I’m starting this Thursday off with a little #TBT!
When we bought our house back in May 2013, it looked like this.
Yikes! To say that our siding needed a little help would be the understatement of the century. That stuff was terrible! Paint would fall off if you just looked at it. It was so hard to decide on a color scheme for the exterior, especially one that fit the historic character of the house. I wish I had known about LP SmartSide and their really useful visualizer tool then! This tool allows you to upload a photo of your house and “try on” different siding options.
For the record, our house looks a little better now…
While we were pretty set on sticking with the original wood siding, as painful expensive as that choice was, the garage is a different story! Right now, our garage, which was originally a carriage house, is used only for storage. The doors aren’t mechanical, making parking basically impossible.
We have some big plans for making this a usable, efficient space. We originally thought we would try to keep the structure, but lately have been talking about starting over from scratch. We want at least 3 bays, and maybe even 2 stories. We want space for cars, as well as a studio space…go big or go home, right? And that’s where LP SmartSide comes in!
LP SmartSide offers treated engineered wood siding that looks like traditional wood, but has the high performance and durability of engineered wood. This siding is basically zero maintenance, which sounds pretty awesome knowing that we will have to paint our “real wood” house every few years. And one of my favorite things about LP SmartSide: it’s made right here in America!
Because we know that our house will require so much maintenance going forward, it’s nice to think that we could build a garage that can sustain itself. LP SmartSide siding is engineered to perform beautifully in extreme climates and resist damage from impacts. They’ve even tested it against termite colonies in Hawaii!
And if that wasn’t easy enough, LP SmartSide also has an assortment of prefinished colors, meaning we wouldn’t have to paint. That fact alone is worth checking it out. Seriously. I hate painting. Plus the colors offered fit in really well with the historic colors we’ve chosen for the house.
Here are a few garages that have used LP SmartSide:
If you’re interested in saving yourself a lot of money and labor down the road, you can learn more about these products here. There truly is something for every style of house!
What material is your house? If you were building a new house, would you be interested in using LP SmartSide siding?
This is a sponsored post in conjunction with LP SmartSide and Blog Meets Brand. As always, all photos, content, and opinions are my own.
We did vinyl siding many years ago and we are still very happy with it. At our age (64 & 66) we are too old and it is too expensive to keep re-painting so we will stick with the siding. Good luck.
I LOVE your house, and while keeping the original wood was an expensive choice, it looks amazing – so pretty and the color is perfect! Historic houses are a lot to keep up, but add such character and charm to any town. Happy Sunday, Sarah!
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Wow, your house looks amazing! The insight that you gave on the siding that you used was also very helpful. Specifically, you talk about how this brand of siding has been tested to resist extreme climates and damage. I definitely think it’s important to make sure that the materials you’re using on your home are good quality, and this siding seems to be hitting the mark! As I am also remodeling my home, I will definitely consider this brand for my exterior replacement. Thank you so much for sharing!
Sarah, wow, that sure is a huge makeover that you did on your home. The siding itself looks amazing and much better because it’s actually straighter. Oh, this sure would be a great idea to do on the siding of my home. My idea is to put in new vinyl siding around the porch area of my home.
That is a really cool transformation of your house. I like that you stuck with the wood siding. I think that looks really good on a house. I’m thinking that we’re going to put some wood siding on our house. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Those homes are all beautiful. I like the dark grey color in the first picture that talks about the garages. That is the style of home I really want to have someday!
I like the idea of having siding that looks like traditional wood but with better durability, as you mentioned. We are looking at siding options for our home. We think it’s time for change. I liked some of the options you showed. It gave me some good ideas for our own. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, your siding turned out looking amazing! It really shows that you put a lot of time and effort into restoring it. How long did it take you to do this? My siding doesn’t look too good either, and I’d love to make it look like yours.
That is really cool that they have a tool that allows you to “try on” different types of siding. My husband and I really want to fix up the outside of our house. We’ll definitely have to try that tool to see what would look best.
Thanks for mentioning the treated engineered wood option. I haven’t heard of that before, but am definitely liking the idea of having zero maintenance siding. The pictures you posted really do make it look like it’s real wood! I know my husband would love to have real wood siding, but hopefully this option will be a good compromise for us.
I agree with you that it’s a great idea to build a garage that can sustain itself! I would love to improve my home and do that with my garage. I’m going to look into the LP SmartSide siding. Is it very hard to install?
It is amazing what adding a little color and fixing up some broken things can do to a home. These pictures give me hope for my home remodeling efforts. I bought an older fixer upper a couple months ago and have big plans for it.
Home repairs are certainly important. Having professionals attend to such concerns assures you proper fix and good quality repairs.
I love that you and your husband bought a fixer-upper! The charm of your house is so great, especially because you took the time to renovate it yourself. I love how the vinyl siding turned out as well, and am glad to read that they will last well during harsh winters!
Oh wow, what a cool siding that was installed for the home. It surprises me how it changed the entire look of the house and that zero maintenance would be done to it. That’s something that got me looking at my house and feeling that my house would need a new siding.
It makes sense that aluminum or vinyl siding would be a good way to increase the value of our home and make it more attractive to potential buyers. That’s actually one of the biggest reasons that I’m actually considering having some installed around my home this summer.
The best thing I can think is hire some professionals who deals with this. And your lucky we are those professionals. So check us out If you need some help!
I love this smart slide application that you say you can upload of your home in this article. It would really be a great solution to any questions on look and color of your home. I will have to suggest it to my neighbor who is redoing their siding. Thanks for the tip.
It’s incredible what new siding can do to the curb appeal of a house. Thank you for sharing your personal siding experience. It’s amazing that this kind of siding is engineered to stand up to harsh climates and resist damage from impacts. I’m going to try and convince my husband to replace the siding on our house!
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Wow, such a great makeover!
Yay, the perfect house!
I have been thinking about getting a new siding put on my house. It is good to know that it would be smart for me to find a type that will work well with the climate my house is in. That does seem like it would help prevent me from having to replace it.
I like that you introduced us to the idea of having engineered wood as siding. My wife and I have been considering ideal wood to replace our siding. It would be nice if a roofing expert could help us look for engineered wood for our house.
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This is a great informative post comparing traditional wood siding with LP SmartSide! The breakdown of pros and cons for each option is helpful for homeowners considering new siding. For someone like me who lives in a climate with hot summers and cold winters, durability is a major concern.
The fact that LP SmartSide is resistant to warping and cracking in extreme temperatures sounds very appealing. In the post, you mentioned certain aesthetic factors to consider with LP SmartSide. Were there any particular styles or colors you found worked well with this material? I’d love to hear more about your design choices!