While the exterior of shipping containers can look great and stand against the weather on its own, you might want to add more of a design distinction with siding. There are several types of siding you can put onto the exterior a shipping container house. Some are better than others. Let’s look at the top 5 types of siding to consider.
The top five type of siding for the exterior of shipping container homes are wood, vinyl, composite fiber cement, metal, and composite wood decking.
Some siding materials are better than others. Some are less expensive than others. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each to get a better idea which one you would want to install on your shipping container
COMPARISON OF BUILDING SIDING
(All estimated costs are in US Dollars. Verify costs in your local market)
| Siding Types | Cost per sq ft | Durability | Eco-friendly |
| 1. WOOD | $7 to $14 | OK | Yes |
| 2. VINYL | $2 to $7 | Not Good | No |
| 3. FIBER CEMENT | $10 | Very Good | Yes |
| 4. METAL | $10 and up | Good | Yes |
| 5. COMPOSITE WOOD | $10 to $15 | Good | Yes |
1. Wood Siding
If you want the real feel of natural siding, use wood. There is something about real wood that makes a home feel welcoming, warm, and genuine. Nothing is fake about it.
The best type of wood to use are western red cedar and redwood, because of their durability.
If you are going to stain or paint the wood siding, consider using a lighter stain or color. Dark colors will absorb the heat of the sun. When the siding gets hot, it expands and sometimes will split.
Cost of Wood Siding
Clap-board siding is the type that runs long-ways, usually horizontally. It costs around $5.00 to $9.00 per square foot.
Shingles used as siding is a little more expensive than clap-board. It costs around $7.00 to $14.00 per square foot.
These costs do not include the cost of the blocking, sheathing, or water proofing you might need to install before the siding is installed.
The Advantages of Wood Siding
Real wood is customizable. It can be cut in a lot of different shapes and sizes. The siding can be straight and long boards that lap over each other. Or, you can install them like shingles. The shingle-like siding come in as many shapes and sizes that your imagination will take you.
Let the grain show and be a major rustic feature on your wood siding. This can really be an attractive type of siding, whether it is stained or painted, on buildings that want to complement the rustic outdoors. Country homes would be a great place to use the more natural and rustic type of wood siding.
Wood siding is Eco-Friendly. Because wood is a renewable resource, the availability of the wood for siding is plentiful. Cedar is not only a good choice because of its durability, it grow quicker than some other species of wood. This makes it an attractive sustainable resource.
The wood is biodegradable. If the wood siding is discarded and ends up at a landfill, it will decay into to a substance much like compost.
The wood siding can be produced energy efficiently. Wood siding requires a lot less energy to fabricate than other petroleum-based type of siding materials.
Wood siding can be easily painted or stained throughout the years while other type of siding cannot.
Some Disadvantages of Wood Siding
One main disadvantage of wood siding is that it requires more maintenance than other types of siding. This can be done by yourself. Or, you might want to hire a contractor to periodically touch up the wood siding.
Every two to seven years, you will need to repaint or re-stain the wood siding. Whatever you use to finish your wood siding will determine how often it will need to be re-applied.
Inspect your wood siding every year. If you catch any areas where the finish is pealing or cracking early, it can save you a lot of time and money in the future. Also look for mold and mildew forming onto the siding. Just touch up those areas so your siding will remain resistant to the elements.
If let unattended for too long, the wood can rot and split. You might need to remove large patches of the siding and replace them. Or, worse yet, replace the entire cladding all around your house. This could be very costly and preventative with a routine maintenance plan.
Another disadvantage of using wood siding and that pests love wood. Termites and wood boring bees are some of the most common invasive insects that can cause a lot of damage.
Squirrels like to gnaw on the wood and can get into small holes that are only 1-1/2” in diameter. Be sure to fill those holes as soon as you see them before they invite their entire scurry friends.
But, before you fill those holes, make sure that those dastardly varmints are not already living in the voids of the sidings. If you close off the holes with them inside, you will be creating a bigger problem. Call professional to help you rid of the insects or animals if you suspect they have already made your home theirs.
