List of Pros and Cons of Cedar Siding

Building or remodeling a home is something that we all need to do at some point in our lives It means that things are changing, it means that we are becoming more and more independent, it means that we are going to move one step further in our lives. The process, however, is quite tough and there are a lot of factors that need to be considered so that we can have the best possible home for us to live in.

Two of the major things we look at are the price and the availability of the things that we intend to purchase for our home. If they are too expensive, we certainly don’t want to consider them especially because repairing these things is also going to be incredibly expensive. Moreover, of they aren’t available everywhere, it is going to be a headache to find and to fix these things since most stores out there won’t have them readily available.

In addition to these two things to look out for, there are others such as the aesthetic value of these things, the choices of colors, the type of material and so on. All of factors are ultimately going to help us make a decision.

Nowadays there are literally hundreds of varieties of building materials out there and people usually just go with whatever they’re told to use since it is hard to know about every single one of these building materials. But we’re here to help you out and as such, we are looking at the pros and cons of cedar siding in this article. Cedar siding has a very particular look to it and it is widely used across the United States. That being said, let’s look a little deeper:

List of Pros of Cedar Siding

1. Aesthetically Amazing
If you want to have a beautiful home, cedar siding is definitely something to consider due to the incredible aesthetics it has. People usually love to look at cedar siding because of this. It can have different colors and grains, depending on where it came from. As if that wasn’t enough, it is also possible to create a different variety of textures for the walls with the use of cedar siding.

As if that wasn’t enough, cedar siding makes a home look like its alive and it gives it a life of its own. While other materials such as brick tend to make the home look like it is just a massive pile of building materials someone put together, cedar siding makes it look like a warm home with a rustic look. There’s no way you can dislike cedar siding’s aesthetics.

2. At The Top Of The Wood Siding Options
Usually wood sidings are going to need a lot of help resisting the natural conditions that our world has to throw at them. Since they are essentially what makes your house, you are going to want it to hold, but at the same time you don’t want to waste too much time helping it out – your home is supposed to protect you, not the opposite. Cedar siding is firm and stable so you won’t need to worry too much about it when it rains or when the wind is too string, cedar siding can hold it.

This means that by choosing cedar siding you are going to be able to save money, especially when it comes to repairing costs. You won’t need to replace panels and shingles regularly and you won’t need to have a lot of maintenance costs. Moreover, cedar siding isn’t going to hold a lot of moisture in it, unlike most types of wood sidings.

3. They Are a Renewable Type Of Resource
Cement and other siding materials aren’t renewable and they are not exactly the least harmful thing for the environment. They can take their toll on our planet and in one single home that might not be too bad, but in a million homes it is certainly going to have an effect we’re all feeling. Cedar siding isn’t like that at all, cedar trees grow pretty quickly so they are a renewable resource. On top of that, they are biodegradable and they won’t harm the planet in the process.

Since it grows so easily, it can make a wide variety of building products and if you want to use cedar that has been harvested without damaging the environment at all, you can also do so. If you just look up the sellers, you are going to be able to find a lot of information about them.

List of Cons of Cedar Siding

1. It Has a Bad Reaction With Iron
Cedar doesn’t really like iron and as such, it reacts poorly to it. Being in contact with iron is going to speed up the rate at which the cedar siding is going to start breaking apart and falling over. This is going to make the maintenance costs go through the roof and no one really wants to spend a lot of money on maintenance costs.

As if that wasn’t enough, you are also going to have to be careful with the type of materials you use to install the cedar siding. If you use any type of iron you are going to be damaging the cedar siding and soon enough you will have to fix it. For example, iron nails are going to make some damage and you will instead have to use other nails made out of, for example, stainless steel or aluminum. These are likely to cost you a little extra. A little extra you don’t have to spend.

2. Natural Materials Have Their Problems
A lot of the natural materials we have out there usually don’t react too well to the environment under certain conditions and this includes cedar siding. This means that, for example, if cedar siding is in contact with water it might lose a little bit of the color on that area and that is going to ruin the aesthetical look since the rest of it won’t have the same color as that part. From the exterior, your home won’t all look the same.

The interaction with water can also make mold and mildew grow on your cedar siding. If you don’t check on it often enough, it will grow and this means you have to spend a lot of time checking your cedar siding, more than what you would have to spend if you used other types of buildings materials, and more than any person would like to spend checking for mold and mildew. Worst case scenario, part of your cedar siding can actually start rotting and if this happens you are going to have to replace a good amount of your home’s siding.

3. It’s Expensive
If you are trying to build a home and trying to spend the least amount of money possible on it as you try to save it up for other things such as going on a trip for example, you aren’t really going to fancy the option of cedar siding. While you can get some sidings at rates such as $3 per square foot, you are going to get cedar siding at around $7 per square foot and upwards. This is obviously going to radically increase the price of building your house and cedar siding is one of the most expensive siding options available in the market. If you want to save on the costs there are other alternatives.

4. Fire Risk
Cedar siding is wood, and as such, it is prone to catching fire. We all know how it goes, fire grow easily on wood and as such, if your siding catches on fire you are going to have a hard time after that, both on trying to save as much as you can on your home, but also while trying to save your own life. You can actually treat cedar siding to make it resistant to fire, but the treatment means they will no longer be good to the environment and it kind of defeats the purpose of going for a material that is good for the environment.