Siding is the outer covering or cladding

Cladding (construction)

Cladding is the application of one material over another to provide a skin or layer intended to control the infiltration of weather elements, or for aesthetic purposes....

 of a house

House

A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...

 meant to shed water and protect from the effects of weather. On a building that uses siding, it may act as a key element in the aesthetic beauty of the structure and directly influence its property value.

Siding may be formed of horizontal or vertical boards, shingle

Roof shingle

Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...

s, or sheet materials. In all four cases, avoiding wind and rain infiltration through the joints is a major challenge, met by overlapping, by covering or sealing the joint, or by creating an interlocking joint such as a tongue-and-groove or rabbet

Rabbet

A rabbet is a recess or groove cut into the edge of a piece of machineable material, usually wood. When viewed in cross-section, a rabbet is two-sided and open to the edge or end of the surface into which it is cut....

. Since building materials expand and contract with changing temperature and humidity, it is not practical to make rigid joints between the siding elements.

Siding may be made of wood, metal, plastic (vinyl), masonry

Masonry

Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...

 , or composite materials. It may be attached directly to the building structure (studs in the case of wood construction), or to an intermediate layer of horizontal planks called sheath

Sheath

Sheath may refer to:* Scabbard, a sheath for holding a sword, knife, or other large blade, as well as guns, such as rifles.* The outer covering of a cable* Condom, a kind of contraception* Debye sheath, a layer of a plasma in physics...

ing.

Wood siding

Wood siding in overlapping horizontal rows or "courses" is called clapboard

Clapboard (architecture)

Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...

 or weatherboard.

In colonial North America, Eastern white pine

Eastern White Pine

Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...

 was the most common material. Wood siding can also be made of naturally weather-resistant woods such as redwood or cedar

Cedar wood

Cedar wood comes from several different trees that grow in different parts of the world, and may have different uses.* California incense-cedar, from Calocedrus decurrens, is the primary type of wood used for making pencils...

. The most common wood siding type is Bevel siding, which is made with beveled boards, thin at the top edge and thick at the butt, placed in overlapping layers.

Jointed horizontal siding (also called "drop" siding) may be shiplap

Shiplap

Shiplap is a term used to describe a type of wooden board used commonly in the construction of barns, sheds, outbuildings and inexpensive or seasonal homes. It is either rough-sawn 1" or milled 3/4" pine or similarly inexpensive wood between 3" and 10" wide with a 3/8" - 1/2" rabbet on opposite...

ped or tongue and groove

Tongue and groove

A strong joint, the tongue and groove joint is widely used for re-entrant angles. The effect of wood shrinkage is concealed when the joint is beaded or otherwise moulded...

ed (though less common). Drop siding comes in a wide variety of face finishes, including Dutch Lap (also called German or Cove Lap).

Vertical siding may have a cover over the joint: board and batten

Batten

A batten is a thin strip of solid material, typically made from wood, plastic or metal. Battens are used in building construction and various other fields as both structural and purely cosmetic elements...

, popular in American wooden Carpenter Gothic

Carpenter Gothic

Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters...

 houses; or less commonly behind the joint — batten and board.

Plywood

Plywood

Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...

 sheet siding is sometimes used on inexpensive buildings, sometimes with grooves to imitate vertical shiplap

Shiplap

Shiplap is a term used to describe a type of wooden board used commonly in the construction of barns, sheds, outbuildings and inexpensive or seasonal homes. It is either rough-sawn 1" or milled 3/4" pine or similarly inexpensive wood between 3" and 10" wide with a 3/8" - 1/2" rabbet on opposite...

 siding. (One example of such grooved plywood siding is the type called T1-11 ["tee-one-eleven"—often written T111 ].)

Wood shingle

Wood shingle

Wood shingles are roof shingles made of cut wood, used for roofing material. Such roofing material made from split wood is referred to as "shakes"....

s or irregular cedar "shake" siding was used in early New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 construction, and was revived in Shingle Style and Queen Anne style architecture in the late 19th century.

Wood siding is very versatile in style and can be used on a wide variety of homes in any color palette desired.

