Vinyl or fiber cement siding: which one for your house?

What they are

Vinyl siding is PVC, extruded in panels that lock together and hang loosely on the wall so they can expand and contract with heat. The color runs through the material. Fiber cement is a board of cement, sand and cellulose fiber, cut and nailed like wood, with a factory finish or primed for paint on site. It comes in lap boards, panels, shingles and trim.

Cost and installation

Vinyl is less expensive to buy and less expensive to install. It is light, cuts with snips and goes up fast. Fiber cement costs more per square foot, weighs several times as much, needs two people to carry a board, and is cut with a dust-collecting saw because the dust is silica. Installing it takes longer and the trim details take longer still. Expect the fiber cement job to cost noticeably more, with the gap depending on how much trim and how many stories.

Durability and weather

Vinyl does not rot, does not need paint and will not be eaten by anything. It can crack in a hard cold snap if struck, it fades slowly over decades, and it can warp or melt from a reflected window or a grill placed too close. Fiber cement resists fire, insects and rot, takes impact without cracking, and holds its shape in heat. It does need its paint maintained, and it has to be kept away from standing water at the bottom edge, with the right gap above a deck or a roof.

Our summers are hot and humid and our winters swing above and below freezing. Both products handle that when installed right. Vinyl needs room to move. Fiber cement needs its cut ends sealed and its clearances kept.

Appearance

Fiber cement looks like painted wood because it is flat, thick-edged and takes real paint. It can be any color and repainted later. Vinyl has a thinner profile, visible seams where panels overlap, and a color range that is wide but fixed; you do not repaint vinyl. On an older house with wood trim, fiber cement matches the original character more closely. On a 1980s or newer house, vinyl often matches what was there.

Historic districts and associations

In a DC historic district, in the Alexandria BAR districts, in St. Charles in Waldorf and in a Montgomery County historic district, the review board or the association may rule on the material, not just the color. Some do not accept vinyl on a street face. Find that out before ordering anything, because it decides the question for you.

What has to happen behind either one

Siding is the finish. The wall behind it is the job. When the old siding comes off we check the sheathing for rot and soft spots, especially below windows and where a deck or a roof meets the wall. A continuous water-resistive barrier goes on, with every window and door flashed so water that gets behind the siding is directed out, not in. Then the siding. Vinyl hung on rotten sheathing, or fiber cement nailed over bare boards, both fail, and the siding takes the blame.

If we find rot once the old material is off, we stop, show you, and price the repair in writing before it is covered. Our siding repair or replace guide covers whether you need to replace at all.

Where each one usually lands

• Vinyl: the budget matters most, the house is newer or already vinyl, you want no exterior painting ever, and no review board has a say.
• Fiber cement: you plan to stay, the house has wood trim and character worth matching, a grill or a south-facing wall has already warped vinyl once, or a review board or association requires it.

Either way, the estimate names the product, the trim, the barrier and flashing, what we assume about the sheathing, and what happens if the assumption is wrong. In writing, before a board comes off.