Home Siding Options

Now that you are contemplating the installation of home siding, you should be doubly encouraged by the fact that there are a variety of siding colors from which to choose.  Regardless of whether you are considering Hardiplank, vinyl, fiber cement, or any other material, choices for siding colors abound.  Inform yourself as to the details of color and texture options to be able to make a decision with no regrets.

One of the benefits to the creative use of colors on many siding surfaces is that manufacturers are often able to simulate the look and feel of stone, wood, brick and other traditional exterior materials.  By incorporating a mixture of siding colors in a fiber-cement siding, for example, you can create the look of a New England clapboard wood siding.  Of further benefit with respect to this kind of siding is the fact that paint typically adheres in such a fashion as to make repainting a far less frequent occurrence.  Finally, frequent washing will also have little negative impact on the staying power of siding colors.

Take a look at Hardiplank siding to get an illustration as to the durability of siding colors as opposed to colors of a traditional wood siding home.  The originator of this type of siding, James Hardie, has incorporated the use of ColorPlus technology to give their siding products colors that will withstand the demands of the climate where they are used.  The colors are essentially baked into the siding itself so as to create a permanent bond with the siding as opposed to the paint on other materials which only forms a superficial bond.

If you are considering vinyl as your siding product, your choice of colors is a bit more limited.  That’s not to say that there isn’t a great deal of variety when it comes to vinyl siding.  The limitations are more in the category of initial choice.  Once your colors have been chosen, it is considerably more of a challenge to change them than it would be for the Hardiplank siding, for example.  For vinyl, siding colors should be well thought out in advance of your purchase.  Changing colors for your vinyl siding is something you can do -- it just requires a more detailed preparation and the use of a urethane/acrylic based paint (for best results).

In fact, in most cases, carefully choosing your siding colors in advance is generally the best practice regardless of the material.  Certainly you can repaint virtually any surface, but part of the beauty of going with the option of home siding is to avoid or minimize having to futz with colors altogether.  As a final thought, if you feel that you may be apt to change colors down the road, you should probably stick to a siding that is more paint friendly so as to permit a less labor intensive repainting in the future.