Though installation and repair is relatively simple, wood siding requires more maintenance than other popular solutions, requiring treatment

Wood preservation

All measures that are taken to ensure a long life of wood fall under the definition wood preservation . Apart from structural wood preservation measures, there are a number of different preservatives and processes that can extend the life of wood, timber, wood structures or engineered wood...

 every four to nine years depending on the severity of the elements to which it is exposed. Ants and termites are a threat to many types of wood siding, such that extra treatment and maintenance that can significantly increase the cost in some pest-infested areas.

Wood is a moderately renewable resource and is biodegradable. However, most paints and stains used to treat wood are not environmentally friendly and can be toxic. Wood siding can provide some minor insulation and structural properties as compared to thinner cladding materials.

Plastic siding

Wood clapboard is often imitated using vinyl siding

Vinyl siding

Vinyl siding is plastic exterior cladding for a house, used for decoration and weatherproofing, as an alternative to traditional wood siding or other materials such as aluminum or fiber cement siding. It is an engineered product, manufactured primarily from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, resin, giving...

 or uPVC weatherboarding

Weatherboarding

Weatherboarding is the cladding or ‘siding’ of a house consisting of long thin timber boards that overlap one another, either vertically or horizontally on the outside of the wall. They are usually of rectangular section with parallel sides...

. It is usually produced in units twice as high as clapboard. Plastic imitations of wood shingle and wood shakes also exist. Vinyl or plastic siding has grown in popularity due to the generally low maintenance and low cost appeal it offers. It is among the easiest forms of siding to install, making it the top choice for many new home builders today.

Since plastic siding is a manufactured product, it may come in unlimited color choices. Historically vinyl sidings would fade, crack and buckle over time, requiring the siding to be replaced. However, newer vinyl options have improved and resist damage and wear better. Vinyl siding is sensitive to direct heat from grills, barbecues or other sources. Unlike wood, vinyl siding does not provide additional insulation for the building, unless an insulation material (e.g., foam) has been added to the product. It has also been criticized by some fire safety experts for its heat sensitivity. This sensitivity makes it easier for a house fire to jump to neighboring houses in comparison to materials such as brick or masonry.

An environmental cost of vinyl siding is that it is difficult to dispose of responsibly. It cannot be burned (due to toxic dioxin gases that would be released) and currently it is not recycled.

Vinyl siding is also considered one of the more unattractive siding choices by many. Although some newer styles eliminate this complaint, more widespread varieties often have visible seam lines between panels and generally do not have the quality appearance of wood, brick, or masonry. The fading and cracking of older types of plastic siding compound this issue. In many areas of newer housing development, particularly in North America, entire neighbourhoods are often built with all houses clad in vinyl siding, given an unappealing uniformity. Some cities now campaign for house developers to incorporate varied types of siding during construction.

Imitation Brick or Stone - Asphalt Siding

A predecessor to modern maintenance free sidings was asphalt brick siding. Asphalt impregnated panels (about 2 feet by 4 feet) gave the appearance of brick or even stone. Many buildings still have this siding, especially old sheds and garages. If the panels are straight and level and not damaged, the only indication that they are not real brick may be seen at the corner caps. Trademarked names included Insulbrick, Insulstone, Insulwood. Commonly used names now are faux brick, lick it and stick it brick, and ghetto brick. Often such siding is now covered over with newer metal or plastic siding. Today thin panels of real brick are manufactured for veneer or siding.

Insulated siding

Insulated siding

Insulated siding

Insulated siding is home siding that includes rigid foam insulation, fused behind the exterior surface of the wall, for the purpose of reducing energy consumption, increasing the insulation value of the wall system and improving the stability and appearance of the siding...

 has emerged as a new siding category in recent years. Considered an improvement over vinyl siding

Vinyl siding

Vinyl siding is plastic exterior cladding for a house, used for decoration and weatherproofing, as an alternative to traditional wood siding or other materials such as aluminum or fiber cement siding. It is an engineered product, manufactured primarily from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, resin, giving...

