At Moutray Exteriors, Inc, a Rochester home improvement and siding company, owner Steve Moutray has a career-long treasure trove of siding knowledge and advice. When considering the kinds of siding choices that are most and least appropriate to Rochester-area homes, Moutray can break the information down in an easy-to-understand way that leaves homeowners in the know.
“You have vinyl, plank, and James Hardie—that’s a fiber cement board.” Which begs the question: What’s a fiber cement board? According to Moutray, “Fiber cement board means a clapboard type of siding made out of composite and cement board or masonry board. It’s good for houses that are packed really tight together,” says Moutray. Fiber cement board is therefore good for lakefront vacation homes that crowd the spaces right on the edge of the lake—the best spots! The reason it’s suited to densely packed houses is that the fiber cement board is much more fire resistant—it would be difficult for a fire to spread among houses sided with fiber cement board.
But most people opt for vinyl siding, says Moutray. “It’s the most inexpensive product you can put on your house now.” You can even get a great look with vinyl, says Moutray. It comes in many different styles, such as cedar-looking shingles. The vinyl cedar-imitation is getting so popular that, as Moutray explains, “homeowners are taking off their cedar siding because it’s so hard and costly to maintain, and they’re replacing it with the vinyl cedar shingles.”
What’s most suited to the cold winter climate of Rochester, however, is what’s called the prodigy panel. It is especially appropriate for Rochester not only because it is an excellent guard against the cold, but because so many of Rochester’s old homes were built at a time of poor insulation—or no insulation at all besides the horsehair plaster. To outfit your home with prodigy siding, Moutray’s Rochester home improvement specialists first put up a 3/4-inch foam board, and then lay the prodigy siding on top of that. “This increases the R-factor,” says Moutray. And what, you may be thinking, is that? Let Moutray explain: “R-factor means heat retention—the way to measure the effectiveness of insulation. The higher the R-value, the less heat leaves your home.” Given the average Rochester winter, homeowners in the area would be wise to outfit their houses with extra protection against the elements-and prodigy paneling is a great way to do so!