Vinyl Siding: After 50 Years, Still America's Favorite Home Exterior!

While it may seem like vinyl siding has been around forever, it was actually developed in the late 1950s. Popularized during the ‘70s, vinyl siding has become the single most popular home exterior in North America. With over 62% of homes featuring vinyl, you can easily say vinyl siding is America's favorite home exterior! With a siding contractor in your local area, it's easy to upgrade to this great material to update your home and get easy maintenance at the same time.

Benefits of Vinyl Siding

Yesterday and today, vinyl siding shares many of the same advantages. It is low maintenance, won't dent or rot, and will never need to be painted. However, modern vinyl certainly isn't your mother's siding! Vastly stronger and more durable than the original vinyl siding products, today's vinyl also looks better. Improvement in coloration and composition mean that vinyl siding doesn't have the brittleness or fading issues of the past. And, with new texturing options and incorporated grain lines, vinyl siding looks more like wood than ever. Today's vinyl is even available as shakes in addition to planks, increasing its versatility and range.

Vinyl Siding Goes High-Tech

The latest improvement in vinyl siding is insulated vinyl siding. Combining the low-maintenance and attractive appearance of traditional vinyl siding with built-in insulation, insulated vinyl is a solid construction siding perfect for putting the finishing touch on your home. First introduced by Crane Plastics in 2001, insulated vinyl is now available from practically all leading siding manufacturers. Installing insulated vinyl siding gives you all the benefits of vinyl, plus a whole lot more: the added insulation reduces energy costs by increasing your home's R-factor up to 20%. This new vinyl siding decreases exterior noise and increases the impact resistance of your home. It even looks and feels more like wood siding because it has a similar rigidity and firmness, unlike the extremely flexible characteristics of traditional vinyl.

Although vinyl siding has been around for awhile, it certainly has not become a stale, stagnant product. Since the ‘50s, vinyl siding has become even more durable and attractive, providing superior looks and the same easy care. With recent developments in insulation technology, vinyl siding is poised to become the favorite exterior material for energy-conscious homeowners, further expanding its popularity. Low maintenance, attractive, and increasingly durable, it's no wonder that American homeowners are still choosing to have vinyl siding installed on their houses. Contact your local siding contractor to learn more about vinyl siding options for your home.

Matt Gallo is a home improvement hobbyist and the Internet marketing manager for Prospect Genius, a leader in online marketing.