, insulated siding is custom fit with expanded polystyrene

Polystyrene

Polystyrene ) also known as Thermocole, abbreviated following ISO Standard PS, is an aromatic polymer made from the monomer styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry...

 foam (EPS) that is fused to the back of the siding, which fills the gap between the home and the siding.

Products provide environmental advantages by reducing energy use by up 20 percent. On average, insulated siding products have an R-value

R-value (insulation)

The R-value is a measure of thermal resistance used in the building and construction industry. Under uniform conditions it is the ratio of the temperature difference across an insulator and the heat flux through it or R = \Delta T/\dot Q_A.The R-value being discussed is the unit thermal resistance...

 of 3.96, triple that of other exterior cladding materials. Insulated siding products are typically Energy Star

Energy Star

Energy Star is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products originated in the United States of America. It was first created as a United States government program during the early 1990s, but Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and the European Union have also adopted...

 qualified, engineered in compliance with environmental standards set by the U.S. Department of Energy and the United States Environmental Protection Agency‎.

In addition to reducing energy consumption, insulated siding is a durable exterior product, designed to last more than 50 years, according to manufacturers. The foam provides rigidity for a more ding- and wind-resistant siding, maintaining a quality look for the life of the products. The foam backing also creates straighter lines when hung, providing a look more like that of wood siding, while remaining low maintenance.

Manufacturers report that insulated siding is permeable or “breathable,” allowing water vapor to escape, which can protect against rot, mold and mildew, and help maintain healthy indoor air quality.

It is important to note that the installation of many of the insulated sidings are done with an air gap located between the siding and the wall. When there is such an air gap, the effectiveness of the R value decreases dramatically as convective losses occur between the house wall and the siding - much as a wool hat does not keep you as warm when held 2" above your head.

Metal siding

Metal siding comes in a variety of metals, styles, and colors. It is most often associated with modern, industrial, and retro buildings. Utilitarian buildings often use corrugated galvanized steel sheet siding or cladding, which often has a coloured vinyl finish. Corrugated aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

 cladding is also common where a more durable finish is required.

Formerly, imitation wood clapboard was made of aluminium (aluminium siding). That role is typically played by vinyl siding today. Aluminium siding is ideal for homes in coastal areas (with lots of moisture and salt), since aluminium reacts with air to form aluminium oxide, an extremely hard coating that seals the aluminium surface from further degradation. In contrast, steel forms rust

Rust

Rust is a general term for a series of iron oxides. In colloquial usage, the term is applied to red oxides, formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the presence of water or air moisture...

, which looks ugly and can weaken the structure of the material, and corrosion-resistant coatings for steel, such as zinc, sometimes fail around the edges as years pass. However, an advantage of steel siding can be its dent-resistance, which is excellent for regions with severe storms—especially if the area is prone to hail

Hail

Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...

.

The first architectural application of aluminium was the mounting of a small grounding cap on the Washington Monument

Washington Monument

The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington...

 in 1884. Sheet-iron or steel clapboard siding units had been patented in 1903, and Sears, Roebuck & Company had been offering embossed steel siding in stone and brick patterns in their catalogues for several years by the 1930s. ALCOA began promoting the use of aluminium in architecture by the 1920s when it produced ornamental spandrel panels for the Cathedral of Learning and the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings in New York. The exterior of the A.O. Smith Corporation Building in Milwaukee was clad entirely in aluminium by 1930, and 3’-square siding panels of Duralumin sheet from ALCOA sheathed an experimental exhibit house for the Architectural League of New York in 1931. Most architectural applications of aluminium in the 1930s were on a monumental scale, and it would be another six years before it was put to use on residential construction.

