Few sidings offer you the beauty, natural appearance, and great looks of wood style siding. Wood siding, whether it be wooden lap boards, cedar shingles, or tongue and groove siding, is one of the classiest, most natural looking, and attractive siding solutions on the market today.
Wood Siding Design
One benefit of wood siding is that there are many options to choose from. It is milled in various patterns, for both horizontal and vertical applications. Horizontal patterns are nailed through sheathing into studs, while vertical patterns are generally nailed to horizontal nailing or furring strips. Horizontal sidings are always applied so that each board overlaps the one below it. In some cases, the edges are milled to interlock, and are available in just about every vertical pattern you can imagine.
Wood Siding Options
Perhaps the greatest advantage of wood manufactured siding is the wide range of choices you have as a homeowner when it comes to the exterior appearance of your home. There is no other siding material that offers you more options to choose from. What follows are some of the more common wood siding products, if you think wood is the right siding material for your home.
Board and Batten Siding
Board and batten siding is a piece of cedar or fir sheet plywood that has a one- by two-inch strip attached to it every six or eight inches apart.
Channel Siding
Also called "channel rustic," channel siding has a pattern of one-inch wide grooves spaced out about every eight inches.
Hardboard Lap Siding
Hardboard lap is an inexpensive, composite lap siding that is often found covering the exteriors of track homes.
Lapped Wood Siding
Lapped wood looks like solid wood lap siding, and consists of pieces of lap boards stacked on each other in a regular horizontal pattern.
Ship Lap Siding
Ship lap siding is another horizontal pattern with tight joints similar to tongue and groove.
Split Log Siding
Split log siding looks like a log cabin exterior.
Tongue and Groove Siding
Tongue and groove is a pattern of boards that fit and lock together at the edges.
Wooden Lap Boards
Common, and popular, because of the long horizontal lines they add to a house, wooden lap boards are an expensive material choice, but they can last 30 years or more when installed.
Benefits of Wood Siding
With the many different types of wood siding available, it's easy to create a unique, attractive, exterior for your home. Wood is a natural material that you can stain or detail in most any color or pattern. And with proper maintenance, siding made from wood will last you for years to come. It's not maintenance free, like vinyl or aluminum siding, but if you are diligent about painting and staining your siding, you won't find a more beautiful or resilient siding material on the market.
Talk to a Siding Contractor
If you think wood siding is the right choice for your home, talk to a certified wood siding installer about getting the right type of siding installed on your home. With so many choices to choose from, a siding contractor experienced working with wood is your best resource when it comes to determining which type of siding is going to be the best fit for you.
Matt Goering, formerly a carpenter and house painter, is a freelance writer for the home improvement industry who has published over 600 articles.
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