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How to Decide Between Treated & Composite Decking

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 22:31:58 GMT

Chances are when you look around your neighborhood, most of your neighbors have decks, and they are most likely made out of wood. There is no question that treated wood decks were the most popular option for many years, especially with the issues that came with composites when they were first introduced into the market. It’s a far easier material to work with for DIYers, it’s lighter, the appearance can be changed fairly easily, and it actually looks like real wood (because it is)!

But with all the varying lines of composite decking now stretching across nearly every price category, paired with the increased cost of wood, what is the best option today? Let’s dive into all the details and find out!

Pressure Treated Pine

The most common wood decking that we have is Treated Pine, followed by Cedar. Southern Pine trees are plentiful which is why it is cheaper and generally more accessible than Cedar to buy at various home improvement stores. For the purpose of sticking to a straightforward and basic topic, we’ll just forget about Cedar for now.

When talking about treated lumber (Pine), there are two kinds that are generally accessible, AC2 and ACQ. According to Midwest Manufacturing, AC2 is a “revolutionary way to pressure treat wood” versus an ACQ (Alkaline Copper Quaternary) also known as a CBA (Copper Azole) treatment. Both of these treatments were formed to move away from the old CCA treatment. Up until around 2004, lumber was treated with CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenate), which contained arsenic, which is a known carcinogen, and skin contact with CCA was found to increase risks of certain kinds of cancer. Today, almost all treated lumber found in stores is going to be ACQ treated lumber, and Menards lumber will certainly be AC2 treated.

AC2 is certified as an Environmentally Preferable Product, contains almost 2x more preservatives per cubic ft for Critical Members than most others (.23 pounds per cubic ft versus .15 pounds per cubic ft), carries lighter and more natural coloring, is approved for aluminum contact, and also comes with a first season water repellant. Believe it or not, there isn’t much more information to be found on AC2. There goes two hours of my day with nothing more found than a two page handout.

ACQ on the other hand is a bit easier to find information about. It is a water based treatment in which a copper compound is suspended in the lumber by vacuum pressure, and carries minimal health concerns. Right off the bat, it is not approved for contact with uncoated steel or aluminum, and actually accelerates corrosion of galvanized steel components 10x faster than CCA treatment.

What to Know with a Treated Pine Deck

Regardless of where lumber prices are, it is still likely that a treated deck will be cheaper than an entry level composite. However, the lower initial costs come with some tradeoffs down the road, including lifespan, maintenance and appearance.

Because treated lumber is a natural material, realistically expect your deck to last about 10 years, but proper maintenance (or a lack of) can cause your deck to need to be replaced much sooner, or possibly last a bit longer. Yearly maintenance is required with a treated deck, including cleaning at a minimum once a year, and I’m not talking about a quick rinse with the hose. This is a “on your hands and knees with a brush scrubbing” kind of cleaning, and while it sounds absolutely horrible, this is a commitment that comes with a treated deck.

Really where a treated deck shines is the customizability that you have with it. For the first year, your deck will need to dry out and shed the initial water repellant. After that, you will need to stain your deck, and with hundreds of stain options there is no doubt that there is something that will match everyone's style. However, due to it being a natural material as it dries and ages it may begin to shrink in size causing larger and un-uniform gaps between boards, splits at screw locations, and while generally not a problem until late in the life cycle, boards may begin to twist and bow and is definitely something that should be considered.

Well, I don’t want to have any twisted boards on my deck, can I replace them?

Yes, and it’s actually very simple due to the fasteners being individual to each board. Swapping out a deck board can be done by any homeowner with an impact driver and a saw, or a local handyman for likely less than $100. But, that individual board would then have to go through the same year long drying process that your entire deck did prior, which means a single unfinished board in your beautifully stained deck. So does that make composite better? Lets see.

Composite Decking

Trex first introduced composite decking in the 90’s, and just like most first generation products, it was far from fantastic. It mixed wood fibers with plastic then formed them into decking, however it had minimal protection and the wood grain pattern trapped moisture and debris, causing surface mold and mildew. Pair that with excessive fading and Trex found themselves with a class action lawsuit, however these issues are essentially what gave the push to make a new product in 2009 - capped composites.

