The exterior of your home does much more than just look good. The exterior is also your homes first line of defense against the elements. But whether you hire a professional installer to install your siding or you DIY, it’s important and responsible to install it in an ecofriendly way. Use these tips and techniques to help find the best siding for your home and do your part to help our planet.
Look at what you have
Before you break out the saws and hammers and start work on any siding, it’s a great idea to be sure that your existing siding needs to be replaced. That’s because the greenest siding product is the siding product that’s already in place. Existing siding requires no new materials or uses no fossil fuels to create or install the product. Your old siding may simply just need to be cleaned. As long as it’s not rotted or warped, it probably just needs some tender loving care.
Choosing a Siding Product
If your siding definitely needs to be replaced, then it’s time to learn more about siding materials do a little research. Because there are so many materials that can be used for siding, some of it may be ecofriendly; some of it may not. But the trick to finding the greenest siding material is to understand that it is not a particular product; it’s the siding material that will last the longest. Look for products with the longest warranty and you’re sure to get a green product that will last for years to come.
While durability and low maintenance are top signs that your siding material is going to be ecofriendly, it may not be the greenest siding option for your wallet. Materials and labor costs are often the real deal breaker when it comes to purchasing siding-after all, the budget rules the roost. Use this list of siding materials to help you figure out which siding material is right for your siding installation project.
Vinyl and Wood Composites
Vinyl and wood composite siding are the cheapest and quickest to install. They require simple annual maintenance that may include paints, stains, sealants or caulks. The ecofriendly downside-they are made from environmentally harmful materials. Vinyl and wood composites both use large amounts of manmade chemicals and consume enormous amounts of fossil fuels to create, making them a bad choice for ecofriendly siding materials, but a thrifty choice when your budget is in charge.
Cement Fiber and Solid Wood
These two siding materials are completely different from one another but are paired into the same category. This is because cement fiberboard and wood siding are both long lasting, installation costs run the same, they require the same maintenance and are produced in the same semi-ecofriendly way. The downside-wood can easily rot or become insect infested. It can also be harvested in an unsustainable way.
Cementious materials use minerals and aggregates that are strip mined from the ground. Ensure that sustainable harvesting or mining methods are used before you buy any siding. This way, you’ll be certain to get best green siding available.
Stuccos
Stucco and synthetic stucco both are products that last a lifetime. Each product requires easy annual maintenance and are quickly installed. The downside-both materials consume large amounts of fossil fuel to create and install. Synthetics are even worse-they require the use of manmade chemicals. But because these materials can last many lifetimes they are one of the greenest and most expensive siding materials.
