Shopping Around for New Siding? 4 Types of Siding Explained

When the time comes to update your home's siding, you can't go wrong with vinyl siding. Available in a wide variety of colors and styles, vinyl siding is durable, versatile, inexpensive, and virtually maintenance free. What's more, it can reduce your heating and cooling costs while increasing the curb appeal and value of your home.

With so many options available, you may have trouble choosing the right vinyl siding for your home, especially if you don't understand all of your options. Following are four of the most popular types of vinyl siding explained.  

Lap Siding

Lap siding, perhaps the most common type of vinyl siding, consists of horizontal planks, boards, or sheets of vinyl that overlap one another. This distinctive overlap is where lap siding gets its name. While lap siding is made in a variety of materials, including wood and fiber cement, vinyl lap siding is the most popular.

Under the umbrella of lap siding are a few types or styles. Two of the most popular types of lap siding are clapboard siding and beaded lap siding. Clapboard siding features a curvature in the board that creates a shadow effect on the siding. Beaded lap has a thicker bead instead, which gives the siding a smoother profile.

Vertical Siding

Vertical siding is much like lap siding with one major difference, it is hung vertically. Vertical siding comes in a variety of widths, textures, and finishes, which makes it a perfect options for those wishing to create a unique look. It is ideal for modern and quirky homes as well as homes with dramatic or interesting architectural detail.

When choosing vertical siding, you have two options. You can choose to cover your entire home in vertical siding, or you can blend sections of vertical siding with lap or other types of siding for a stunning visual effect. You can even choose to mix up the color a bit for that added wow factor.

Shake Siding

Traditionally, shake or shingled siding was constructed from cedar or another type of durable wood. Today, however, you can get the same charming look of cedar shakes in vinyl. It's the best of both worlds. Vinyl shake siding has the look and texture of wood siding but lasts longer and is easier to maintain.

Shake siding adds a great deal of texture and detail to any home. It can also be blended with other types of vinyl siding to create a unique look or to pay homage to the architectural details or style of your home.

Insulated Siding

Most common in lap-style siding, insulated siding is standard siding with a backing of rigid-foam insulation that fills in the voids between the siding and the exterior wall of your home. In addition to increasing the comfort of your home, insulated siding is more rigid. Therefore, it looks more substantial and more like wood than hollow vinyl siding. It can also withstand bad weather better.

Insulated siding can be a bit more expensive than other types of vinyl siding. For this reason, you should understand the benefits of insulated vinyl siding and decide if the payoff is worth the higher price tag. For many people, it is.

Vinyl siding can insulate and beautify, lower utility bills, and increase the value of your home. But with so many colors and options to choose from, you may not be able to easily make a decision. This is where Mid-South Exteriors can help. p. Our helpful sales team can go over and explain all siding options to you and help you narrow down your choices. Call Mid-South Exteriors today to learn more.