Choosing among the many types of siding products available can be an easier process when you’re working with an experienced, reliable contractor. CalFinder can connect you with reputable and seasoned siding specialists who can take a lot of the guesswork out of deciding which style and type of siding will work best for you and your home.

The advice to look for a siding material that suits the style of your home is simple and solid — and yet, in this day of seemingly limitless options, it can be challenging to hone in on the most effective solution. Stucco, stone, wood, brick, shingles, and shakes are all popular siding types that have been around for a long time. You can also choose from composite wood, aluminum, seamless steel, and vinyl. Looking at resources like Better Homes and Gardens’ Siding Options for Your Home will give you the basics to consider as you start meeting with contractors for more specific advice and estimates.

CalFinder connects you with local siding contractors who can ensure that your project is done professionally for visual appeal and technical excellence. Here are a few examples of outstanding projects and contractors.

ABC Seamless serves North Dakota, portions of Minnesota, and also South Dakota. Their goal is to save homeowners time and money by providing the best products and utilizing the most advanced technologies for exterior siding.

J Reilly Construction is based in Pacifica, CA, and serves the greater San Francisco area. They pride themselves on reliability, work ethic, and performance, and know the value of maintaining excellent client relations.

JWS Custom Decks do a lot more than decks. Their services include siding and they say their goal is to make each finished project look like a magazine cover. They only take one project at a time. They’re located in New Hampshire.

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Don’t worry, it’s just an art installation entitled, “Inversion,” by Dan Havel and Dean Ruck. via Nick Douglas

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ABC Seamless specializes in everything that has to do with the exterior of the home, from gutter and leaf protector projects to siding, roofing, and window projects. Nicholas Goodroad, Marketing Director for ABC Seamless Siding and Gutters, ABC Window, ABC Sunrooms, and Hurricane Leaf Protector, says the biggest concern for a contractor should be respecting and being careful around and in their clients’ houses. “Customer service and the overall experience a customer has with us is more important than ever before,” Nicholas says.

If you wonder what the overall experience or process of working with a contractor will be like, here’s a typical step-by-step scenario from ABC Seamless. Nicholas says:

1. After a project has been sold to the homeowner, we will send them a letter from our production manager updating them on our schedule and letting them know what to expect on a project like theirs.
2. Next, they will get a call from our measuring tech, who re-measures everything that is sold.
3. We then make the appropriate orders to get the products and material into our warehouse.
4. Once a schedule/time has been set with the homeowner, our crews will do a walk-around with the homeowners to make sure they understand what we will be doing, and to answer any questions they may have.
5. During the project, the sales rep. will also stop on in and make sure everything is going smoothly, and check to see if the homeowners have any concerns or questions.
6. After the project is complete, the project foreman will do a final walk-around and inspection with the homeowners to make sure everything has been completed to their satisfaction. The foreman asks the homeowners to sign off on a completion certificate, stating they are satisfied with everything.

In addition to being careful and alert throughout the project, ABC Seamless considers clean-up to be crucial. The company strives to improve from job to job, with customer service and communication provided throughout the completion of the project. Find out more at: ABC Seamless. Or, check out a full list of our newest remodeling contractors. Our estimates from trained professionals are free.

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Pressure washing typically works well, however special care should be taken with different siding materials. Pressure washing is not advised for vinyl siding as there may not be adequate water-proof materials behind the siding. A hard stream of water will penetrate the cracks, and cause water damage. Be sure to use only eco-friendly cleaners that won’t harm your landscape, and rinse from the top down to discourage water from seeping through the cracks.

Aluminum siding can be washed with a pressure washer on an appropriate setting. You can also use biodegradable cleansers, or trisodium phosphate.

Stucco siding can be cleaned in much the same way as aluminum, although with only a regular garden hose and a much diluted cleaning solution.

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you just have to repaint. Any quality painting job should adequately clean and prepare the siding beforehand. This may even include sandblasting older wood. Request free estimates from pre-screened contractors today to help you decide what your home needs this spring.

More information about siding:

• Cleaning Vinyl Siding
• Stucco siding

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If you wonder which type of ant may be invading your home, a pest professional can help. Carpenter ants are the largest variety found in buildings, and they make their presence known through their habit of tunneling “galleries” through your wood. Here, they lay their eggs and tend their young. You’ll recognize their tunnels by the smooth insides and little windows from which they come and go. Carpenter ants don’t eat wood and prefer soft, moisture damaged material in which to make their home. Aside from wood, anything warm and humid will do, from the hollow of a curtain rod to the interior of an unused garden hose.

