Most siding damage is a repair job. A few pieces cracked by hail, a section the wind pulled loose, one damaged corner, those can usually be fixed without touching the rest of the house. Replacement starts to make sense when damage shows up on several walls, when moisture is getting into the wall behind the siding, or when the siding has faded so much that new pieces would stand out.
Check the wall behind the siding first
Siding is the outer layer. Behind it sit the house wrap, the flashing around windows and doors, and the sheathing. When we install siding, we make sure the wrap, flashing, and fasteners underneath are right so water stays on the outside where it belongs.
Before deciding anything, look for signs that water is already getting in:
- stains, peeling paint or bubbling on the inside of an exterior wall
- a soft spot when you press on the siding
- a musty smell or mould in a room along that wall
- siding that bulges or waves in one area
Any of those means the wall needs a look before anyone quotes new siding. Covering a wet wall with new siding leaves the water problem where it was.
When a repair is enough
If the wall behind is dry and the damage stays in one place, a repair is usually fine. That covers a few cracked or holed pieces from hail or a stone off the mower, a section that came loose in a windstorm, or damage on one corner of an otherwise flat, sound wall that has held its colour.
If your siding is mostly sound and only a section is damaged, we will tell you that rather than selling you a full wrap you do not need.
When replacement is the better call
Damage on several walls, water getting in at more than one spot, warping or buckling across large areas, fading heavy enough that patches will never blend, or a history of patches with something new every season. Any of these is worth having looked at before you price a patch.
Repair or replace at a glance
| What you see | Usually points to |
|---|---|
| A few cracked or holed pieces on one wall | Repair |
| A section blown loose by wind | Repair, if the pieces and wrap are intact |
| Interior stains or soft spots along an exterior wall | Inspect the wall first; the answer depends on what is behind the siding |
| Damage on several walls after a storm | Often replacement; an inspection tells you how far it goes |
| Heavy fading, warping or a patchwork of old repairs | Replacement |
Two houses with the same crack can still need different things, depending on what's going on behind it.
Hail and wind on prairie siding
Saskatchewan siding takes a beating from summer hail, strong wind and hard freeze and thaw. After a hailstorm, walk the walls that faced the storm. Cracks and chips show up best in low, angled light, early morning or late afternoon. Take dated photos before anything gets cleaned up.
If the same storm also hit the roof, those photos help with an insurance claim. Our guide to filing a hail damage insurance claim in Saskatchewan walks through the steps.
Matching new pieces to old siding
Siding fades in the sun, and a new piece from the same product line can look noticeably different next to siding that's been up for years. Before agreeing to a patch, ask whether the original product and colour are still available and how the new pieces will look beside the old ones. Sometimes pieces can be borrowed from a less visible wall for the repair.
On a front wall a mismatched patch can bug you more than the damage did. That's sometimes why a whole wall ends up redone.
Doing the siding and the roof together
If the roof is also near the end of its life, doing both at once can save money. Doing the roof, eavestroughs, soffit, fascia, and siding together means one crew, one schedule, and the access, the cleanup, and the mobilization all happen once instead of three or four separate times.
If the roof still has years left, leave it. Our post on whether the eavestroughs should come off with a new roof deals with the same kind of scope question at the roof edge.
Getting it looked at
Our siding service in Saskatoon starts with a free, no-obligation inspection and a written quote. And if it is letting moisture into the wall, we will show you what we found so you can make the call with the facts in front of you.