CONVERSATIONS – JUNE 2007

By Joshua Bodwell

A handful of Maine experts weigh in on the options

Americans spend countless hours obsessing over their bodies. We try to take care of our insides by eating well and exercising, and we splurge on skin products to make our outsides look good: sunscreen to protect against harmful UV rays, anti-wrinkle lotions to slow the aging process, and skin-firming creams to hide what’s already happened.

When it comes to our homes, most of us keep the inside fresh by renovating bathrooms, remodeling kitchens, and repainting rooms. But all too often, less attention is given to the exterior of a home—and, specifically, the siding. Attempting to identify the “best” siding option is a difficult task, since there are so many factors that must be considered, such as a home’s architecture, its location, and the homeowner’s budget. Given Maine’s long and often harsh winters, choosing the right siding also requires that aesthetics and cost are balanced with the need for long-term durability. To help make this selection process a little easier, Maine Home + Design asked several siding experts for their insights.

Traditional
Traditional wood shingles have been a popular siding option in Maine for hundreds of years. Many building and design purists still swear by the attractiveness and durability of wooden shingles. A “renaissance” in Shingle Style design has taken place in recent years, which has made shingle siding nearly as commonplace around the state as clapboards. “Shakes,” the hand-split predecessors of machine-cut shingles, were extremely common in early New England construction. Made primarily from decay-resistant cedar, the tapered rectangles were used to cover everything from the most humble fisherman’s shack to the grandest of seaside mansions. Even as white-pine clapboards became a more popular, but more expensive, option for homebuilders, the rugged look of shakes and shingles remained synonymous with the traditional “downeast” aesthetic. Today’s wood shingles are commonly made of either eastern white cedar or western red cedar. When applied in their raw, natural state, both woods develop a distinctive, though irregular, look as they age. But pre-finished, or “dipped,” shingles are becoming more common. Dipped shingles have been treated with bleaching oils or water-based pigments. While the aged look of raw shingles is impossible to predict, dipped shingles weather with more uniformity, making them a more appealing option for certain homeowners. John Rousseau, of Rousseau Building and Design in Pownal, is a diehard advocate of wood-shingle siding—he puts cedar shingles on nearly all of the homes he builds. “I didn’t set out to only put up shingle siding,” says Rousseau, who has worked in the building trades for 35 years. “It just sort of evolved that way. I guess I’m something of a traditionalist.” Rousseau estimates that if cedar shingles are applied to a home with good air circulation, the siding will last at least 30 to 50 years, if not longer. But to achieve such a long lifespan, he explains, the shingles must be properly installed. Rousseau suggests that homeowners work with builders who are well versed in the intricacies of cedar-shingle siding. “Nail placement is so crucial in allowing shingles to make their natural movements,” he says, noting that the cedar is “alive” and will split if it can’t expand and contract with the changing weather. “Shingles want to curl to the sun on the south-facing exposure of a building,” says Rousseau. “They’ll curl so much that you can slide your finger behind them—but then, when rain comes, they lay right back down.” The vertical grain in wood shingles channels rainwater downward, Rousseau explains, whereas traditional clapboards send rainwater horizontally across the house, which can eventually deteriorate the wood. Rousseau says that an untreated cedar shingle is nearly maintenance free, and he believes this is could be one reason why wooden shingles are becoming popular again, particularly for second homes. “If someone is only using a home for a small window of time each year,” he says, “they don’t want to be painting or have a painting crew tramping around the yard while they’re here.” Even though untreated cedar shingles can last for decades, Rousseau says that some homeowners “just don’t like the look of weathered wood, and therefore don’t get the true, full life out of the shingle.” It’s not usual for Rousseau to rip perfectly sound, but weatherworn, shingles off homes being renovated purely because of his clients’ tastes. Richard Bernhard, of Bernhard & Priestley Architecture in Rockport, says he has an affinity for how natural shingles weather and wear. “I think they have a timeless quality about them,” he says. Bernhard believes that dipped shingles lack the compelling quirks and irregularities that make a shingled exterior so appealing to him. “They look like very straight, perfect American teeth,” he says of dipped shingles, “and that’s not nearly as interesting as something with a bit more character.”

Non-traditional
For many years, builders and architects alike have sought alternatives to traditional wood siding—from the failed asbestos-based siding to the more common varieties made out of vinyl and aluminum. While some daring homeowners have experimented with modern-looking materials like steel and sheets of polycarbonate (a plastic that was first used in greenhouses), others have tried composites designed to mimic the look of more conventional sidings. The product line offered by James Hardie, the largest manufacturer of fiber-cement siding in the country, is among these increasingly popular alternatives. Hardie pioneered fiber-cement siding in the 1980s, and the company’s many products—which include HardiePlank, HardieShingle, and HardiePanel—are now being used on seven out of ten new houses in many parts of the country. Paul Trufant, a market developer for Hardie’s siding products in northern New England, says the popularity of his company’s products is due to their wood-like appearance (options include a smooth or wood-grain finish) combined with greater durability and a lower price point than wood. Hardie’s siding has a 50-year warranty and 15-year guarantee on the 20 colors that make up its pre-finished ColorPlus line. The unfinished Hardie siding, Trufant says, will hold a paint job for 15 to 20 years. Trufant also believes the “green” aspect of Hardie’s siding is also an important part of its appeal; the products are made of just three ingredients: Portland cement, sand, and wood fiber. The composite’s resilience, Trufant says, makes it a sensible choice for Maine homes. “It’s impervious to sea spray and won’t rot,” he says, “which makes it ideal for the harsh coastal environment.” Architect Sarah Susanka is enthusiastic about Hardie’s products, and says that she’s used them for years. Susanka—who led the charge to build small, well-conceived homes in the late 1990s with her book The Not So Big House—says the composite is “the only product I will consider substituting for wood, and in many climates it’s significantly preferable because of its stability.” Here in Maine, Portland architect Phil Kaplan believes fiber-cement siding has a “huge” future in the state. He says it will likely catch on in the same way that AdvanTech sheathing has become a widely accepted alternative to traditional plywood. An accredited Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) architect, Kaplan says the HardiePanel has been a good fit for his more modern-looking projects. Kaplan also says that he often experiments with off-the-shelf materials in creative ways—he even sided a home on Great Diamond Island with Cor-Ten steel, a material commonly used in the construction of bridges and boats; as the steel oxidizes, it develops a natural, protective patina. Kaplan says that non-traditional siding options will only become more commonplace as they are gradually accepted as viable, even preferable, alternatives by established builders. In the end, Kaplan says, the ultimate decision to use traditional wood siding or an alternative must be “both client and site-specific.”
In The Marketplace Viking Lumber
Gene Flanagan, of the Viking Lumber stores, says he’s noticed that pre-finished fiber-cement siding has been becoming increasingly popular in recent years. “People love that it’s inexpensive, and that after they put it up they don’t have to touch it for 15 years,” Flanagan says. While he embraces composite siding, Flanagan remains a fan of cedar shingles. But he has one word of advice when it comes to traditional siding: “make sure they’re back-stained.” Flanagan notes that for a difference of roughly $100 per 100-square feet, homeowners can get pre-finished shingles.

Ellsworth Building Supply “We still sell a tremendous amount of cedar siding,” says Steve Smith, Ellsworth Building Supply’s director of professional sales. “Many consumers really make a distinction between wanting a natural product or composite product.” With that said, Smith notes the composite-siding market has grown significantly in recent years—it now makes up 20 to 25 percent of the company’s siding sales. “There’s been an acceptance of new composite products as contractors get more comfortable with them,” Smith says, “and consumers educate themselves about the options.”