So how do you prevent mature colonies of 4,000 ants from tunneling holes in your siding? While most of the damage is minor, structural damage can ensue if satellite nests continue expanding unchecked. Rest assured, though, because the solutions are easy. Here are some recommendations from the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP):

• Caulk potential entry points, such as cracks, electrical lines, and water lines.
• Trim branches away from your home. These are potential entry points.
• Store food in ant-proof containers.
• Consider installing a gravel or stone strip around your house.
• Fix leaks in roofing and plumbing pipes.
• Replace damaged structural wood.
• Remove logs, stumps, and waste wood near and under your house.
• Eliminate damp conditions near your home.

Visit the NCAP website for a complete list. Have you found a carpenter ant nest via a sawdust pile? Remove the nest itself if you can, otherwise, remove the ants themselves with a vacuum. Colonies grow slowly, so take action, but don’t panic!

Links:

How to Identify Carpenter Ant Damage
Keeping Tabs on Termites
Keep Woodpeckers Off Your Siding

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In addition to marking their territory, woodpeckers hammer away at your siding for storage and roosting. In the winter months, they may be drilling for the insects that are no longer as abundant out of doors. Good news is it’s not very hard to shoo the woodpeckers away.

In fact, a simple squirt of the hose may do the trick. Other measures include the following:

• Bang from inside your home, opposite the area where the woodpecker is drilling.
• Install sheeting over the area being drilled.
• Install chicken wire or wire mesh around the area, 1 to 2 inches from the side of your home.
• Attach Mylar reflective tape around vents or piping, where woodpeckers like to hear themselves tapping.
• Caulk cracks in your siding and repaint the surface to block access to insects. Also, you may want to have your home checked for termites that could be attracting the woodpecker.
• Use shiny objects, such as tin foil or mirrors, to scare the woodpeckers away.
• Use tapes that play distress calls to spook them away with sound.
• Use owl effigies, though these only work temporarily until the woodpecker grows accustomed to the image.

Studies show that even without employing the above precautions, woodpeckers stop drumming on their own half the time. For the other half, act quickly before the woodpecker grows attached. Or, for a totally different approach, keep the woodpecker around! They’re beneficial to the environment and will eat your garden pests, such as flies and wasps. Some varieties are becoming rare and all are federally protected. To nurture a woodpecker of your own, try rerouting it to your backyard. As with your other guests, food often does the trick. Woodpeckers will stick around your nut bearing trees, berry bushes, or feeders with black oil sunflower seed or suet, a store bought combination of animal fat and other ingredients that substitute for the insects they feed on in the winter.

Links:

Wild About Woodpeckers
Certified Siding Contractors
Wild Birds Forever
Wildlife Damage Control: Woodpeckers

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In assessing the pros and cons of each siding material, then, remember to look beyond the initial price tag and consider other factors, such as maintenance requirements, expected years of use, strength and durability, and level of impact on your home’s resale value. To help you out, we’ve recently included a helpful article on Siding Costs in our Home Improvement Library.

The article includes the average cost per foot for everything from plywood and fiber cement to aluminum and stucco. More than that, it includes a side by side comparison of each material in four categories: durability, appearance, maintenance, and cost.

Here are some of the highlights.

• Clapboard and cypress are two siding possibilities with costs on the lower end. Prices begin at around $1.33 per linear foot to around $2 per square foot.
• At prices of just $1 to $2 more, fiber cement and aluminum are also affordable buys, each with lower maintenance costs.
• Vinyl remains the least expensive siding material, and most vinyl manufacturers offer a lifetime warranty that can also be transferred to the next owner.
• Wood board and shingle rate high in appearance and durability, but the cost and maintenance requirements for these materials are also high.
• More expensive siding materials are natural stone, which costs about $15 to $20 per square foot, and brick and stone veneer, which cost $11 to $15 per square foot.
• Synthetic stone offers moderate prices, low maintenance, an attractive appearance, and high durability.

Check out the full article to get all the details. When you’re ready to install your siding, contact CalFinder siding contractors to get free quotes from professional siding installers.

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