Repair or replace your siding?

Walk round the house first

Look at every wall from the ground, in low sun if you can, when shadows show waves and gaps. Note cracked or missing panels, courses that have slipped out of their locks, gaps at corners and trim, faded or chalky faces, and stains or bulges below windows.

Press gently on the siding near sills and the bottom courses. If the wall behind feels soft or moves, water may have reached the sheathing.

When a repair makes sense

A repair is a smaller job, but it is still worth getting the cause fixed: a missing piece of flashing, a downspout emptying against the wall, panels nailed too tight.

• The damage is on one wall or a few panels
• The house wrap behind the damage is intact, or only torn locally
• Rot is limited to one sill, corner or trim board
• A matching panel can be found, or taken from a hidden wall
• The rest of the siding is still flexible, flat and sound

When replacement is the better job

Replacement also lets the contractor renew the wrap and flashing everywhere, which repairs cannot do.

• Siding is brittle, cracked or warped on several walls
• Color has faded so much that any repair will stand out
• Wind has torn panels off more than once
• Mildew, soft sheathing or stains turn up in several places
• The profile or color is no longer made
• You are adding on and want the whole house to match

What may be underneath

Nobody can promise what a wall looks like behind its siding until some comes off. Older houses may have an earlier layer of siding or original wood beneath the current one. A good written quote says how hidden rot will be handled and priced, so there are no arguments later.

Virginia's contractor regulations require any change to the cost, materials, work or completion date to be in writing and signed by both parties.

Sources: 18VAC50-22-260 (prohibited acts and residential contracts).

The middle option: one whole wall

When the damage is on one side of the house and no match exists, re-siding that whole elevation can look tidier than a patch. Corners make natural breaks between old and new.

Either way, the contractor takes the call

You do not need to decide before calling. Describe what you see; the independent contractor you reach takes repair jobs as well as replacements and can tell you which this one is.