2. Vinyl Siding
If you want to go the inexpensive route, then vinyl siding might be the right type of siding to choose. It cost around $2.00 to $7.00 per square foot which is a price mush cheaper than most other types of siding on the market.
The Advantages of Using Vinyl Siding
Compared to other types of siding, vinyl siding is one of the most inexpensive types available. It usually costs around $2.00 to $7.00 per square foot.
Vinyl siding is easy to obtain. It can be purchased in any major construction supply stores. This, along with it being inexpensive, makes vinyl siding a very popular choice of siding that home owners choose.
Installing vinyl siding is quick and relatively easy to install.
In an ideal climate and with proper installation, high quality vinyl siding could last 20 to 30 years.
The maintenance of vinyl siding is simple too. It does not require repainting or re-staining like wood siding does. Its smooth slick surface prevents cobwebs, dirt, or dust to stay on it when washed down with a simple spray nozzle on a garden hose.
The colors are baked in the vinyl siding, not painted on the surface. The color is all the way through the entire mass of the vinyl siding. It cannot be scratched off or stripped. So, there is no need to scrape, patch, prime and paint it because the paint does not peel off like it does on wooden siding.
If painting your house is not something you ever want to do, then vinyl siding could be the perfect siding for you.
Some Disadvantages of Vinyl Siding
If you get tired of the color on your siding, you are stuck with it because vinyl siding should not be painted.
Generally, vinyl siding is viewed by home buyers as being “cheap” and it can lower the resale value of your home. Vinyl siding often appears flat on the wall and looks 2 dimensional. Potential home buyers usually don’t think this is very attractive.
Although installing vinyl siding is considered to be easier than other types of siding, there are installation techniques that are still required in order to have a long lasting end product.
For example, if the siding is nailed to close to the section of vinyl siding, there could be problems when the siding is trying to expand and contract during temperature changes. The result could be cracked, bulging, or warped siding.
Not all contractors are trained to install vinyl siding correctly. The industry lack monitoring systems that regulate the quality of contractor’s competence.
If you hire a contractor that does not install the vinyl siding properly by following the manufacture’s guideline, you could lose your warranty. And, you might have to replace the siding with a contractor that knows their trade.
Dark siding tends to absorb the heat from the sun. The heat can cause the color in the siding to fade.
When the sun deteriorates the vinyl, the siding can become brittle and crack. This reduces the years the siding is expected to last – sometimes cuts the years in half. Instead of lasting 20 to 30 years, the siding may need to be replaced after around 15 years.
If the vinyl siding is power washed, water can pass through cracks and joints of the vinyl siding and damage the substrate behind the siding.
Be careful when mowing the yard near the vinyl siding. It is not uncommon for twigs, pebbles, or other lawn debris to be sent from the mower airborne into the siding causing chips and cracks.
The manufacturing of vinyl siding is not environmentally conscience. The vinyl siding is composed primarily of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). During the manufacturing process, several toxic chemicals are also produced that can be harmful to the atmosphere. It produces greenhouse gases that contribute to acid rain and smog.
The greenhouse gases that it creates consists of various bi-products such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carcinogens like dioxin that can affect human reproduction, development, and our immune system.
Studies are inconclusive whether or not vinyl siding on buildings off-gases these same bad chemicals to a harmful amount. But, it is known that if your house catches fire, the vinyl siding will off-gas high levels of these very harmful and toxic chemicals in the air that can be lethal to people inside and outside of the house.
Because vinyl siding has PVC, most recycling centers will not accept this. PVC is very expensive to recycle into other plastic products, like soft drink bottles, and is usually not cost-effective to do so. So, the discarded vinyl siding often ends up in landfill and incinerated to create the biggest source of dioxin air pollution in United States.
3. Composite or Fiber Cement
This type of siding is becoming very popular because it is economical, durable, and very versatile.
The Advantages of Using Composite or Fiber Cement Siding
Siding made by James Hardie costs around $10 per square foot which makes this type of siding very cost effective.
