Keeping Your Exterior Maintenance-Free

Vinyl siding has come a long way over the past 20 years. Always a favourite with builders for its ease of installation and low maintenance, it had limitations in colour and style. Darker colours tended to fade and style choices were limited. The colours of today’s vinyl siding cover the colour spectrum from light to dark and neutral to bold, and the styles range from the classic smooth cladding to cedar shake and even log cabin styles.

Today, vinyl siding remains the top choice for exterior cladding on Canadian homes for its low maintenance, affordability, durability and versatility.

It’s also a good investment according to the 2014 Cost versus Value Report from Remodelling magazine: you can expect to recoup 78 per cent of the cost of installing vinyl siding on your home.

And, to top off the list of advantages, it is considered a green building material for both its insulating properties and manufacturing process, according to a report by Sustainable Solutions and the Vinyl Siding Institute.

When choosing the type, style and colour of siding for your home, you will be faced with an array of choices. Here are a few tips to narrow the field and pick a look that suits your home:

You want your house to stand out but not stick out – Choose colours that will blend harmoniously with your neighbourhood. By choosing colours in the same tone range as your neighbours―earth tones or cool tones, for example―your home will be different and unique while still complementing the other homes in the area.

Neutrals have resale value – Like interior decorating, it pays to stick to neutrals and accessorize with pops of colour in trim and front doors.

Consider architectural style – Certain architectural styles lend themselves to particular siding colour choices. Light neutrals, like whites, creams and beiges, look good on traditional styles like colonials, while darker reds and browns suit arts-and-crafts and mission style homes.

Use online tools to narrow the choices – Most siding manufacturers―Kaycan, Mitten and ABTCO, and James Hardie, among others―have online resources that show you different colour combinations on different home styles.

Your siding contractor can help you choose the right material, style and colour to create a look that will make your home stand out from the crowd.

Courtesy: Homeservice Club