Siding does more than give your home it’s appearance; it also helps protect it from the elements where you live. In the Bay Area, this means heat and humidity that might not be seen in other areas of the country. It also means that the siding you choose for your home’s façade needs to be able to stand up to both.
While there are many options on the market for home exteriors, only fiber cement siding gives you the looks and maintenance free durability you need for a home in the Bay Area.
Humidity and Siding
Humidity can wreck a lot of havoc on your home’s siding and façade over time. Heavy moisture in the air affects any siding types, shortening their lifespan, and increasing the amount of maintenance you need to perform.
Wood siding in particular performs poorly in this climate. The moisture causes the wood to expand and contract, warping the siding and frames of the home, as well as causing the paint to blister, peel, and flake away. Over time, this also leads to rotting of the wood, as well as contributes to the growth of mold and mildew on your siding and on your house’s frame.
Stucco is a popular material for siding homes in Northern California as well, but it also performs poorly in the high humidity of the Bay Area. Humidity eventually causes the stucco to soften, causing it to require more frequent repair, as well as more frequent applications of paint to keep it looking its best.
Fiber cement siding, however, is impervious to the moisture in high humidity areas. So, no matter how humid the days get in the Bay Area, you don’t need to worry about how well your siding will perform.
Heat and Siding
Hot summer days are also a problem for some types of siding, even when humidity isn’t a factor. Vinyl, which is often seen as a low maintenance alternative to wood siding, often can’t withstand the high temperatures of summer in California. In fact, in some situations, vinyl – a type of plastic – has even been known to melt when hit directly with the summer sun. Over time, even small amounts of melting or softening of the material could cause warping of the siding, which in turn could allow moisture to penetrate behind it, causing rotting or mold growth on your home’s frame.
Fiber cement siding withstands the heat of the summer sun without warping or melting. The color and integrity of the boards is heat resistant, which means that you can enjoy your home’s appearance for longer without maintenance or worry.
Salt Air and Wind
In addition to the heat and humidity know throughout the Bay Area, homes located close to the Pacific Ocean also have to deal with the salt air and wind that are found here. Materials like wood, stucco, and even bricks and masonry are all affected by the salt over time.
Salt can wear away at many surfaces at a much faster rate than they may see elsewhere. This means that homes located in these areas often need maintenance much more frequently as well. For wood siding, this means frequently scraping and painting the material, as well as replacing damaged and rotting boards.
For brick and masonry, this may mean needing to repoint and replace worn or damaged sections much faster than you may anticipate. The porous nature of the bricks combined with the humidity may also mean that your home could become a breeding ground for things like mold in this climate as well.
Fiber cement siding holds up well even in the salty air of the Bay Area. The mixture of sand, silica, cellulose fiber, and Portland cement means that the material can withstand even the harshest climates without requiring the same level of maintenance or care that other siding materials may need.
Best of all, it maintains its color and good looks as well as its integrity, which means that you can have the appearance and style that you want for your home as well, without needing to compromise based on your home’s location.
Get the Best Siding for Your Bay Area Home
Don’t compromise on your home’s siding. Give your Bay Area home the style, and low maintenance durability it needs to look and perform its best by using fiber cement siding on your façade. Available in a wide range of colors, styles, and sizes, fiber cement siding gives you the versatility you want with the durability you need to meet the needs of the Bay Area climate. Clad your home in fiber cement siding to get lasting protection and lasting style for your home, no matter where it’s located.
