There are two often overlooked factors that should be considered when selecting replacement siding materials. Those are: Moisture Absorption and Impact Resistance. Choosing a siding material that performs poorly in one or both of these measures greatly increases the likelihood that you’ll suffer additional costs that result from repairing or, at least, repainting your siding.
Moisture Absorption
Any product made from or containing wood has an inherent risk of moisture absorption. As a siding installation company, one common misconception we hear nearly everyday is that fiber cement siding is immune to absorption and swelling. Nothing could be further from the truth. Cement siding does contain wood and will absorb water, meaning that it can and does rot and crumble when exposed to excess moisture. At a minimum, moisture absorption can cause the paint to peel or the siding to “delaminate.” There have been many instances of fiber cement products failing in one fashion or another because of moisture absorption. Whether this is due to poor installation or product quality shortcomings is something that will get figured out over time.
Impact Resistance
You probably don’t give much thought to all the things that hit your siding over the lifetime of your house. But, in fact, it takes a worse beating than you might realize. A typical home is likely to be hit by any number of things, including hail, tree branches, nuts and seeds that fall from trees, ice from the roof, rocks launched from the tires of passing cars, baseballs, footballs, basketballs, golf balls, and anything else the wind can pick up just long enough to throw it at your house. The point is, your siding has a tougher life than you may imagine.
And everything that impacts your siding has the potential to cause damage that could be very costly to repair. Painted products may hold up to the impact, but will often show a chip in the painted surface thus revealing the off-color material underneath the paint.
Polymer Siding Solves Both Problems
The emergence of polymer siding has made it much easier for homeowners to have siding that looks like real wood without risking damage from water absorption or impact. In particular, Everlast Polymer Siding features solid construction with absolutely no wood fibers. The strong, rigid planks resist damage from the everyday bumps and collisions that siding suffers. And because they are a consistent color all the way through, even if the siding gets chipped or scratched (not likely) the damage won’t be as apparent with painted products.
The absence of wood in the polymer siding makes it far virtually impervious to the water damage that has cost countless homeowners thousands of dollars when they were forced to replace fiber cement or natural wood siding.
Polymer siding truly is the answer to all of your siding questions: It’s durable, maintenance free, looks like wood, and resists the forces that cause other siding materials to crumble.
To learn more about Everlast Polymer Siding or to get an estimate for replacement siding on your home, contact us today!