Wood siding is a breathtaking and eternal selection in case you are planning to renovate the outside of your home. It brings a natural, attractive look that can take seconds to enhance the aesthetics of your house. It might be somewhat difficult to ask that but with all the options there are, such as prefinished wood siding, custom wood siding, or wood siding panels, it might not be that easy to choose on where to start especially when you happen to live in a city like Vancouver where weather conditions can turn quixotic at any time.
Let us breakdown and help you to choose the right wood siding in your home.
1. Become Aware of Your Choices of Wood Siding
Wood siding panels: But first of all, there are lots of styles of wood siding panels, and they all have different appearance and look.
Overlapping planks mounted horizontally are referred to as lap siding or clapboard. It has been one of the most inspiring and classic designs.
- Shakes and shingles: Small pieces of wood that make it feel like a texture and a cosy living place.
- Board and batten: This rustic or farmhouse style works well with vertical coverings (a board) by placing thin strips (battens) on the joints.
- Wood cladding panels are also very good in modern designs whereby the design is intended to be smooth and uncluttered.
Think about how you want your house to look and what mood you want to make. Do you, please, prefer one of the two styles, traditional or modern? That selection will help in narrowing the choices.
2. Make the right Choice of Wood
The type of wood that you choose will have a major influence in the performance and maintenance of your siding. The following are some of the popular wood house siding options:
It is resistant to moisture, decay and pests and therefore cedar is used owing to its popularity especially in such cities as Vancouver.
- Redwood: Beautiful and durable but it might be expensive.
- Pine: Cheaper, and needs maintenance and more care.
- Douglas Fir: This is too tough and solid and also very stable, but with good care, it will not wear off easily and one should care about it just as what happens to pine.
Cedar siding has a strong durability, looks good and can resist the moisture, so homeowners in Vancouver, which has a lot of rain, often use it.
3. Consider Prefinished Wood Siding
One of such siding is the use of pre-finished wood which in this day and age, many home-owners love. This simply means that the siding is already painted or stained even before it reaches you at home.
What is the utility of that? Once it is installed, it saves your time and efforts. Besides, factory finish often has a longer life than paint on/off site. Prefinishing your siding will ensure that it is already safeguarded which will be important in a city like Vancouver, which has weather patterns change rapidly.
4. Don’t Forget to Keep up Maintenance
Wood siding requires certain maintenance in order to be able to look its best over many years. What you need to monitor is as follows:
- Inspect regularly to check the damage, bugs and decay.
- Mould and mildew can be avoided by periodically cleaning the siding.
- Depending on finish you might even have to repaint or re-stain every few years.
When you are seeking a less demanding alternative, prefinished wood siding panels or treated wood siding panels will make a lot of the maintenance.
5. Energy Efficiency Consider
Whereas veneer wood siding has an inherent capacity to offer insulation, to achieve even more energy savings, you can add additional insulation within the wood siding. That is quite useful especially when you live in a cold area or you simply want to save some money on your energy expenses.
6. Consider Your Costs
Price matters, to be fair. Although holding up over time, prefinished wood and custom wood siding may be pricier in terms of initial costs, but save you a lot of money in the end since it lasts longer, and less servicing is required.
Bear in mind that you should be able to boost the price of your home, placing high-quality wood siding panels, which is also a nice bonus should you want to change the ownership.
Related: Why Wooden Slats Are a Smart Choice for Contemporary Architectural Designs
7. Choose The Right Installer
The key factor to note with whichever type of wood you choose is that it should be properly installed. It should be prudent to hire an expert to do this, particularly if he or she is local and understands the local climate in the region. Select installers that are used to wet conditions, rain and a change in temperature in Vancouver.
8. Check the Local Laws
Consider building codes as well as any HOA rules pertaining to the city of your choice before you make the final decision. Some communities introduce restrictions as to what kind of siding or colour can be applied.
Concluding remarks
Choosing wood siding on a house should not be a hard venture. With some planning and research, you can select siding that fits your budget, is attractive and resistant to damage by weather. Regardless of whether you settle on prefinished siding, the cladding or wood siding panels, or custom-designed wood siding, ensure it fits the design of your house as well as the climatic conditions of your locality especially when you reside in such a region like Vancouver.
Wood siding could make your house look welcoming after several years, and it will be cosy when effectively installed.
