11 Best Types of Siding for Every Homeowner (Pros and Cons)

Choosing the right siding does more than enhance your home’s curb appeal. It protects your investment and improves long-term durability. With so many types of siding, materials, and color options available, deciding what’s best for your home can quickly feel overwhelming.

That’s why we created this guide. Below, we break down 11 of the most popular types of siding, outlining the pros and cons of each option. Whether you’re remodeling or building new, this comparison will help you confidently choose the best siding for your home and budget.

Key Takeaways

• There are multiple types of siding, each designed for different styles, climates, and maintenance needs.
• The right siding can improve durability, energy efficiency, and curb appeal.
• We compare siding options by cost, maintenance, and performance to simplify your decision.
• By the end, you’ll know which type of siding is the best fit for your home and budget.

11 Different Types of Siding Every Homeowner Should Consider

Your siding does more than just define your home’s look; it acts as the first line of defense against the elements. From blistering sun to snow, wind, and rain, siding plays a major role in protecting your structure. It also affects your home’s energy efficiency, resale value, and curb appeal, making it one of the most important decisions for any homeowner.

With so many types of siding available, such as vinyl, fiber cement, and engineered wood, the options can feel overwhelming. Each material comes with its own pros, cons, and price point. Some prioritize durability and low maintenance, while others focus on appearance and customization.

Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the most popular siding options to help you confidently narrow down the best choice for your home, budget, and climate.

1. Vinyl Siding

• Pros: Affordable & Lots of Variety
• Cons: Not the most durable option

Vinyl siding is a fairly popular choice for homes for a few reasons. First, everyone is fairly familiar with vinyl siding. Because of this, it makes for a safe choice for homeowners because they are already knowledgeable about the product. In addition, it is also one of the most affordable types of siding, as it is an economic option. However, this does make it not as durable as some of the other siding options available. But, it does come with a wide range of colors, which is another reason people are drawn to it. Check out this siding buyers guide if you are looking for more info!

All in all, vinyl siding will get the job done, but since it is a cheaper house siding, it is more likely to succumb to damage by hail, baseballs, and other objects flying through the sky.

2. Insulated Vinyl Siding

• Pros: Improved home insulation and durability, with the same variety of traditional vinyl.
• Cons: Still not as durable as other siding options.

Next up, we have insulated vinyl. What makes this different from regular vinyl is that the insulation is built right into the ridge of the panel. Having the insulation set up this way helps to insulate the home better and overall help secure the temperature of homes, which can help save you money. It also helps make it more durable, meaning you may be spending less on repairs or replacement siding.

With insulated vinyl, you get a siding upgrade from regular vinyl while also maintaining a large number of color options as well

3. LP SmartSide

• Pros: Highly durable & can be repainted.
• Cons: More expensive than the average homeowner is looking to pay.

LP SmartSide is an engineered hardwood that is extremely durable. In fact, it’s so durable that the manufacturing of this siding allows for a 50-year warranty. Also, the company that puts the finishing on it has a lifetime guarantee. In other words, the extra money you use to purchase this type of siding will be well worth it down the road. Even if you’re not planning on sticking around for 50 years, having LP SmartSide can help bring up your home’s value.

Unlike with vinyl, you can paint this house’s side paneling, so if you ever get sick of the color, want something new to update your home, or are looking to tackle a new color trend, this siding allows for just that. When it comes to which color you want, the sky is the limit. You can have any custom color on your home with LP SmartSide siding.

4. Hardie Board Siding

• Pros: Highly durable & top-notch quality control.
• Cons: More expensive than vinyl & shorter warranty than LP SmartSide

If you think siding that contains cement would be very durable, then you’d be right. Hardie Board siding is extremely strong and can handle all sorts of objects and elements thrown its way. Unlike LP SmartSide, James Hardie paints their siding in-house, so you know you’ll get that consistency across the board. They offer a 30-year warranty, and you can once again get any custom color for your home.

5. Everlast Composite Siding

• Pros: One of the most durable types of siding available, comes with a ‘length of ownership’ warranty.
• Cons: Restricted color options & price.

Last, but certainly not least, we have Composite Everlast. Made from crushed rock with polymers and resins, you’d be hard-pressed to find a stronger, more sturdy siding. Everlast is so confident in this product that they offer a guarantee for as long as you own the home. While the colors are a little more limited, they do have a nice variety of slap options, so you can find the perfect fit for your house. If composite siding is on the top of your list, check out this collection of the best composite siding options.

6. Natural Wood Siding

Pros: Beautiful, easy to paint or stain, eco-friendly
Cons: Expensive, high-maintenance, pest-prone

Natural wood siding offers classic curb appeal that’s tough to match. Its warm, textured look is ideal for homeowners who want a timeless, natural exterior. You can easily repaint or stain it to refresh your home’s style.

