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Small clapboard siding house. View of porch with bench and walkway

Small clapboard siding house. View of porch with bench and walkway

There are many older Tulsa homes that were built with wood siding. After decades of storms, snow, wind, heat and everything else that’s been thrown at a house’s exterior, it could be time to replace the siding. Here are things to know when shopping for a new look for your home.  

Depending on the severity of wear and tear, repairing is an option, but two things to consider are how much needs to be replaced, and painting. Wood siding is very expensive, so the cost to repair affected areas and paint can quickly approach the cost to simply replace it all with new siding made from an alternative material. There’s also a good chance you will want to repaint your whole house depending on the amount of siding replaced and how long it’s been since you painted.

There are so many options.

When it comes to picking the material, there are numerous choices. According to Consumer Reports, the most popular is vinyl because of its low cost, efficiency and a life expectancy of up to 100 years with good upkeep. Another popular choice is fiber cement siding, which also is known as Hardie board siding. It can be up to five times thicker than vinyl, and it is low maintenance.

How much siding will it take?

Siding is sold by the square. If you’re not in construction this might sound odd. One “square” equals 100 square feet, so multiply height by width, then divide by 100 for total “squares.”

Siding is sold by thickness in millimeters. The American Society of Testing and Materials requires vinyl siding be 0.035 inches thick, but most companies start at 0.040 inches (or 40 mm). When doing an estimate, Tulsa-based Diversified Construction and Remodeling offers pricing options from 0.040 to 0.046 inches.  

“If you choose the 40 millimeter it is going to protect your home and keep it insulated for many years,” says Diversified’s Tim Pennington. “Each step up is more protection from wind, hail and everything else that can hit your walls. There are many things for you to consider when it comes to choosing siding.”

Shopping for siding is like shopping for wallpaper or carpet. There are books and books of samples and a plethora of colors. If there’s a paint color out there, there’s likely a siding color that’s the same or very similar.

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