Capped composite decking varies from the first generation in that it has an eco-friendly composite core, then is capped with PVC. There are some PVC deck boards that we could get into, but in a shortened version, modern composite decking combines the two to create a superior product. This is what Trex, Fiberon and TimberTech offer. From there, the other option is a capped polymer, which is what Azek offers, however this is a much more premium option, coming in at nearly two times the cost of PVC capped decking.

Trex vs. TimberTech vs. Azek - Why Pay More?

Composite decking across the board carries the same benefits over treated lumber - minimal maintenance, longer lasting, and better looking. The major differences between composites come mostly from the manufacturing process and additional benefits and features. For example, when we compare the top offering from Trex - their Transcends line to TimberTech Edge (their entry offering), we find a similar product. Both are partially capped boards, protecting only the top, a 25 Year Limited Residential Fade and Stain warranty from Trex, a 25 Year Limited Fade and Stain warranty from TimberTech. The only differences are that Trex claims that their decking is made of 95% recycled material and TimberTech claims that their decking is made of 80% recycled material.

Where the real differences come out is with the more premium products. To make this easy, we’ll just look at TimberTechs line of offerings - Edge, Pro and Azek.

Like before, Edge is the entry offering coming with a partial cap and a 25 Year Fade and Stain warranty. Moving into the Pro line, you get a fully capped board that protects the bottom of your decking, it comes with Mold Guard technology to further the moisture resistance, and a 30 Year Fade and Stain Warranty. Lastly, the top offering - Azek, a capped polymer containing no organic material, “Unbeatable Moisture Resistance” according to TimberTech, multi-width boards, a Limited Lifetime Warranty and a 50 Year Fade and Stain warranty. On top of all that, they claim that the Azek line will stay up to 30 degrees cooler than many competitors products, has a 40% better slip resistance, and a Class A Fire Rating, meaning that their Azek line is likely to minimize the spread of an active fire.

Cool, Nerdy Stuff. What About The Actual Product?

Well, composite decking will obviously last longer than a treated deck, and by the 25-50 year warranties offered, both companies obviously stand behind their products lasting at a minimum twice as long as a treated deck. Is the cost outweighing the scrub yet?

Comparing Trex to TimberTech is going to be a personal choice. Trex doesn’t call out competitors or compare them on their website, but TimberTech dedicated an entire page to it. They claim that Trex has less natural colors, unrealistic wood grain, and a plastic appearance that fails to convert those that are looking for a natural wood look to composites.

You thought that was all? Oh no.

Claims about the reason behind Trex not offering a fully capped board, exposure test results, potential limited lifespans, cost benefits, noticeable exposed wood in Trex and more. Most of it is going to be objective differences, and we believe it should be left to the homeowner to make those choices and decisions because ultimately the wood grain in a piece of plastic is a personal opinion.

The Final Choice

A treated deck is obviously the cheaper option, and is great if you are just looking to get an outdoor space, or working with a budget. It could also be a stepping stone to get to a composite product, and (assuming that the structure is built correctly) you could decide in the future to just remove the treated decking and install a composite product in place of it, cutting down on the total cost at a single point in time. Just remember that when you decide to get a treated deck, you are also deciding to do the scrubbing at least yearly, the staining, and the upkeep as it ages. Are you okay with the maintenance that comes with a lower upfront cost?

If you are investing into your forever home and want something to enjoy without hassle for many years, maybe looking into Azek makes sense. Brush it off every now and then, give it a rinse here and there and you have a deck that will look the same as the day it was installed for at least 20 years. It costs more upfront, but you save on all the scrubbing and upkeep costs.

Any decking material and line has its use and place, whether it be treated, cedar, composite or polymer, it just depends on each individual’s circumstances. At the end of the day, whether you have a treated deck, or one with Azek, you have a place to enjoy the outdoors and spend time with your family and friends, and that’s all that matters.