In the first few years after World War II, manufacturers began developing and widely distributing aluminium siding. Among them Indiana businsessman Frank Hoess was credited with the invention of the configuration seen on modern aluminium siding. His experiments began in 1937 with steel siding in imitation of wooden clapboards. Other types of sheet metal and steel siding on the market at the time presented problems with warping, creating openings through which water could enter, introducing rust. Hoess remedied this problem through the use of a locking joint, which was formed by small flap at the top of each panel that joined with a U-shaped flange on the lower edge of the previous panel thus forming a watertight horizontal seam. After he had received a patent for his siding in 1939, Hoess produced a small housing development of about forty-four houses covered in his clapboard-style steel siding for blue-collar workers in Chicago. His operations were curtailed when war plants commandeered the industry. In 1946 Hoess allied with Metal Building Products of Detroit, a corporation that promoted and sold Hoess siding of ALCOA aluminium. Their product was used on large housing projects in the northeast and was purportedly the siding of choice for a 1947 Pennsylvania development, the first subdivision to solely use aluminium siding. Products such as 4", 6", 8" and 10" X 12’ unpainted aluminium panels, starter strips, corner pieces and specialized application clips were assembled in the Indiana shop of the Hoess brothers. Siding could be applied over conventional wooden clapboards, or it could be nailed to studs via special clips affixed to the top of each panel. Insulation was placed between each stud. While the Hoess Brothers company continued to function for about twelve more years after the dissolution of the Metal Building Products Corporation in 1948, they were not as successful as rising siding companies like Reynolds Metals.

Pros and cons of metals versus other siding materials

Cons

• Metal sidings are very energy-intensive to manufacture.
• They do not provide insulation for the structure.
• Metals are a non-renewable resource
  Non-renewable resource
  A non-renewable resource is a natural resource which cannot be produced, grown, generated, or used on a scale which can sustain its consumption rate, once depleted there is no more available for future needs. Also considered non-renewable are resources that are consumed much faster than nature...
  
   in the sense that they are a finite resource (the earth cannot get any more of them than it already has). (However, metals are often recycled, so they are renewable in the sense of recycling.)
• They often have to be shipped long distances from point of manufacture to point of use.
• May be difficult to install due to its relatively high weight.

Pros

Despite the drawbacks above, metal siding:

• is durable,
• requires minimal maintenance,
• is fire-resistant,
• is recyclable,
• and can be very cost-effective.
• it resists rot
• it resists bugs
• it rarely gets hail damage (Steel siding is rarely damaged by hail. However, certain aluminium siding is highly susceptible to hail damage.)
• is sold to some contractors painted, on a coil, and can be manufactured on site without seams

Masonry siding

Masonry sidings are varied (brick and stone) and can accommodate a variety of styles—from formal to rustic. Though masonry can be painted or tinted to match many color palettes, it is most suited to neutral earth tones. Masonry has excellent durability (over 100 years), and minimal maintenance is required. The primary drawback to masonry siding is cost.
Precipitation can threaten the structure of buildings, so it is important that the siding will be able to withstand the weather conditions in the local region. For regions that receive a lot of rain, EIFS (Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems), have been known to suffer underlying wood rot problems with excessive moisture exposure.

The environmental impact of masonry depends on the type of material used. In general, concrete and concrete based materials are intensive energy materials to produce. However, the long durability and minimal maintenance of masonry sidings mean that less energy is required over the life of the siding.

Composite siding

Various composite materials are also used for siding: asphalt

Asphalt shingle

An asphalt shingle is a type of roof shingle. They are one of the most widely used roofing covers because they are relatively inexpensive and fairly simple to install.-Types:...

, asbestos, fiber cement

Fiber cement siding

Fiber cement siding is a building material used to cover the exterior of a building in both commercial and domestic applications.-Usage:...

, aluminium (ACM) etc. They may be in the form of shingles or boards, in which case they are sometimes called clapboard

Clapboard (architecture)

Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...

.

Composite sidings are available in many styles and can mimic the other siding options. Composite materials are ideal for achieving a certain style or 'look' that may not be suited to the local environment (e.g., corrugated aluminium siding in an area prone to severe storms; steel in coastal climates; wood siding in termite-infested regions). These products are normally cheaper than Stucco and Stone/Brick but has similar life spans.

Costs of composites tend to be lower than wood or masonry options, but vary widely as do installation, maintenance and repair requirements. Not surprisingly, the durability and environmental impact of composite sidings depends on the specific materials used in the manufacturing process.