Siding
Siding is a rain screen, and the parts you cannot see do the work
Every siding material sheds water, and every siding material lets some through at joints, penetrations and edges. What keeps a wall dry is the barrier and the flashings behind the panels, which is why a siding job is judged on the details at the openings rather than on the color.
What we do
- 01Vinyl sidingWhat it does well, how it fails in a wind event, and why it must be hung rather than nailed tight.
- 02Fiber cement sidingHeavier, paintable, freeze-thaw tolerant, and unforgiving about clearances and joint detailing.
- 03Siding repairStorm damage, cracked and unlocked panels, matching problems, and the rot behind a wall that got wet.
The wall behind the siding
- Water-resistive barrier
- The house wrap or felt over the sheathing. It is the actual water plane of the wall: it drains anything that gets past the siding down and back out, provided it is lapped shingle-fashion and taped properly.
- Window and door flashing
- Sill pan, jamb and head flashing, integrated with the wrap in the right order. Almost all wall leaks around a window are a sequencing problem, not a caulk problem.
- Kick-out flashing
- Where a roof edge dies into a wall, a kick-out diverts the water in the step flashing out into the gutter. Without it, every storm puts the runoff from that roof plane straight behind the siding.
- Clearances
- Siding needs a gap at roofs, decks, walks and grade. Where it is packed tight against a roof surface, water wicks up behind it and stays there.
If you are having a roof replaced and there is a roof-to-wall junction anywhere on the house, that is the moment to check for a kick-out. It is a small piece of metal and the cheapest insurance on the whole job.
Vinyl or fiber cement
| Consideration | Vinyl | Fiber cement |
|---|---|---|
| Weight and structure | Light; hangs on nails and moves freely | Heavy; fastened at a specified spacing into framing or sheathing |
| Finish | Color runs through the panel; cannot be repainted easily and fades | Painted, repaintable, and factory finishes hold well |
| Impact | Becomes brittle in cold; a hard knock in January cracks it | Hard and dense; chips rather than cracks, and does not go brittle |
| Wind | Comes off when the lock is compromised or the nailing is wrong | Stays put; the failure mode is at joints and fasteners rather than whole panels |
| Joint detailing | Overlaps and J-channel absorb movement by design | Butt joints need flashing behind them and controlled gaps — the detail that gets skipped |
| Maintenance | Wash it | Wash it, and repaint on a cycle |
Where siding and roofing are the same job
- Roof-to-wall junctions. Step flashing goes behind the siding, not on top of it, and it needs a kick-out at the bottom.
- Dormer cheeks. The most common place to find siding cut tight to the shingles with no clearance, wicking water into the wall.
- Chimney chases. A framed chase clad in siding needs a proper cricket above it and counterflashing, exactly like masonry does.
- Gable and rake edges. Wind gets under both siding and roof edge in the same gust. Both are perimeter details and both are where damage starts.
The roof anatomy drawing shows the step flashing detail in section, which is the clearest way to see why the order of the layers decides whether a wall is dry.
Storm gone through and the siding looks wrong on one elevation?
Request a free inspectionCan siding be replaced one elevation at a time?
Yes, and after a wind event it is often exactly what is needed, since damage is usually concentrated on the windward face. The thing to be realistic about is matching: siding that has been on a house for ten years is not the color it was when it was made.
Does siding go over the old siding?
It can, and it is a decision worth making carefully. Going over means nobody sees the sheathing or the barrier, and any rot that is there stays there. Where a wall has had a leak, tearing off is the only way to know what happened.
Is insulated vinyl worth it?
The foam backing adds rigidity, which makes panels look flatter and feel more solid, and it adds a modest amount of insulation. The rigidity is usually the more noticeable benefit.
Who handles the wrap and the flashings?
Whoever is doing the siding, and it should be named in the scope. A scope that lists panels and trim but says nothing about the barrier, the window flashing or the kick-outs is missing the part that actually keeps the wall dry.
All work is performed by licensed and insured local roofing professionals.