Wood siding is one of the oldest exterior siding options available and is nearly obsolete due to other products being superior and replicating the same look. The reason wood still remains a siding option is due to historical districts forcing homeowners to keep it on their structure in order to “preserve the architecture”. Most design boards in historical districts are unaware of the competitive products that are offered that replicate the wood look, but with much better durability and water resistance. Therefore, if you are in a historical district but want to consider other, more durable, siding options, present your case to the review board regarding the risks with wood, the maintenance costs associated with wood, and how there are supplier products with the identical look and feel of wood.
Due to wood absorbing moisture, it is susceptible to rot, (See this guide from This Old House explaining wood rot) and other superior products have less water permeability and more durability, while providing the same exact look as wood, wood siding is becoming obsolete. On a house requiring 2,000 square feet of siding installation, depending on the arrangement and level of difficulty of installation, the cost of installing wood siding can range from $40,000 to $60,000, or $20-30 per square foot. This does not include paint costs! Those can be an additional $8-12/ square foot. It is extremely overpriced and a headache to maintain. It also has to be sealed and painted regularly in order to ensure the exterior stays watertight.
While wood siding tends to look impressive, it also is a risk for house fires. Wood is a combustible material, meaning it can go up in flames when exposed to high heat. Wood siding can ignite, causing flames to spread up the wall and into the home. Wood siding also requires continuous maintenance and repainting as time goes on. Painting professionals recommend a fresh coat and re-caulk every five to seven years. When wood siding is regularly maintained, it can last for 30-35 years before needing a full replacement. Due to wood being a product that constantly needs caulking, cleaning, and painting, it becomes more of a headache than a luxury.
Installing wood siding involves careful planning and attention to detail to ensure a durable and attractive finish. It is important to choose a contractor who has a custom/carpentry team. You do not want typical siding installers working with wood siding. It requires perfect cuts, caulking, and touch up. It is a completely different installation than vinyl or composite.
Pros and Cons of Wood Siding
Pros of Wood Siding
Cons of Wood Siding
Transform Charleston provides roofing, siding, gutter windows, and custom home exterior services in Mount Pleasant, Charleston, Daniel Island, Isle of Palms, Sullivan's Island, I'On, Mount Pleasant, and James Island.
Although these are the 7 primary locations we serve, we do make exceptions for referrals. If somebody is referred to us, that means the world, and therefore, we will do everything it takes to serve that customer as well.
Although window services are provided, we prefer to only do window installations and replacements when we are performing a siding replacement as that is the optimal time to do so in order to properly flash the siding.
Our main passion is to completely transform home exteriors, so custom home exterior projects are our favorite! These projects typically involve at least 3+ of our services combined on a single structure.
In Charleston, roofing and siding storm damage is inevitable from wind and hail. When choosing a contractor to assist you in fixing your storm damage and helping with insurance claims, it is crucial that you choose a competent contractor who is thoroughly versed in handling insurance claims. With a ton of "roofing contractors" being busted for insurance fraud, it is all the more important to diligently choose the contractor you feel most comfortable with.
If a contractor has little to no experience, or misleads you into believing they are "insurance experts," they can detrimentally ruin your chance at getting a proper restoration of the damages. For instance, if the claim is filed incorrectly from the beginning, it can be detrimental.
If the contractor doesn't document the damages properly, with adequate building code documentation and manufacturer specifications, it can negatively impact the final decision from the insurance carriers.
If a contractor just wants to selfishly hurry up and collect a check, which most do, they will get the claim approved just enough to make the money they desire, but leave you with some of the damages not completely repaired. Yes, you may get the roof repaired or replaced, but what if your siding, gutters, and interior needed to be repaired as well? If the contractor is only a "roofing" contractor, they most likely won't want to do other repairs as they are not equipped with the infrastructure to handle them.
It is crucial to hire a roofing restoration and siding restoration contractor who knows how to properly document, assist, effectively communicate with insurance carriers, and is in the business to serve and not take.
Our founder, Brent Bauer, has served over 500+ homeowners with storm damage insurance claims ranging from Ohio, to Florida, to right here in the lowcountry. Whether hail damage or wind damage, we are here to help!
Every single day of the work week, the entire Transform Charleston team dedicates 2 hours a day to industry-specific training regarding installation practices, product knowledge, and best consultative practices to best serve homeowners.
We understand that if we are not true experts regarding this industry, inevitably, by default, we will not be able to truly serve each homeowner in their own unique way. Every homeowner is in a unique situation, with unique financial goals, and varying aspirations for their home. If we take a "one size fits all" approach to our consulting, we are no longer consultants, but rather, salespeople like every single one of our competitors.
The thought of being like everybody else is actually what motivates us to self-develop every single day. Self-development, with the passion to transform one another's lives within our culture, is what truly makes us unique. By cultivating a culture of selflessness, passion, and servitude, we treat homeowners the exact same way we would want somebody to treat our family in their roofing, siding, gutter, and custom home exterior needs.
Our core values consist of stewardship, gratitude, service, and self-development. We believe we are blessed with the gifts that we have been given, recognizing that from a heart of gratitude, we can then best serve our community and neighbors both within the business as well as outside by helping non-profits through generosity. Self-development then inevitably occurs, because without it, we lose the heart of servitude, and life then becomes about us. The moment life becomes solely about us, we lose true fulfillment.
Collectively, as a team, we believe true fulfillment comes from serving and helping one another TRANSFORM into our individual full potential. It's the small, almost seemingly insignificant disciplines that can actually have the most profound impacts. It's "The Butterfly Effect." This is why "Transforming Lives, Elevating Exteriors" is our company motto.
Precision, passion, and expertise is what we are all about!
Able to offer lifetime warranties because we are true experts regarding installation as well as building code and manufacturer specifications. We are obsessed with developing and learning through daily training. We believe if we do not improve daily, we will not be fit to best serve our homeowners. With this approach, we are 100% confident that all roofs will be completed with near-perfect craftsmanship and precision.
Also, with a project manager and crew leader on site during our roofing and siding projects, we meticulously watch our installation crews to ensure all installation specifications are being followed. This ensures that we do not miss anything during the installation process and gives us the ability and confidence to offer lifetime workmanship warranties.
An additional reason we can justify offering lifetime workmanship warranties is because we know asphalt shingle manufacturers, and other roofing manufacturers, are always looking for ways out of warranty claims. We believe in true, selfless, genuine service. We extend the lifetime workmanship warranties to give our homeowners additional peace of mind, knowing that when it comes to workmanship, Transform Charleston will ALWAYS deliver with precision.
You can directly see a contractor's confidence with their installation based on the length of the workmanship warranty that they are providing. If they are only offering less than a 15-year workmanship warranty, but other contractors are offering lifetime workmanship warranties, remember, this roofing and siding industry is the epitome of "You pay for what you get." Don't let contractors mislead you with their "manufacturer lifetime warranty" pitches. These are specifically only if the shingles or products prematurely fail due to manufacturing-related issues, not workmanship.
We recognize that each homeowner has a unique vision for their property. That's why we offer personalized design consultations to everyone who works with us. Our team of experts collaborates with clients to bring their dream homes to life through a consultative approach.