or vinyl sheeting to the wood trim of your exterior windows to improve your window’s appearance and protect your siding. The replacement of your existing siding may harm the capping of your house’s windows. However, this is unlikely to happen if you contract with an experienced installer. Also, it might be a good idea to complete your window replacement and siding projects simultaneously to prevent you from having to recap your windows.
5. State of the Material
Vinyl siding can last for several years, but wood siding is susceptible to problems like dry rot. To identify it, use the bottom of a hammer or a screwdriver to tap multiple areas of the siding. To the eye, the siding may look fine, but the impact of your tapping can reveal rot underneath the exterior. If you detect any dry rot during the inspection, you can replace the damaged section. Because dry rot can weaken the structural integrity of your house, it’s not something you want to toy with.
Pro tip: Siding can experience damage when nailed at an angle or too tightly. You should be able to move siding (especially vinyl siding) horizontally by a half inch or so.
6. The Need to Resell
When it comes to siding replacement costs, you’re not the only person aware of the potential expense. Prospective home buyers also have an idea of the costs, and often act on the knowledge by neglecting homes with siding that requires considerable work. While you may not have any plans to move, re-siding could up your home value just in case you need to sell at a future date. If you do end up moving down the line, you can advertise your home with confidence, touting its new, high-quality siding as a major selling point.
7. Insurance
It’s always useful to know whether or not insurance will help cover some of your home improvement costs. For certain individuals, house siding replacements are covered by their insurance provider. However, this typically applies to extreme instances of siding damage caused by fallen trees or storms. A specialist contractor should be able to help you detect damages that an adjuster may overlook or may not be aware of.
It’s also worth mentioning that insurance adjusters will require documentation of all damages. Consider getting a reliable contractor to help confirm that the damages are linked to recent instances of extreme weather.
8. Presence of Moisture
If you see bubbles or blisters forming underneath your siding’s surface, take note! This is a big indicator that your siding has been forced to hold water. Because the siding’s main job is to keep moisture at bay, this is a key sign that your siding is no longer effective. If anything like this happens, it’s a good time to consider replacing your siding before more serious issues occur.
What’s a good type of siding to install? You can choose between wood siding or faux. Natural wood is very popular right now, with many people opting for cedar siding which is attractive, sturdy, and durable.
Talk to one of our Denver wood specialists for answers to your siding questions.
