What is the best vinyl siding for rain

Siding isn’t a one-brand-fits-all type of situation. The kind of climate you live in affects what it can or can’t stand up to, i.e., what works in a hot environment won’t work in an extremely wet one. Now, Vancouver and the Lower Mainland receives a lot of rain throughout the year. So, any vinyl siding repair or installation needs to, at minimum, be something that stands up to our wet weather.

As a rule of thumb, high-end vinyl siding tends to stand up to most weather conditions. Nearly all high-end homes or people interested in the minimal amount upkeep and who are looking to avoid near-future renovations should allow a higher budget

Insulated vinyl siding.

Insulated vinyl siding is for colder, wetter, and windy areas. They do precisely what their names say: insulate your home from those kinds of conditions. The insulation also helps maintain an even temperature throughout your home. This can definitely help with the heating bill, although your return on investment will take many years.

Stucco Exterior

Stucco vinyl siding is some combination of cement, water, lime, sand and … stucco. If it’s installed properly, it does provide rather good insulation for your home. However, it isn’t recommended on homes that receive a lot of moisture or next to build-ups of snow. To offset its weakness, we need to build-up the moisture barrier that the stucco is installed onto. Also, if any moisture gets between the stucco and the moisture barrier, the stucco will crumble. This isn’t a particularly great option for anyone the Lower Mainland.

Fibre Cement Siding.

Fibre Cement Siding, otherwise known as James Hardie Fibre Cement Siding, is one of the high-end siding products I mentioned above. It’s made of sand, cement and cellulose fibres. It’s designed to be all-purpose, resistant to cracking, and fire-resistant. Also, if you live on the coast, it’s resistant to salty air and humidity.

One last thing: The problem with cheap vinyl siding.

The reason I avoid recommending cheap vinyl siding is that the cheap stuff breaks down quickly. This is because hot-cold / wet-dry weather patterns an UV exposure cause it to crack, warp, or bend. And here is the major problem with this: it creates crevices that allow moisture to penetrate behind your vinyl barrier. This is a huge problem we see a lot in our business. And I promise you, repairing vinyl AND your walls is a very expensive consideration . This is why nearly all professional siding contractors recommend higher-end products by default.

So, what’s the best siding for rain? I’m going to recommend any lap siding product installed on top of a Rainscreen System.

Now, what we’ve written above is a very general overview of siding. Please call us directly if you have siding questions