The image above is from the Hardie Board product. Check out the James Hardie website to see some cool siding ideas at this link http://James Hardie
Composite siding requires minimal maintenance. Similar to vinyl siding, the color is in the product and not on the surface.
There is no need to paint or stain the siding.
This type of siding come in a wide range of colors and textures that resembles all sorts of different type of siding (clap-board, shingles, shakes, etc.). This offers the home owner to clad their home with a large selection of styles.
Composite siding is engineered to not warp and to keep the water away from the substrate of the building. The product is rot and pest resistant. Even the salty air seems to not damage this type of siding. These are some of the longevity factors that helps make this type of siding one of the most durable types of siding available.
Speaking of durability, the companies that manufacture composite or Fiber Cement siding, like James Hardie, offer a 50-year, limited transferable warranty for many of their products. The color finishes often will have a 15 year warranty.
Composite or fiber cement siding are effective on beach front homes and is very storm resistant.
The fiber cement boards are designed to be fire resistant (check the specification of the ones you are considering to confirm). This is because the siding consists of mainly sand and cement products that are non-flammable.
Some Disadvantages of Composite or Fiber Cement Siding
There are not many disadvantages of using composite or fiber cement siding. But, there are two that stand out: the weight and the maintenance
The weight of this type of siding is considerably heavier than other types of siding. So, it will require more equipment to move it around the job site and to install this type of siding than others. This will add to the installation (equipment and labor) costs.
Fiber cement siding weighs around 3 pounds per square foot. Compare that to 0.7 pounds per square foot that vinyl siding weighs.
Fiber cement siding needs to be maintained. Some say it will need to be re-painted after a while even though the color is already baked in the product and the manufacturers offers a 15 year limited warranty on its color finishes.
4. Metal
Ok, I know what you might be thinking. “Why would anyone add a metal siding on a shipping container that is already metal?”
Well, maybe you like the industrial look or the visual qualities of metal but don’t want to see just the vertical corrugation of the shipping container.
Here are some quick tips of what to consider if you are considering metal siding for your shipping container home
What Metal Siding to Avoid
Thin aluminum siding that looks like wood clapboard is one product that you should stay away from. There are so many other materials that look so much better and will give you more durability than aluminum.
Aluminum siding once was marketable. But, now it is out of date and has no major advantages.
It is difficult to clean, it dents, the color can fades, and it is expensive to replace.
Some Metal Siding that Would Look Cool on your Home
Although the metal siding in the images above are expensive types of siding that should only be considered if your construction budget can afford it, there are some very attractive wall panel patterns available made in a sorts of metals.
The cost of aluminum siding from a company like Atas costs around $10 per square foot and more depending on the type of metal you choose your metal siding to be.
Siding doesn’t come only in aluminum, but you can get copper panels that will turn a patina green color after a while. If you use copper, be sure that you protect the copper from making contact with other less noble metals, like aluminum. Otherwise, you will have a lot corrosion problems.
The photos above are from the Atas company’s website. You can see more at their website by going to this link. www.atas.com.
5. Composite Wood
Another material that some shipping container home builders have experimented with is composite wood products. These are products that are usually used to clad outdoor decks.
One manufacturer of this type of product is Trex. The image above to the left are some of the Tex products.
You can see more of their selections at this link https://www.trex.com/
The image above to the right looks like wooded shingles. But, they are really a man-made composite material.
The Advantages of Using Composite Wood Siding
Composite wood products are very durable.
Some say that composite wood is energy conscience. This would depend on how it is manufactured and if there is proper insulation added behind the siding construction system.
Some Disadvantages of Composite Wood Siding
This product is more expensive than other options. It cost between $10.00 to $15.00 per square foot to buy the product and to install it.
The colors are not as attractive as other types of siding. And the colors can fade when expose to the UV’s of the sun.
Composite wood panels are heavier than other types of siding. This could add to the installation costs.
Consider This Before You Install Any Siding on Your Shipping Container Home
Shipping containers were manufactured to be water-tight and withstand the punishing salty seas. But, some have been damaged by rust, mold, pests and/or crippling dents.
Be sure to fix any defects on the shipping container walls before cladding it with any siding.