But it comes with upkeep: wood siding needs maintenance every few years to prevent rot, pest damage, and moisture issues. Cedar is more durable, but most wood options will need repainting or restaining every 5–7 years.

7. Wood Composite Siding

• Pros: Looks like the real thing, at a fraction of the cost.
• Cons: Moisture is its sworn enemy, causing mold and mildew if moisture is trapped behind the siding.

Other wood sidings include cedar shakes, engineered wood, and board and batten. Cedar lasts up to 100 years and ages gracefully. It might be the most maintenance-free one of them all. Board and batten or slats can give your home’s exterior a beautiful aesthetic, not often seen by using basic shingles. It’s wood siding that has been manufactured to only look real, but is in fact made of a blend of materials. Manufactured wood siding is great because it is a mere fraction of the cost of real wood. Not to mention, it requires much less maintenance! Just make sure you keep moisture out from behind the siding, as it can easily cause mold and mildew.

8. Metal Siding

• Pros: Low maintenance, resistance to bugs and fire,  and environmentally-friendly.
• Cons: Potential for rust in wet or coastal climates. Lighter metals, like aluminum, can be prone to dents and damage.

Types of metal siding and roofing have both been on the rise and are becoming more and more popular in residential homes. Despite its high upfront cost, the longevity and durability of metal siding make it worth it. Metal is great for homeowners looking for sustainable products because even if their siding is replaced, the used materials are completely recyclable. Other roofing materials end up in landfills for decades upon decades.

Metal siding is also resistant to bugs, mold, and fire. While metal siding is quite durable, it can be susceptible to rust (for steel siding) or dents (primarily for aluminum siding). The good news is, homeowners don’t need to worry about termites or any pesky rodents chewing through their steel siding. Plus, metal siding can be manufactured to imitate any other type of siding, but with the added benefit of durability and long life.

9. Fiber Cement Siding

• Pros: Versatile design (can be painted over), durable, very long-lasting. Some manufacturers offer anywhere from a 30 to 50-year warranty on fiber cement siding!
• Cons: More expensive than vinyl, high-maintenance, and low R-value.

Fiber cement siding is a high-quality material that can look and act like vinyl siding, cement siding, and wood siding — but with added durability. Fiber cement siding is manufactured to withstand the elements and keep your home safe and secure without sacrificing the look.

Vinyl siding and fiber cement both have a similar look with the wood “grain” look and come in a variety of colors and textures. However, you can probably expect that the most you would pay for custom vinyl siding is likely the least you might pay for fiber cement. But the genuine look you can get with fiber cement definitely gives you more of a return on investment in your home.

10. Brick

• Pros: Beautiful, very low-maintenance, fire-resistant, and provides great temperature control.
• Cons: Not a ton of options, may require re-mortaring at one point, and it’s more expensive than other materials.

Everyone loves a gorgeous brick house. They are timeless beauties that tend to stand the test of time both structurally and aesthetically. Often, brick is used as the structure of the home, but people are also using brick siding panels to bring the same aesthetic as the real thing, but at a much cheaper option.

Brick is made of some of the most durable and abundant earthly materials, clay and shale. They are incredibly eco-friendly and can be used or reused for many things. Plus, an added bonus is matching your retaining walls and other landscaping to match your home’s brick siding. The one major downside is that though the bricks themselves are highly durable, the mortar in between can wear away from being exposed to the elements. This can be repaired, but it can be a nuisance if it happens every few years.

11. Stone Veneer Siding

• Pros: Lightweight, more affordable, and nearly any contractor can install them.
• Cons: Not very environmentally friendly (can’t be recycled), and weak spots can allow moisture to get behind the sheets and cause damage.

Real stone on a home can be a tough sale. It requires a LOT of heavy loads of stone, highly experienced masons, and can take a very long time. This is probably why a lot of people opt for stone walls to be used for half-walls on a section of their home. It has the same appeal, without all the work.

Stone veneer siding, on the other hand, looks like real stone, acts like real stone, and can be easily replaced with custom-cut sheets. Basically, stone veneer siding is a cheaper, more lightweight way to get the same beautiful look of real stone – without the hassle. They can be easily installed, replaced, or repaired.

Contact The Siding Pros At First American

Whether you’re exploring new types of siding or want to refresh your home’s exterior, the team at First American Roofing is here to help. From professional siding installation to soft-washing dirty siding and restoring its like-new appearance, we do it all.

Need help with your roofing, windows, or gutters, too? We’ve got you covered.

Call us today at (608) 783-3101 or request a free estimate to get started with a trusted local team.

FAQs