You don’t have to try and absorb all this information alone, give us a call and let us guide you through this process. We can answer any questions you may have about all your different options, the process of the project and anything else. Making your dreams a reality starts with a simple call.

Can I Put a Hot Tub on my Deck?

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 22:31:58 GMT

Let's talk about something that we have been seeing alot of lately - inflatable hot tubs on decks. A quick Google search of “Can I put an inflatable hot tub on my deck” produces almost exclusively “Yes! Of course you can” answers. But when we actually begin reading them, these absolute “yes” answers turn into “well, maybe” answers. While these compact and lightweight options are a great entry level option to be able to enjoy the benefits of a hot tub, are they actually okay to be used on your deck? Let’s get into it!

Full Size Hot Tubs?

You may be asking “But why inflatable hot tubs? Why not full sized ones?” To keep things simple, we’ll just say that there are very rare occasions when a full sized hot tub should be placed on a deck, and none of them involve the average deck that is built at the same time as your house, or added after the fact. In the future, we’ll get into more detail regarding the best options for adding a full size hot tub to your space. Now, into the inflatables!

Most Common Inflatable Hot Tubs

To start, we have no affiliations with the companies or products mentioned, they were simply just the first results that popped up on Amazon. So, we have the Aleko Two Person Inflatable Hot Tub, the Intex 28429E Four Person Inflatable Hot Tub and the Intex 28451EP Six Person Inflatable Hot Tub. Now, the information shared here applies to all inflatable hot tubs, not just the ones mentioned, which is why we selected ones in varying sizes. So, with that out of the way let’s first talk about decks.

Deck Construction and Capacities

Deck loads are expressed in pounds per square foot (psf), which includes dead load and live load, and when adding the two together decks are generally designed for a 50 psf load. Dead load is the load created by the deck itself, and usually amounts to about 10 psf, but could vary and head more towards the 20 psf area depending on the decking material (composite vs. treated), the design, etc., but for our purpose today we will stick with 10 psf. Live load is the load created by use and would include any movable physical object including people, furniture, tables, grills, etc. and usually amounts to about 40 psf. So while your average deck is designed for 50 psf, live load is what matters here and we are actually looking at a number closer to 40 psf. Without going deep into the actual engineering of a deck and the size and spacing of framing members, beams, and footings, we’ll just utilize our 40 psf number.

Iowa Extras!

For those of us in Central Iowa, we reached out to a Johnston building official to see if they had any extra input that we missed, and they sure did! Here, we also have to consider snow load which amounts to 30psf. What this means is that with a deck designed to support 50 psf, we have to factor in our dead load of 10 psf and our snow load of 30 psf, which places us at 40 psf, with a deck designed for 50 psf.

You may be thinking “yeah, but it only snows 4 months out of the year MAYBE”.

You’re right, however when thinking about load capacities, you work with the highest common denominator, which would be 40 psf. What this means for you is that when you are deciding to place a hot tub (inflatable or full size) on your deck, you absolutely need engineered plans. The building official we spoke to said that they won’t even review plans involving a hot tub if they aren’t engineered.

A few other things that they mentioned (that we completely overlooked), is that IRC (International Residential Code) states that when a hot tub or pool is within 5’ of a window or door it has to be tempered glass, and this is especially true when a deck becomes involved. This means that you could have just installed all new beautiful windows in your home, and we’re going to rip a few back out! One more thing that was mentioned (and this is more aimed towards you full size unit folk) is that your electrical disconnect has to be viewable from the hot tub. For some people, this can be a major turnoff because they don’t want to have a box on the side of their house that they can’t hide.

In their opinion (and no, we had ours long before this call even though they are identical), there are few if any circumstances when a hot tub should be placed on a deck. Just some input from the officials that you will have to work with if you really want a unit on your deck!

Weight of Water

A quick clarification on how we figured our water weight so those of you following along at home are on the same page, water varies in weight slightly depending on the temperature of it, as follows

1 gallon of water at 39*F (4*C) = 8.345 pounds
1 gallon of water at 70*F (21*C) = 8.33 pounds
1 gallon of water at 200*F (93*C) = 8.04 pounds

Generally speaking, hot tubs are kept around 100*F, so we figured our weights at a 1 gallon weight of 8.3 pounds (and because we’re deck builders and like easy math when possible)

Inflatable Hot Tub Sizes and Weights

Before we break it down, keep a mental note of which unit you think introduces the highest load, you may be surprised!

