Vinyl siding installation offers a versatile, durable, and cost-effective way to protect and enhance your home. Compared to wood, it’s lightweight, resistant to corrosion, and holds up against physical damage. However, while resilient, vinyl siding can still sustain wear over time and may require maintenance, repairs, or even a full replacement to keep your home looking its best.
Quality siding installation ensures durability and lasting protection with minimal upkeep.
Detecting Damage to Your Home’s Siding and How To Prevent It
Your home will look wonderful with its newly installed siding. The fresh color and refreshed and renewed look it brings will be something you’ll cherish for years. However, to make this last, you need to know how to detect signs of siding damage early so you can address the underlying causes immediately.
● Poor Installation – It all starts with how the siding was installed, so it’s critical to ensure that vinyl siding professionals install yours. These experts will know to avoid pitfalls like nailing the siding too tightly or at an angle that causes the individual pieces to overlap incorrectly. Siding installed correctly should have about half an inch of movement available. This lack of mobility can cause nails to pop and bulges to form in your siding.
● Shifting Buildings – Due to several factors, homes of all ages can shift over time or with the changing seasons. Excess rains can soften the ground, allowing the foundation to shift even in older buildings, and new construction may need time to “settle” into place. This shifting can cause minor damage to your exterior siding, such as bulging and buckling.
While you may only notice cracked siding at first, it can quickly grow into significant damage to your exterior siding and even impact your home’s structural integrity.
● Mildews and Molds – Depending on your environment, you may experience the formation of various molds and mildew on the surface of your vinyl. With enough time, this mold can begin to cause damage to your home and siding. Thankfully, this problem is simple to solve. You can hire power-washing service professionals to clean your vinyl siding.
● Insect Damage – While termites do not eat vinyl, their powerful jaws can burrow through it. This pest damage allows them to find their way into your home without leaving visible signs, as they often dig their way into the siding from the ground, where they can cause significant damage. You can check for termite damage by taking a screwdriver and pressing the tip against the siding.
If it easily passes through, it’s time to have a specialist out to check for infestation and prevent further pest damage.
● Heat Damage – While vinyl siding is particularly resistant to environmental temperatures, it can be damaged by heat sources placed too close to it. Grills are one of the most common heat sources leading to siding damage. These outdoor cooking devices generate enough heat to risk significant damage to your siding, whether electric or charcoal if placed too close. While minor damage can result if caught quickly, it will often go unnoticed until it’s time to put the grill away at the end of the grilling season.
Another rare but potential cause of heat damage is UV rays reflecting off high-efficiency windows. The conditions to allow this to happen mean it’s an uncommon risk, but it can explain heat damage not explainable from other sources.
● Storm Damage – Any of the above issues can lead to your home’s siding becoming vulnerable to storm damage. If you live in an area prone to violent storms, you need to be on the watch for water-damaged siding and hail damage to your siding panels. Storm damage can also cause loose siding, making your home vulnerable to structural damage, pest damage, and other risks.
When you detect any of these signs of damage, you must take steps to prevent them from worsening. Your first step should always be to call in a team of vinyl siding professionals to assess the damage and provide guidance on how to address it.
Reach Out to Your Professional Siding Installation Specialists to Avoid Costly Repairs Today
Regardless of the underlying issue, it’s always a good idea to involve a vinyl siding expert in helping you make decisions regarding maintenance. Their vast experience will ensure you’re correctly identifying the risks to your investment and that nothing else is missed. If you’ve been detecting damage to your home’s siding, contact a home improvement expert today!
Trust the Best in the Industry for Siding, Roofing Services and More!
Level Up Improvement in Dearborn is a preferred siding installation and repair company that you can count on for your Metro Detroit home. Hard work and dedication for the last two decades has earned us a trustworthy reputation when it comes to living comfortably in an efficient home. Our siding and roof installation services cover all the bases when it comes to high quality work so that you know you are investing in your home for the long-term. If you have questions or concerns about your home and you want to live comfortably, visit us on line and let is know how we can help!