Engineered Wood Exterior Siding
Engineered Wood Siding for Your Home
Less expensive than real wood and environmentally friendly
Engineered wood siding is made using wood products (such as sawdust, wood
flakes, etc..) combined with bonding agents. The results offer a lightweight
product that is very strong and still less expensive than natural wood. Examples
of engineered wood would include OSB, Hardboard, T-111, SmartSide, TruWood etc..
Engineered wood comes in a variety of patterns but most will be variations
of typical wood horizontal and vertical siding styles. Engineered wood will typically
need to be painted to help weather proof the material. Like many other "non-natural
wood" products such as fiber cement, aluminum, and vinyl siding engineered
wood may be purchased pre-primered or pre-finished lowering the time and labor
involvement installing the product. Expect warranties on engineered wood to be
less robust than some other products topping out at the 30 year level. Louisiana-Pacific
actually offers an additional 7 year "full labor and replacement warranty" which
protects the consumer from all costs in repair or replacement should there be
a product defect.
Moisture-related failures have been reported with some engineered wood products.
Improper installation was found to be a common theme in many of the failures
however some products did have defects. Those product defects found have been
corrected but improper installation remains a concern for engineered wood or
any siding product you might choose.
While there is a fairly wide variety of engineered wood types most will be
somewhat to significantly less expensive than natural wood. Engineered wood is
a value oriented product and among the lower priced options on the siding costs
scale.
Engineered Wood Siding:
Longevity: 20-30 years for most products.
Maintenance: Like wood will require painting every 5-10 years
Cost: Lower than average
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