Starting with our Aleko Two Person Hot Tub, the dimensions are 77” long by 22” wide and 28” tall, weighing in at 52 pounds and a capacity of 145 gallons of water, this is our lightest option. When we figure our 1 gallon weight of 8.3 pounds, this unit holds a 1,203.5 pound capacity, and with the unit weight added in, has a final weight of 1,255.5 pounds before people are factored in. Being as the average person weighs 180 pounds and a two person capacity, we have another 360 pounds that is added to our total weight. With an overall footprint of 12 square feet (it’s actually 11.76 square feet for our mathematicians, but again, deck builders not professors), this places our total load at 134.6 pounds per square foot.

Next up is the Intex 28429E Four Person Hot Tub, coming in at 75” long, 47” wide and 26” deep, it has a unit weight of 101.8 pounds and has a capacity of 210 gallons. Multiplying by our 8.3, we come up with 1,743 pounds of capacity and a total weight of 1,844.8 pounds, an extra 600(ish) pounds over the two person option. But, because this is a 4 person option, we also have to consider the extra 360 pounds of people included over the two person option, adding an extra 720 pounds, placing our grand total at 2,564.8 pounds over a 24.5 (24.48) square foot area. This gives us a total load of 104.7 pounds per square foot.

Lastly, the Intex 28451EP Six Person Hot Tub, with a 94” length, 94” width, and 28” depth, this is our largest option by far. It offers a 290 gallon capacity and has a unit weight of 131.7 pounds, giving us a 2,407 pound capacity and a total weight of 2,538.7 pounds. With a 6 person capacity, we have to add in the 1,080 pounds of people, meaning we have a grand total of 3,618.7 pounds dispersed across a 61.4 (61.36) square foot area, giving us a total load of 58.94 pounds per square foot.

As you can see, the largest option weighs nearly three times as much as the smallest, however the total load placed upon the structural members of your deck is nearly half due to the total disbursement of the weight. Does this mean anything with a deck built per standard requirements? No, it just means the weight is technically more dispersed.

What Does All This Mean?

If you remember from earlier, most decks are built with a capacity of 50 pounds per square foot (psf), but after removing our dead load of 10 psf, we have about 40 psf to work with. What we are looking for here is whether or not our live load numbers are greater than 40 psf.

Our smallest two person hot tub came in at 134.6 psf, the four person at 104.7 psf and the 6 person at 58.94 psf. This means that generally speaking, none of these options can safely be placed on your typical deck. And just to add a quick note, you may see the downtrend in load as the size increases and think “so maybe a full size hot tub is the answer”. An average full size hot tub comes in around 102 psf, so definitely not safe.

We also have to remember that this is a very basic overview in which we are comparing the same factors straight across. Total weight comes into play, as well as joist size, joist spacing, footing size, soil capacity, beam size and placement, height of the deck, decking material, the location of the deck, any other loads present (roof, privacy fences, decorative metal privacy fencing, etc.). When considering all the above, it is easy to see why the majority (if not all) building authorities now require stamped engineered plans before allowing any hot tub to be placed on a deck.

I REALLY Want a Hot Tub, There Has to be Some Way

Of course there is! Putting them off the stairs of your deck in the yard, on patios, or near easy entry points to your home are great places, as long as they are level and secure. If you have a paver patio or something similar, it may not be the best place because these are generally built on a layer of sand, and the weight can cause shifting of the pavers.

If you don’t have a nice, level place, making your own concrete patio isn’t terribly difficult (we would give it a 6/10 on the DIY difficulty scale), just make sure to check with your local building authority for any regulations you may need to comply with, and spend a few days doing your research. If you think that this is out of your wheelhouse, call a local concrete contractor. For a simple patio a bit larger than your hot tub, most will likely be in and out in a day or less.

