The number of house siding options on the market are absolutely endless. We were so overwhelmed when we were building our new home because it was hard to narrow down both the material and color that would be best for the home. Not only do you have to think about architectural styles, landscaping color palettes and appropriate curb appeal, but it is important to consider your climate and maintenance abilities as well. So much to think about! After doing a ton of research, we settled on aluminum siding. It made the most sense for our house because of its durability, contemporary look (we wanted a modern style home), and price. We also loved that this type of siding is so low maintenence as it does not rot, rust or decay. As you can see we selected a lovely dark navy color that stands out against the contrasting tones of our brick patio. I love that it has a slightly maritime look, because it makes our home stand out a bit from the others in our neighborhood. Overall, I am so happy with the siding that we chose.
Weeding through all of the siding options available these days can be a very challenging part of building a home. From brick to traditional wood siding and everything in between, there are just so many to choose from. We always tell our clients to first decide on the exterior design you want to create. Perhaps you like traditional colonial brick homes, or maybe you rather a quaint farmhouse look with brightly colored shutters against wood board. I personally love this mixture of crisp navy painted cedar shake combined with portions of stone siding that we did on this fantastic cape cod home. Once you have decided on the overall style you want to achieve, it is important to consider the weather patterns and climate of your area. If you are in a hurricane or tornado prone area, you want to go with sturdier options like brick, stone, or stucco. Whereas if you live in a hot and humid environment, breathable options may be preferred to withstand the moisture in the air. It is imperative to select the right material for your area in order to assure longevity of the product.
Choosing exterior siding does not sound like a very fun project. Most people think wood-look, brick, or stone with not very many options in between. This is actually a very important design decision because it completely transforms the look of your home and can determine its style, architecture and, most importantly, level of curb appeal. Picking the right siding for your home is not something to take lightly. With that being said, I do encourage you to think outside of the box and do something different than your average cookie cutter home. That is exactly what we did for this homeowner. The wanted their homes exterior to put off a funky modern vibe. In order to give them this look, we went with a combination of wood siding, stucco, and stone elements. The combination of material and contemporary lines of the home create a really unique style, unlike anything we have done before. Both our clients and us could not be happier with the result. The exterior siding design welcomes you to the home and prepares you for the delightfully modern interior.
Homeowners often come to us with questions on the right siding for their home. Of course this question generally comes up in the middle of a new build or large exterior facelift. By this time, the architectural style of the home has generally already been established. This is important to note, because your house siding choice should really be decided by two factors the architecture of your exterior, and the climate and weather patterns where you live. These two factors may seem quite obvious, but you would be surprised at how many clients do not realize the importance of both. The decor style of your home (both interior and exterior) is in large part determined by the materials you use throughout. For example, this statuesque English style estate home has a very classic feel brought about by the rock siding. Utilizing brick as opposed to the stone would give it a very different much more colonial look. This is a great segue into climate being a deciding factor as well. This home is actually in an area prone to very severe thunderstorms and tornados. For this reason the homeowner needed a very durable material that could withstand extreme weather. Rock siding was a great choice for this because it can be virtually indestructible when applied with the right techniques.
We have been on the hunt for examples of fiber cement siding, but it has been surprisingly hard to find. Our contractor told us about this product when we began the renovation process on our 20th century period home. Apparently it is an old technique that originated in the early nineteen hundreds in Australia as an answer to brush fires. It is touted for its durability and fairly low cost. From my understanding, it is essentially fiber mixed with cement to create a highly durable fire, moisture, insect, and rodent resistant siding. Sounds too good to be true right? His thoughts were that we can remove the ugly and flimsy vinyl siding portions that had been added to the house by various owners over the years, and then apply this product. The final finish looks like this house (the only one I could find showing it) once you paint over top of it. I love the wood look that it brings, and if it is significantly stronger, it seems like a great option. I also like that you can repaint it as often as you want over the years. That will make maintenence and touch ups quite easy.
We are in the process of building a new home along the coast, and are having a hard time deciding on the right siding for our design. We love the look of classic Cape Code homes like this one. The mixture of the rustic almost country style elements alongside elegant trim and architectural details is so gorgeous to me. Given my inspiration photos, I suppose the natural choice to recreate this look is to use similar hardie board siding. I have heard about this product a lot over the years but dont really understand what it is. A quick search online told me that it is an engineered product made of composite wood. We living in a fairly hot and humid environment that does occasionally get a hurricane or tropical storm, so I am wondering if it will be able to withstand those conditions. Another product I have heard of using for this type of architectural style is cedar siding. I have seen it on beach houses that I pass on my walks but I cant imagine that would be very durable in severe weather conditions either. I would love some advice from any contractors on here for if hardie board siding is a good product or not.
