Horizontal or Vertical Siding: Which Is the Right Choice for Your Home?

If you’re on the market to replace your siding, it won’t take you long to realize that there are now more siding style and design choices available than ever before. And when it comes to picking the right siding for your home, you really want to get the look right, since siding is such a central factor in determining your home’s exterior aesthetics.

But of course, you probably already know all of that, or else you wouldn’t have clicked on this blog! In addition to choosing the right material, style, and color of siding, there’s another choice you need to make too – which orientation of siding panels will look the best and work the best for you? Not sure how to decide? Below are a few things to consider when comparing the pros and cons of horizontal and vertical when it comes to siding replacement.

How to Pick a Side: Horizontal vs. Vertical Siding

While some types of siding are better suited for specifically horizontal or vertical orientation, in many cases siding can be run in either direction, depending upon your preference. Typically speaking, horizontal siding is often the default look for residences, while vertical siding is more commonly seen on commercial buildings. But perhaps you don’t care about what’s “typical”; you only care about which orientation will really be best for your structure! Let’s look at a few factors to keep in mind:

• Aesthetics: If every other house in your neighborhood has horizontal siding, that may really be one reason to consider going with vertical siding – it could really help to set your house apart! Fans of vertical siding also suggest that this unconventional style helps to elongate the look of your home, thus setting it apart even further.

• Ease of Installation: If you’re simply looking for the easiest orientation to install, horizontal siding is the way to go. Vertical siding installation requires a few extra steps, and is a little more involved and time-consuming. Vertical siding is probably not something you want to tackle as a DIY project, unless you have some training or experience in this area. To that end, you can avoid any stress about possibly botching up the siding installation – whether it’s vertical or horizontal – by simply entrusting the task to a seasoned local professional!

• Cost: Vertical siding requires the installation of additional furring strips before the siding can be put on, so this will add to your material costs and could also add to your labor charge. You might check with your local siding professional to see how they price vertical vs. horizontal siding installation. Of course, your final siding replacement cost can also vary considerably based upon which siding materials you decide upon, regardless of siding orientation.

• Durability: The type of siding material you choose (vinyl, fiber cement, wood, metal, etc.) will play a large role in deciding how durable your siding is. Even so, there are some design advantages to going with a vertical orientation over a horizontal orientation. With vertical siding, rainwater sheds off effortlessly, so the chances of water damage are greatly minimized. And if you go with a board-and-batten style, your vertical siding will be even more watertight, as the filler strips will cover all the seams, so there’s really nowhere for water to collect.

• Maintenance: Again, the siding material you choose will help determine the overall ease of maintenance – vinyl and fiber cement are both excellent choices in this regard. In terms of siding orientation though, vertical has an advantage over horizontal when it comes to cleaning and maintenance. Since watersheds off of vertical siding easily, cleaning is much simpler, with less chance of water infiltration. Horizontal panels offer water more opportunities to gain entry, so cleaning and maintenance is a little more complicated, and shouldn’t simply be attempted by hitting it with a power washer.

When Choosing a Side, Let the Pros at Skywalker Windows & Siding Help!

So now, which do you prefer – horizontal or vertical siding? And what about all the great material, design, and color options? Whichever orientation or type of siding you decide to go with, finding the perfect siding solution is really about more than the materials you choose. If you really want a siding solution that looks great and is made-to-last, then it’s critical to make sure your siding is installed correctly in the first place. And nobody does siding installation & replacement better than the pros at Skywalker!

Our team has extensive experience working with vinyl, fiber cement, and other popular materials, plus we have the training and know-how to handle both horizontal and vertical siding orientations. Still can’t choose just one orientation? Just go with both! You could use horizontal on one level and vertical on another, or you can mix-and-match to provide accent to some special areas of focus. Just tell us what you want, and we’ll get to work on making it happen for you!

Skywalker is one of the highest-rated, most-awarded contractors serving the NC Piedmont Triad, Piedmont Triangle, Charlotte Metro, and Roanoke, VA areas, and we’d be happy to come out and provide a free home or business inspection and consultation. Just give us a call today at (336) 265-9595, and let’s get the conversation started! We welcome the opportunity to show you the Skywalker Windows & Siding difference!