Again, also make sure that you are following any applicable code requirements as well.

I Don’t Have a Regulating Authority, Does That Mean I Can Put my Hot Tub on My Deck?

If everything we discussed prior hasn’t steered you away from putting an inflatable hot tub on your deck, then that choice is ultimately up to you. If you do choose to do so, we would HIGHLY recommend that you at least place a new supporting beam directly under where you plan to place your hot tub, professionally installed to meet standard building requirements for your geographic area.

And no, this doesn’t mean slapping a 4x4 held up by some 2x4’s under your deck and saying “That dude at Spectrum Remodeling said this makes it okay!”. This needs to be a properly installed structural support member to prevent future issues and ensure your own safety. Again, we do NOT advise you to do so, but if you decide to, at least stack the odds in your favor.

Conclusion

Inflatable hot tubs are a great option to give you the benefits of a full size option without the cost, but just because they are smaller and lighter still doesn’t mean that they are safe to use on your deck. Keep in mind that all the units we discussed are representative of all inflatable units out there, and that they can produce a load on your deck that are 2-3 times that of what it was designed to withstand. If you really want a hot tub on your deck, take the proper steps to get engineered plans and have them professionally built to ensure that you don’t put yourself or your hot tub pals at risk.

If you have questions about redesigning your space to incorporate a hot tub, questions about your deck, or really want to get that hot tub on your deck, reach out to us! We can guide you through the pros and cons of each option and come up with a plan that works for you. Or, if you decided that if you HAVE to deal with all these issues that a full size unit is the best choice for you, check out our other blog on how to incorporate a hot tub into your space!

Differences Between LP, Hardie & Vinyl Siding

Sat, 05 Jul 2025 22:31:58 GMT

It’s finally time.

You’ve been looking at that old siding for years, and as it gets older every year, you have more repairs to do every year. Watching as more and more of your neighbors change from their old original siding to a new and modern look and waiting for the day that you could join them. But then you realize, you never even thought about what you want to put on your house! There are so many different kinds of siding, fiber cement, engineered wood, vinyl, how are you supposed to know what’s best, especially when all your friends tell you something different?

That’s where we come in and (hopefully) by the end of this, you’ll be able to make an informed decision that you can be happy with for many years to come! Quick disclaimer, we are a member of the LP Remodelers program, and VSI certified, so we do have a *slight* bias, but we will keep our opinion out of the discussion!

Common Types of Siding

Judging by the title of this, I’m sure you can conclude that we’re going to talk about vinyl siding, as well as James Hardie standing in for fiber cement siding and LP SmartSide for engineered wood siding. The reason we chose these brands and not one for vinyl is because there really aren’t many (if any) mainstream competitors in these two categories, LP and Hardie really have their categories locked down. Vinyl on the other hand is an entirely different situation, with at least a dozen mainstream brands and multiple product lines underneath these brands, however, if you choose two similar product lines from two manufacturers, they are generally pretty closely comparable. Now, let's get into the products!

James Hardie is a fiber cement manufacturer and offers interior and exterior products, but we’ll just be covering the exterior. For exterior products, they offer lap (horizontal) siding with an 8” lap panel being the most common, vertical siding, shingle siding, trim boards and soffit panels, and all of these option can come primed or prefinished (painted in the factory to remove the need for painting after installation) in a variety of colors.
LP is an engineered wood product manufacturer, and offers structural products as well as siding, but again we’ll just cover siding. They offer lap siding, which again is most common in an 8” lap panel, vertical siding, shake siding, trim boards and soffit panels, which can also come either primed or prefinished in a host of colors.
Last up is vinyl siding, which is a durable plastic generally formed to imitate the look of a wood siding. Vinyl siding can come in numerous sizes of lap siding, although a double 4” panel is the most common. Some other vinyl products include soffit, shake siding, vertical siding, miscellaneous decorative trim pieces, and standard trim for installs (corner posts, J channel, etc.). Unlike LP SmartSide and James Hardie, vinyl only comes in a colored option, with the color added to the resin before the forming of the panel, which means that the entire panel is colored, so it can’t be scratched or scuffed off. Vinyl siding should never be painted at any time, even if it begins to fade or weather.

