Making Vinyl Siding and Shutters Work for You

Few choices will affect the overall look and appeal of your home as much as the ones related to the vinyl siding and shutters you select for your home’s exterior finish. This is an area where, no matter whether you are planning a major exterior facelift on an existing aging structure or designing and building your home initially, you want to invest some time giving a lot of careful thought to.

Simple considerations combining preferences and value

Even though personal preference is usually the top deciding factor in choosing both style and color for vinyl siding and shutters, there are a few other potentially critical considerations worth evaluating. Improving overall curb appeal and increasing property value are usually two strong motivators driving the purpose for exterior makeovers. For those same reasons you might want to balance your desire for passionate creativity with the unspoken boundaries of operating within the acceptable tastes and price value of the neighborhood you’re located in. Being different is good, but straying too far beyond the norm of the dwellings surrounding you can actually hurt your property value and future resale efforts.

With that tucked away in the back of your mind, there is almost an endless array of options available regarding styles and colors for satisfying even the most demanding buyer. Without contradicting that, as a general rule of thumb in my humble opinion there are 8 foundational styles of vinyl siding: horizontal panels, vertical panels, traditional lap, dutch lap, board & batten, beaded, shakes, and scallops. Yet within each of those are enough unique variations to keep even the most eclectic tastes from making a quick decision. As for colors, I won’t waste space or your time here listing any options because they are just about as extensive as the full spectrum of color itself.

Vinyl siding outside the box

Deviating a bit from the norm, there is one other categorically unique type worth mentioning: insulated vinyl siding. Not only does it maintain the typically expected durability and maintenance-free qualities that make regular vinyl siding such an effective and popular home exterior finish material – it goes one step farther by adding measurable R-value to it. This makes it a very viable choice for re-doing the outside of older buildings where improving heat efficiency is desirable. But without the fuss or mess of penetrating the walls to accomplish it.

Don’t shudder about choosing shutters

Selecting the right shutters basically falls under the same guidelines as choosing the right vinyl siding. It envelopes mostly personal preference balanced with a moderate dose of regional acceptability. Generally speaking, the purpose for shutters integrated into modern home design is purely aesthetic. Most of us no longer need their protection against Indian attacks. And current efficiency of windows mostly eliminates the need for closing them during storms – except for possibly severe weather areas. In fact, typically only in higher end selections are shutters even made functional.

Maximizing long-term exterior beauty

Failing to address the topic of proper installation, especially for siding, would be a potentially disastrous oversight on my part concerning the finished beauty of your building’s exterior. I’m sure you’ve seen it at least once or twice yourself. The ridges, buckling, or gaps from sagging pieces – highlighted even more on sunny days when shadows magnify the problematic installation. Not only will an experienced contractor greatly minimize (if not completely eliminate) the less than desirable appearance resulting from shoddy workmanship, but just like windows and doors, proper installation enables peak performance of the materials like they’re originally designed to function.

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