Aluminum Siding vs. Vinyl Siding

Vinyl Siding

Vinyl siding is arguably the single most popular siding used in the house building and home repair industry  in the United States today.  This is due to the following reasons:

1. Costs

Vinyl siding is comparatively cheaper than aluminum siding when it comes to price per square foot. However, high-end vinyl siding companies may charge higher for many of their top-end products.

2. Insulation

Irrespective of the metal siding material you use( Aluminum or steel), it may not prove to be as great an insulator as vinyl siding.

3. Energy efficiency

Since vinyl siding is a better insulator, it traps ambient heat inside the home thus leading to lower energy bills in the long run.

4. Thickness

Vinyl is proportionately thicker than aluminum and offers better protection from the environment

5. Durability

If you were to be in the market to buy vinyl siding, you would find out that it is on average, way more durable than its aluminum counter parts.

6. Vinyl siding paint colors

Another advantage of Vinyl siding is that it is more resistant to erosion and both fading and scratching because unlike steel and aluminum siding the color is not merely sprayed on the surface, but  seeps though all the way into the siding itself. Thanks to this property, vinyl siding never requires a fresh coat of paint, and even if one is forced on it, it will simply run at the edges since vinyl siding is not designed to hold color per se.

 

Aluminum Siding

However, it is not time to out rightly discount aluminum siding just yet. Vinyl siding, due to its myriad advantages has been ruling the roost for the past few decades, but now, slowly but surely, aluminum siding is making a comeback.  Originally Aluminum siding was introduced way back in the 1930s as an alternative to  wood siding due in part, to its low maintenance costs as well as durability. Moreover, wood has a tendency to rot, especially so in humid climates.

1. Better technology

Thanks to improvements in technology, the aluminum siding offered today is almost completely different from the type available in the days of our grandparents.  Better paint means it would not fade as easily and it’s chalking too, also holds considerably longer.

2. Premium grades

The top-end aluminum siding products have excellent paint that is extremely tough and created to withstand the rigors of a harsh external environment for decades

3. Heat resistant

If you have aluminum siding installed in your home, the odds are your air conditioning bills would be somewhat lower than your neighbors’ due to the fact that it is more resistant to heat than many of its other counterparts.

4. Paint

Though today’s crop of Aluminum siding installed in most homes is almost totally bump and dent proof, should you wish to paint it, once all the chalk has been removed and the surface area has been thoroughly prepared, any number of aluminum siding paint colors can be used to create a truly unique visage.