With each product, there is a tremendous amount of detail to go into, so for right now we’ll just hit the main points so you can begin to make a choice for your situation. From there, we’ll have heavily detailed articles for each independent product so you can really learn everything there is to know before making an investment in your home. Up first is James Hardie!

James Hardie

James Hardie is a fiber cement siding that is made exactly as it sounds - cement reinforced with fibers(at a basic level), although it may vary depending on the manufacturer. This means that it is fireproof, termite proof and rot proof, if installed properly. Generally speaking, it is a fairly low maintenance product, and just needs a gentle cleaning every year.

As mentioned before, James Hardie offers a collection of exterior products for your home. Hardie Plank is their lap siding with three different texture options and panel sizing ranging from 5.25” up to 12”. Each line of planks stays common to a .312” thickness and a 144” (12’) length. The Cedarmill and Beaded Cedarmill lines are meant to imitate natural cedar, and the Smooth line comes, well, smooth.

Next, they do offer an Architectural Collection, however it isn’t very common (if used at all) here in Central Iowa, so we’ll skip it for now and move into the Hardie Shingle.

The Hardie Shingle comes in two styles, a staggered shingle and a straight shingle, both coming in at .25” thick, 15.25” wide and 48” long. Hardie Shingles are made to imitate cedar shingles, but carry the benefit of being a fiber cement product which means no rotting, splitting or curling.

The last siding product is the Vertical Hardie Panel, which comes in four different styles. The first is Cedarmill, which again is made to imitate natural cedar and is generally used when going for a “board and batten” look. The second is the Smooth panel, which goes for more of a modern look. Third is a Stucco panel which gives the look of stucco with a better strength factor over traditional stucco. Lastly, Sierra 8, which gives off a T1-11 vibe, with slightly less depth. All of the vertical panels come in at .312” thick, 48” wide, and 120” long with the exception of the Cedarmill, which offers 96” and 108” lengths as well.

Outside of our siding options, we have Hardie Trim and Hardie Soffit (which is close enough to trim). Hardie offers a 4/4 (four quarter) and 5/4 (five quarter) thickness trim in both a Smooth and Roughsawn texture. These trim boards come in widths ranging from 3.5” to 11.25”, all of which are 144” long. Outside of that, they also offer Rustic Grain and Smooth Batten boards at a 2.5” width for that “board and batten” finish. For soffit, they again offer both a vented and non-vented Cedarmill and Smooth soffit panel at .25” thick and at common overhang widths - 12”, 16” and 24”.

LP Smartside

LP Smartside is an engineered wood product, which means that it is composed of thin wood strips pressed together and bonded using a resin, similar to how OSB is manufactured. This means that the end product is stronger than natural wood, more resistant to decay and insects, and overall requires less maintenance. It can also be cheaper than using real wood products, while imitating a similar look.

Starting off the LP SmartSide product line is their lap siding. The first thing that you’ll notice about LP is that all of their products come with only a cedar texture aside from the trim, which can also come in smooth, although it is more of a sandpaper finish than a true “smooth” finish. So, that means that their siding comes with a cedar texture, available from a 5” product up to a 12” product and a 16’ board length. Just like the James Hardie products, LP has both a staggered and straight profile textured shake siding coming in at .354” thick, 11” wide and 48” long. True dimensions vary slightly, but for general discussion purposes, it’s close enough.

Next they have panel siding, with a few different design options ranging from a “no groove” panel to either a 4” or an 8” groove pattern. Thicknesses vary depending on the product, coming in at .354” for the 38 series panels (8” pattern and no groove), .418” for the 76 series panels (4” or 8” pattern and no groove), and the 190 series comes in at .578” (8” pattern and no groove).

