Replacing your siding might not be at the top of your to-do list. In fact, unless there’s an urgent and specific problem with it, siding replacement may not be on your radar at all. But maybe it should be. Siding eventually wears out. It gets old. It breaks. It cracks. It begins to leak. When these things happen, it could be too late to prevent other expensive repairs.
But how do you know when your home needs new siding? Fortunately, there are some warning signs you can (and should) look for:
- If your home needs to be painted frequently – say every 5 or 6 years, that’s a good indication there’s something wrong with the existing siding. Siding should keep its color and shape for at least 10 years or more. Siding that is peeling, cracking or chipping is a sign that there’s a fundamental problem.
- If the layer underneath the siding has become soft or started to rot, this is a sure sign that it is due for urgent replacement.
- If your home’s cooling or heating costs are going through the roof with no other logical explanation, this is also a sign that the siding is in bad shape.
- Peeling wallpaper or paint that’s pulling away from interior walls is a tell-tale symptom of faulty siding.
- Growths such as mildew, mold or fungus on the siding, especially at or near the seams may be a sign that water is getting through and being retained inside the wall.
- Bubbles under the siding’s surface are almost a certain sign that water is trapped.