Engineered Wood Exterior Siding

Engineered Wood Siding for Your Home

Less expensive than real wood and environmentally friendly

Engineered wood siding is made using wood products (such as sawdust, wood flakes, etc..) combined with bonding agents. The results offer a lightweight product that is very strong and still less expensive than natural wood. Examples of engineered wood would include OSB, Hardboard, T-111, SmartSide, TruWood etc..

Engineered wood comes in a variety of patterns but most will be variations of typical wood horizontal and vertical siding styles. Engineered wood will typically need to be painted to help weather proof the material. Like many other "non-natural wood" products such as fiber cement, aluminum, and vinyl siding engineered wood may be purchased pre-primered or pre-finished lowering the time and labor involvement installing the product. Expect warranties on engineered wood to be less robust than some other products topping out at the 30 year level. Louisiana-Pacific actually offers an additional 7 year "full labor and replacement warranty" which protects the consumer from all costs in repair or replacement should there be a product defect.

Moisture-related failures have been reported with some engineered wood products. Improper installation was found to be a common theme in many of the failures however some products did have defects. Those product defects found have been corrected but improper installation remains a concern for engineered wood or any siding product you might choose.

While there is a fairly wide variety of engineered wood types most will be somewhat to significantly less expensive than natural wood. Engineered wood is a value oriented product and among the lower priced options on the siding costs scale.

Engineered Wood Siding:

Longevity: 20-30 years for most products.

Maintenance: Like wood will require painting every 5-10 years

Cost: Lower than average

If you’re looking for other low cost siding options consider fiber-cement , or vinyl siding .

Learn more about engineered wood siding at APA the engineered wood asssociation.