Getting into trim, there are quite a few more options than James Hardie. For starters, they offer numerous series of cedar textured trim coming in at varying thicknesses, .578” for the 190 series, .675” for the 440 (4/4) Series, and .970” for the 540 (5/4) Series, however only offer the 440 and 540 series in a smooth finish. They also offer a facia specific board, unlike James Hardie where facia would have to be a general trim board (which isn’t a major advantage by any means, just a minimally cleaner install). Last up, we have solid and vented soffit, which can both come precut for 12”, 16” and 24” overhangs and 16’ long, or solid sheets are available in standard 4’x8’ size.

Lastly, they have a vertical siding option, which is a single option coming in at 16” wide and 16’ long and .354” thick. Outside of that, there are two trim boxes for accessories, a J-Block which is 7.21” x 7.21” and .970” thick and a Mini Split which is 7.21” x 6.75” and .970” thick.

All of these products are also available prefinished or primed, although depending on the color your product choices might be limited.

Vinyl Siding

For vinyl siding, we won’t go fully in depth as to the entire offering of products, because different suppliers offer different options. A fairly popular brand is CertainTeed, so we’ll use their product line, but keep in mind that this isn’t fully representative of all the products available (we’ll save that for our vinyl specific discussion).

So, touching briefly on what Certainteed offers before diving in, we have shake siding, insulated siding, multiple lines of lap siding, beaded siding, board and batten siding, reverse board and batten siding, soffit, and decorative trim options. To not overload you with information, we’ll stick with the most common products, Northwoods Shake siding and Mainstreet Lap siding

Northwoods is a single 7” panel coming in at .060” thick and up to 10’ long. It is a straight edge panel available in 20 different colors and designed to imitate a cedar shingle texture.

Mainstreet is a bit more in-depth than the Northwoods line, with 24 different color options and seven different styles. Like mentioned above, the most common is the double 4” woodgrain, but it is also available in a double 5” woodgrain, double 4” woodgrain dutchlap, double 5” woodgrain dutchlap, a triple 3” brushed, a single 6.5” brushed, and single 8” woodgrain panels. They are all a .042” panel and 12’ 6” long.

The reason that we won’t hit on the vinyl soffit from CertainTeed to pair up with the LP and James Hardie lines is that it isn’t very commonly used (in our experience). Most homeowners that choose to go with vinyl siding opt for aluminum soffit and facia, which isn’t a necessary topic to get into for the purpose of comparison.

Lots of Products, What are the Differences that Actually Matter?

Differences in products and the benefits to them vary by each situation. Right off the bat when comparing standard lap products, vinyl is going to be the cheapest option, with LP coming in at roughly double, and Hardie throwing a bit more on top of the LP price. However, when it comes to siding what costs the most doesn’t always necessarily mean a better product.

For instance, LP offers a 50 year limited warranty on lap siding while Hardie offers a 30 year limited warranty on their lap siding. In turn to that, Certainteed offers a lifetime warranty on their Mainstreet line with 100% coverage as long as you own the home, and a 50 year transferable pro-rated warranty from the date of install should you sell your house. Compared to vinyl and Hardie, LP is going to be the most impact resistant and least likely to crack, but Hardie is going to be the only non-combustible option, although Mainstreet carries a Class 1A fire rating. While Hardie is the only non-combustible option, it also has a lower wind rating than LP and Mainstreet, Hardie coming in around the 160mph mark while Mainstreet and LP are both around the 200mph area.

Starting to see why the benefits to each product only benefit certain situations? And we will be honest, there are a fair amount of benefits to LP and vinyl when it comes to install. LP is, well, wood. It can be cut with standard woodworking tools, while Hardie requires specialized blades and ideally dust collection systems, and vinyl is easiest of all, being able to be cut with snips/shears. HardiePlank only comes in 12’ lengths, vinyl is only a few inches better at 12’6”, while LP comes up to 16’, meaning less material to install pushing labor costs down (and less seams on your home). The biggest benefit? Handling. LP and vinyl can be carried and installed by a single person due to the lighter weight, and while it can be done with Hardie, it is much more difficult and far more likely to break when trying to install alone.

Ultimately, this is just a mile high overview of the main types of siding installed today. We’ll have future articles that go much more in depth into each product line, so make sure to check back for those!