Wood Look Vinyl Siding: Durability and Low Maintenance

Wood siding creates a classic and stunning appearance. But it also requires intensive maintenance or you’ll find yourself replacing your siding every 10-15 years.

But there’s a great alternative to real wood that accomplishes the same visual effect. Wood look vinyl siding provides the wood appearance from the curb while offering the many outstanding benefits vinyl siding provides. You’ll also have peace of mind that your home or building is protected and enjoy the low maintenance every homeowner wants.

Wood Siding Considerations

While wood siding is stunning, it also requires immense work. That’s because it can absorb moisture from the air if it isn’t properly treated. And once it absorbs that moisture, it can become warped and damaged, leaving your home susceptible to insect and water damage.

You’ll need to paint or stain wood siding every 3-4 years to keep it protected. That can get expensive. And even with outstanding maintenance, you’ll still experience flaking, peeling and chipping between applications that might leave you frustrated and wondering why you ever installed wood in the first place.

The siding will also fade when exposed to UV rays. So between paint and stain applications, you might not love the appearance of your home. Even a small section of damage will leave you susceptible to insects, which can cause severe damage to your home.

Wood siding requires an incredible upfront investment with ongoing costs to paint and stain the home every few years alongside the challenges of taking the time to complete the maintenance.

Wood Siding Vs. Vinyl Siding Maintenance Comparison

When you want a home with a classic curb appeal, consider vinyl siding because it will offer a longer, more consistent appeal. And you can get vinyl siding that looks just like wood.

As you compare the two in your quest to find the best siding for you, consider these factors and the characteristics of each.

Wood Siding Considerations

Can rot in moist climates like the greater Seattle area
Susceptible to mold and mildew growth
Requires replacement every 20 years
Requires frequent painting and staining

Allow the Professionals to Do It

Get a Free Quote

Vinyl Siding Considerations

Repels moisture to resist it and protect your home
Resistant to mold and mildew
Low maintenance, only requiring pressure washing every few years
Lasts for many decades to reduce the overall expense and headache of caring for your home
UV resistant properties
Fade-resistant

Options for Wood Look Vinyl Siding

Now that you understand some of the limitations and complications characteristic of wood siding, here’s a look at how wood-look vinyl siding can offer all the benefits of vinyl with the appearance of wood.

Vinyl siding is easy to maintain all year long so you can spend more time enjoying your home and entertaining guests and less time maintaining your home. It will stand the test of time.

Here’s a look at the wood-like styles you can accomplish thanks to modern vinyl siding options.

Clapboard

Traditional clapboard siding can come with wood grain to make it look a little more realistic. While this is a traditional vinyl siding style, you have options for making it look more lifelike. Some mild texturing can make a big difference in this context.

Hand-split or Weathered Shakes

It might sound funny to say you should add imperfections to your vinyl siding. But making it look hand-split or weathered can add an authentic wood appearance in a way perfect shakes won’t offer.

Some mild imperfections in the weathered or hand-split appearance can make the siding look like it is from centuries ago to add charm without leaving your home open to potential rot or other issues.

Vinyl Scallops

Scallops can make your home look like it is from the Victorian era. But thankfully the installation process will be far simpler, costing you less while also keeping you from intensive maintenance requirements.

Using scallops can bring out aspects of your home that you enjoy, such as eaves or window gables. This can add visual interest and charm to your home.

Colors

While wood offers a blank canvas that you can paint any color you want, vinyl also has many outstanding color options to meet your needs. Plus, you won’t have to wonder how the paint will look once applied to your wood or how many coats it might take to keep the wood siding looking great. You’ll get a consistent, even appearance.

Vinyl siding provides many outstanding colors for a variety of home styles, including classic and contemporary.

Review the most popular vinyl siding colors of 2023 to find the one that best meets your needs. Here’s a snapshot of the most popular colors of the year.

Coastal blue
Cypress
Desert tan
Flagstone
Forest green
Light maple
White linen

As you review your siding color options, don’t forget to consider its resale value. Some colors earn a higher home price than others. Neutrals tend to provide better resale value because the prospective buyers can envision themselves in the home. But that doesn’t mean you have to use boring or drab colors. You can use bright whites or trendy greys to still get the curb appeal you want with the potential resale value that protects your home long term.

Vinyl Siding Offers an Environmentally Friendly Option Compared to Wood

Maintenance and cost are not the only factors to consider when evaluating whether to use real wood or wood-look vinyl siding. Another major factor is the environmental friendliness of vinyl siding versus wood.

Wood siding requires that you harvest wood from many trees. While you can plant more trees to replace those you harvest, it takes many years for the trees to reach the maturity level of the trees you removed to get your siding.

While vinyl siding looks like wood, it does not require harvesting a natural resource. And it can be made to look just like redwood or cedar, which are both popular wood types to use in siding.

Even once you’ve harvested the wood for siding, it needs to be transported to prepare it to become siding and then transported again to reach you. That transportation leads to more emissions in the atmosphere.

Vinyl siding has fewer transportation requirements, which makes it even more environmentally friendly.

Furthermore, vinyl siding often offers greater energy efficiency for your home because it is better insulated. When choosing vinyl siding, you have many options for just how insulated you want your siding to be. Additional insulation can add costs to the materials, but you’ll likely see those expenses back over the years in your energy bills while also knowing you’ve reduced your footprint.

Styling Your Home with a Team of Seattle-area Experts

Deciding whether to go with wood or lookalike siding can feel challenging. Seeing vinyl siding panels and how they’ll look on a home can help you envision the siding and how it will look once installed.

Working with a siding expert takes all the guesswork out of the process and ensures you get a stylish home that matches your personal tastes and maintenance preferences. 2FL Windows, Siding and Roofing is a siding contractor with experience helping homeowners select the best appearance and materials for their projects. Schedule your in-home estimate now.

View our work

Further Reading: