The siding business is a constantly evolving industry. Every year manufacturers introduce the latest advances in construction technology that improve performance and, in many instances, reduce costs as well. The complete list of new siding materials and other related products is extensive, to say the least, but the products mentioned below represent the most useful items to hit the market in recent years.

 1. Moisture-resistant Composites

Moisture is the arguably the number one cause of damage to the exterior of a home. Depending on a contractor’s level of expertise, the most experienced home renovators agree that water is the obvious culprit when dealing with buckled, crackled old vinyl siding. A large swath of siding products on the market today promises moisture-resistance, which is supposed to protect homes for decades in the future.

Moisture-resistant composite sidings offer homeowners a new way to guard against the repeated abuse of a wet climate. The best moisture-resistant siding products on the market contain a blend of stone-based materials with no wood fibers at all since wood naturally absorbs water, which accumulates rot or mold over time.

2. Pest-resistant Wood Composite Siding

Wood composite siding offers homeowners the opportunity to choose a siding that most closely resembles genuine wood shake, shingles, and exterior cladding. The best aspect of wood composite sidings is the range of benefits homeowners receive compared to real wood siding, which is expensive to routinely maintain.

The manufacturing process of wood composites allows for the inclusion of anti-fungal and pest-resistant barriers that are actually embedded in the composite. The old method of protecting exterior siding from deterioration involved applying a protective layer in order to achieve pest-resistance.

 3. Anti-winter Siding

Homeowners who reside in the coldest climates in the U.S. face unique exterior maintenance challenges. Surely, weather-resistant products are nothing new to the siding industry, but today, consumers can opt for special anti-winter weather sidings.

These innovative products are in fact similar to moisture-resistant composite sidings. Anti-winter sidings diverge from the usual lot of moisture-resistant sidings by boosting paint adhesion in order to give a home’s protective barriers extra longevity. Typically, any moisture-resistant siding cannot be painted well, as inclement weather exposes the protective layer to near-constant snow and ice damage.

4. Siding Designed for Humid, Wet Climates

Along the lines of anti-winter sidings, several of the newest siding products available today have been specifically engineered to withstand humid, wet environments. These siding products are absolutely indispensable for homeowners who reside in the southern states, particularly states prone to hurricane damage.

Once again, moisture damage rears its ugly head, accelerating the degradation of a siding material. However, manufacturers have designed these lines of products to compensate for exposure to high temperatures. Opting for these types of products makes no sense for homeowners who live in New England, for instance, but homeowners in Florida who must content with the likelihood of tropical storms should strongly consider these new products.

5. Stone Composite Siding

Combining different stone materials into an ultra-strong siding product seems like a self-explanatory concept, but until recently, no manufacturer could make the fabrication process work well. New stone composite materials combine the crisp aesthetic appeal of masonry with the lightweight properties of volcanic rock such as pumice.

A few stone composite siding products utilize other unique quarried stone fused with a proprietary combination of different porcelains. These products can even include sedimentary rock such as limestone, which has been used in Europe for centuries, as a matter of fact.

 6. Lower Maintenance Wood Siding

The all-natural, rustic aesthetic of genuine wood siding is undoubtedly this siding material’s biggest market appeal. The sheer cost of regular maintenance, however, turns off homeowners who would rather opt for an economical siding solution. In order to counter this drawback, a handful of manufacturers have designed wood siding that cuts down on the costs of upkeep by applying sealers and coatings in a factory.

7. Stone-like Vinyl Siding

Stone sidings are by far the most expensive sidings on the market, and homeowners searching for a stone-like alternative siding have had few choices at their disposal. However, innovative stone-like vinyl siding is now available, and it gives homeowners the chance to fuse the affordability of traditional vinyl siding with the stunning appearance of brick or limestone masonry.

These sidings are molded from real stone, which makes the material have an authentic stone appearance and adding curb appeal to a home’s renovated exterior. The best aspect of stone-like vinyl siding is that the material is as easily cut and installed as vinyl, requiring no masonry expertise to install.

8. Customized Stone Siding

Another new option on the market is custom stone siding. Homeowners who do not wish to opt for faux stone products can now choose a less expensive stone siding comprised of actual stone. Traditional stone siding only comes in pure quarried rock, but customized stone siding products include a blend of different types of rock that can be molded into virtually any shape desired.

This versatility allows homeowners to coordinate the aesthetic of the entire exterior of a home. For example, homeowners can now match their mailboxes to their home’s siding. Previously, the cost of stone prohibited this coordination for homeowners looking for the least expensive exterior stone product.

9. Eco-friendly Shake Siding

Shake siding is one of the more difficult sidings to choose. The difficulty behind this lies in the sheer range of options available to homeowners. Until recently, environmentally conscious homeowners had no truly eco-friendly shake siding from which to choose.

Cedar shake siding is a notoriously brittle material that requires the most frequent maintenance of all genuine wood sidings. Also, shake siding is chemically treated the vast majority of the time, but new eco-friendly shake siding utilize high-density wood rather than the typical base wood.

10. Color-retentive Vinyl Siding

Despite its slew of drawbacks, vinyl siding remains the most widely deployed siding in America. The most noticeable drawback of vinyl siding is the material’s inevitable color degradation, but the newest vinyl sidings actually have color-retentive properties.

Typically, PVC composites by their very nature become chalky when exposed to decades of moisture from rain, snow, and ice. Color-retentive vinyl sidings utilize a proprietary formula to improve color retention over the entire lifespan of a siding, thus providing homeowners in search of an economical solution a larger range of options.

11. Fiberglass Siding

Fiberglass siding is arguably the most exciting siding product to hit the market in several decades. Never before have homeowners had such a strong, versatile siding material at their disposal. The best aspect of new fiberglass siding is the material’s undoubtedly superior strength.

Fiberglass siding has been engineered to withstand extreme temperatures as low as 30 below zero and as high as 350 degrees. The constituent ingredients of fiberglass include an integrated acrylic coating that shields the material from any moisture. Surprisingly, fiberglass siding is one third the weight of traditional fiber cement siding.

12. State-of-the-art Sealants

Any siding material must be properly installed in order to achieve maximum results. Poor craftsmanship can cost several thousands of dollars of repairs in order to compensate for problems such as improperly sealed cladding, so new sealant products are crucial to proper siding installation.

The newest sealant products on the market go beyond the basic properties of epoxy and, on a chemical level, more closely resemble plastic than adhesives. In fact, these state-of-the-art sealants are so versatile that they have applications far beyond exterior home renovation projects.

13. Eco-friendly Wood Protectant

Green, environmentally conscious home exterior materials are quickly flooding the market, giving homeowners the opportunity to reconsider their home improvement plans. A large number of eco-friendly wood protectant products such as soy-based wood stain coatings have filled this niche market with a range of items designed to last as well as protect the environment.

These products actually allow the coating to penetrate the pores of the wood as opposed to merely covering the surface of the product. This property allows soy-based wood stain to produce the same aesthetic as chemical-based wood stainers while shielding from moisture and ultraviolet light as well.

14. Solar-reflective Vinyl Coatings

The problem of exposure to ultraviolet light has proven difficult for siding manufacturers. Before the 21st century, the only acrylic coatings were only minimally effective, particularly for vinyl sidings, which fade more rapidly in hotter climates. Today, several vinyl siding products on the market now include solar-reflective properties, which give vinyl sidings an increased lifespan.

Polyurethane-based sidings now have improved to reduce or minimize any harmful vapors released into the atmosphere. Solar-reflective coatings can add several decades to the lifespan of vinyl siding while allowing manufacturers to mold the material to emulate popular wood sidings as well.

15. Self-priming Exterior Paint

Simply painting an old siding material can cover minor damages caused by exposure to inclement weather or poor installation. The old method of painting forced painters to use a primer first before applying the top coat of paint. Today, paint exclusively designed for siding projects allows painters to skip priming siding completely.

All-in-one, self-priming products provide a cost-effective way to paint the entire exterior of a home. Some old sidings simply will not hold the color of traditional acrylic latex-based paint, and in as little as a few years, homeowners may find themselves shopping for paint again. Self-priming paint gives homeowners the opportunity to circumvent this problem in an inexpensive way.

16. Vapor-Permeable Paint

Another new product designed exclusively for siding projects is vapor-permeable paint. The most impressive benefit of using vapor-permeable paint is this product’s superior ability to resist corrosion. A few years ago, the most advanced paint products available only provided minimal protection, and often, the level of protection was based more on the quality of primer used than the quality of paint.

17. Sprayed Foam Insulation

Properly insulating a home’s exterior is one of the most often overlooked aspects of proper siding installation. Regardless of the expense of the siding material, poor insulation will only allow the material to degrade over time. Sprayed foam insulation is one of the newest insulation materials available that compensates for inadequate insulation. The most impressive aspect of foam insulation is the product’s ability to completely cover the smallest crevices that could compromise the integrity of a home’s exterior, allowing moisture to slowly seep in over time.

18. Eco-friendly Foam Insulation

The theme of environmentally friendly siding products is quite prevalent in the 21st century. A growing number of homeowners are insisting on eco-friendly solutions for every home renovation project imaginable, including exterior home improvements. To fill this niche, several manufacturers now offer siding insulation that minimizes the vapors released into the air during the installation process. Surprisingly, these new products are even more effective insulators than the usual selection of new foam insulation. Some of these eco-friendly products actually cost less than their competition.

19. New Siding Installation Tools

Fiber cement board siding, despite its sheer versatility, is one of the most difficult sidings to install due to the material’s weight. The biggest health hazard of fiber cement is the tendency of the material to release inhalants into the air while cutting boards to size. For this reason, manufacturers continue to produce specialized tools to deal with this health issue. Everything from diamond-tipped saw blades to handheld shears now accommodates fiber cement. The key with tools used to cut fiber cement is their ability to capture the harmful inhalants before they reach the atmosphere.