Home Exterior Materials
Siding is a great way to help define the architectural influence of your home while showcasing your personal tastes. When building a new home or remodeling your current house, you’ll find there’s a wide range of different home exterior materials, but how can you know which is the best to choose for your household’s overall needs?
While it’s always important to consider overall curb appeal and aesthetics, when selecting home exterior materials, make sure to also think about durability and natural resistance, maintenance expectations, versatility and customization options, installation techniques and your overall budget. Don’t just choose new home exterior siding materials based on a whim — make sure to understand all of your available options and how each can benefit you specifically.
Different Kinds of Home Exterior Siding Materials
A basic, functional understanding of home exterior siding is that it protects your home and family from harsh elements and damages, but the right type of siding materials also complete the look of your facade and enhances your overall visual appeal. Revamp your home’s style with one of these popular home exterior material options:
- Brick: One of the most recognizable and distinguished siding materials available, brick is a sturdy, beautiful material that can easily stand the test of time without becoming damaged or losing its like-new appearance. Made from fired clay, brick is available in a wide variety of color, size and texture options to meet your specific tastes and architectural inspirations. With its labor-intensive installation, however, brick is one of the most expensive types of home exterior materials.
- Vinyl siding: Due to its versatility, affordability and durability, vinyl siding has been one of the most popular exterior materials for several decades. Older samples of vinyl produced a plastic look to a home’s exterior, but with modern manufacturing techniques and improvements, vinyl siding is available in a wide variety of different quality design options and can even be molded to look like wood grain siding or shakes.
- Wood siding: Wood siding options give your home an organic and naturally charming appearance. While wood siding has traditionally been a popular choice for Cape Cod homes, cottages and bungalows, with its variety of design options — including bevel siding, shakes and shingles — it can complement any type of common architectural style. While wood siding is incredibly attractive, it is labor intensive, expensive and requires regular maintenance to keep its quality and appearance.
- Stucco: One of the oldest exterior building materials available due to its durability and efficiency, stucco remains one of the most popular home exterior materials available today. Stucco is made from building sand, Portland cement, lime and water, and since each batch is specially made for a project, it can be customized with several color and texturing options for added personality. Prepping your home for stucco requires a bit of work and must be completed by an experienced professional, making this material a bit expensive upfront. However, with proper maintenance and care, stucco siding can last up to 60 or more years.
- Stone and stone-veneer siding: Homeowners cannot beat the natural beauty and durability of natural stone siding like granite and limestone. Natural stone siding offers incredible durability and long-term, low-maintenance performance, but due to handling difficulties it can be expensive to install. If you’re looking for the unmatched, stunning look of natural stone without the cost, look into stone-veneer options available in both natural and synthetic materials.
Need Help Narrowing Down Your Exterior Siding Choices? Consult the Experts at SDL Custom Homes
SDL Custom Homes is the premier custom home design and building company serving residents throughout Central Pennsylvania and the Carlisle and Harrisburg communities. We’re a locally owned and operated company with more than a decade of experience helping homeowners design their forever homes according to their exact specifications and long-term needs. Our team of highly trained professionals values reliability, quality and efficiency while providing all of our customers with personalized building solutions. When designing your home, we have the expertise necessary to help you choose home exterior materials that suit your personal tastes, maintenance expectations and performance needs.
To learn more about our custom building services, call us today at 717-258-1459 or complete our online contact form to schedule a free in-home design consultation.
