Types, Trends & Popularity:
Stucco: Still one of the most popular siding choices, 27% of US houses are still built with stucco! It's a very regional material that's popular in the South and Southwest but rarely seen in other parts of the country.
Vinyl: 26% of US houses are built with vinyl siding, although it has seen a modest decline in popularity over the past two decades.
Fiber-Cement: 22% of US houses are now built with fiber-cement siding which has seen significant growth over the past two decades because of it's affordability and durability.
Masonry: A classic building material, brick sided homes represent 19% of the US housing market.
Natural Wood: Declining to 4% of the market, natural wood siding represents a small portion of the market despite many new product options coming to market.
Others:
Engineered/Composite Wood:
A more natural look that's easy to maintain.
Metal:
Both Aluminum and Steel siding have been popular over the years but steel has become much more popular in the last decade. Metal siding is a good choice for more modern houses, since it has a cleaner and more streamlined look that doesn't match well to more traditional house designs.
Costs & Savings:
Install Costs:
It's tough to nail down a specific cost per SF for siding since costs can vary by market, manufacturer, finish, seasonality and pattern. We painstakingly collected data on siding costs across a variety of variables and present it in the following chart with low/high and average price ranges for each siding material.
Operating & Maintenance Costs:
All siding options will outlast your 30 year mortgage if properly maintained so longevity and replacement schedules are not major factors for most people. But some siding is more maintenance heavy. All siding will need periodic power washing, depending on climate, sun light patterns and vegetation proximity. Wood siding will need periodic refinishing.
Insulation:
Many manufacturers will try to sell you on the fact that their siding option add a small amount of insulation to your building envelope, but does it matter? In the table below we modeled the insulating R-value of different siding options with our
home energy cost calculator on a typical home to see what the annual energy savings would be with different options. In general, the cost savings between different options would be pretty negligible, which is consistent with
our view that there is a substantially diminishing return to additional wall insulation.
| Siding Type: |
R-Value |
Est. Annual Energy Savings |
| Vinyl |
0.61 |
$15.86 |
| Vinyl - Insulated |
2.60 |
$67.60 |
| Fiber Cement |
0.37 |
$9.62 |
| Stucco |
0.20 |
$5.20 |
| Steel/Aluminum |
0.61 |
$15.86 |
| Natural Wood |
0.75 |
$19.51 |
| Masonry Veneer |
0.44 |
$11.44 |
Picking a Pattern:
While costs vary, it's important to pick a siding that adds architectural value and visual enjoyment to your home. Picking the right siding pattern and material can add real resale value and improve the aesthetics of your home.
Don't be afraid to mix and match but be careful to do it tastefully! As a rule of thumb, it can make sense to apply different siding types to different masses of your home to give the appearance of your home being historically built in separate phases. We're happy to help you make your siding selection on your house plan with our custom exterior render video.
Lap:
Popular in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, lap siding is a classic finish that works on all styles of home. Different manufacturers will offer different variations on this pattern such as beading, Dutch lap, and varying reveals. It also often comes in different finishes such as smooth and wood grain.
Board & Batten:
Popularized by farmhouses imitating barns, this pattern works really well on large vertical exterior wall masses, like gabled ends of your home. Similar to lap siding, manufacturers vary the batten spacing and finish.
Shingle/Shake:
This indisputably American siding originated in New England and can still be seen there to this day covering the entirely of many homes (walls & roof). Outside of New England, shingles and shakes are often seen in beach or lake front constructions and work well as an accent wall or gable in just about any home style. A variety of shapes and finishes are cut, including fish-scales, rounded, square, octagons, coves and more.
Shiplap & T&G Beveled Wood:
Shiplap is an overlapping pattern with nautical origins, and Tongue & Groove Beveled Wood siding can can both be deployed either vertically or horizontally. Both of these siding options will provide a more rustic look that will develop character as it ages.
Paneled:
Paneled siding is a more modern option that is possible thanks to modern material manufacturing developments. Sheets of metal, PVC or Fiber-Cement are common. We like using flat paneled siding as an accent material on bump outs and window surrounds but it can also fit well as the primary siding material on modern homes as part of a manufactured system.
