How Long Does Wood Siding Last?

Wood siding is iconic, but how long does wood siding last?

The benefit of wood paneling for your home’s exterior is that it is beautiful, durable, natural alternative.

However, wood siding notoriously takes hard work, time, and maintenance to keep healthy and lasting.

It’s a classic American siding material, but how does it fair under the test of time?

How Long Should Wood Siding Last?

Wood siding should last 20 to 40 years, and possibly longer with meticulous maintenance. -Estes Builders

Variables that influence the longevity of wood siding are the type of wood in question, the maintenance of the paint, finish, and other sealants, water exposure, and siding style (wood siding with “fancier” or non-flat shapes won’t last as long as traditional wood panels).

Tips for Wood Siding Maintenance

Wood must be properly finished with a paint, stain, or clear sealer. Left unprotected, it’s susceptible to rot and decay caused by moisture. -houselogic

Here are some steps to follow to ensure that your wood siding will look healthy and will last:

Protect your wood siding from moisture and rot with paint, stain, or clear sealants. This top coat is important to help protect the panels from moisture, rotting, and other weather damage.
Try not let wood paneling have direct contact with the ground. This will help combat potential rotting and other fungal growth.
Clean your home’s siding regularly. Don’t pressure wash wood paneling to avoid any paint chips or other damages to the material. Hose down the siding before and after cleaning, and use a simple solution of water and soap or detergent to clean wood siding.
Reseal/repaing your wood siding about every 2-5 years. This will help protect against moisture and other water damage. Taking the time to repaint and reseal your wood siding is essential to making them last and look good.
Replace damaged panels immediately. For warping, cracks, and other major damages don’t wait to replace those panels. Leaving sections of damaged panels on your home can lead to other damages, not only to your siding but to other components of your home’s exterior and structure.

When to Consider Replacing Wood Siding

If your wood siding is visibly damaged, warped, or cracked, it’s time for some repairs or replacement.

If your coats of paint are peeling from your wood siding, this could be an indicator of sustained flaws within the paneling, such as absorbed moisture or a gap in the primer. Often peeled paint problems can be solved by scraping or chemically stripping off the old coats of paint, re-priming the panels, then applying the top coats and sealants.

However, peeling paint can be the result of more severe weathering and flaws in the wood itself that require replacement. Peeling coats of paint can sometimes pull up bits of wood with it, causing physical damages to the panels themselves.

Paint coatings applied in the past, though adhered adequately during the initial paint application, will, over time, continue to let go…In our opinion the best way to resolve the failure at the substrate interface level [between the paint and surface of the wood] is full replacement of wood siding in all areas where extreme delamination of paint has occurred. -Remedial Painting and Restoration

We hope this helps answer your question, “how long does wood siding last?”

Be sure to keep your wood siding in good condition, apply paint and sealants to protect your panels, and don’t hesitate to fix visible issues and replace wood panels when necessary.