How Does Warm Weather Affect Siding?
With warm days ahead, Minnesota residents are already starting to look ahead to road trips and long, sunny days on our many beautiful lakes. But as the mercury starts to rise, now is a perfect time to start planning for home maintenance that helps your home better handle the summer heat.
Replacing your windows with low-E solutions and updating your insulation are two important steps you can take to get your home ready for the sun’s powerful UV rays. But have you ever wondered how all of that solar heat affects your siding?
In this post from our vinyl siding installers at Budget Exteriors, we’re breaking down the impact of summer and warm weather on your siding. Give us a call to discuss siding solutions for your Minnesota home today!
How Does the Summer Heat and Humidity Affect Vinyl Siding?
One of the beautiful things about living in the seven-county metro area is that we get to enjoy all four seasons. And for a place that can get hit hard with snow and ice during the winter, we certainly still get our share of summer heat. As professional vinyl siding installers, we often encounter questions from our clients about how the summer uptick of heat and humidity affects vinyl siding. In our experience, though, neither do very much!
Vinyl Siding Is Humidity-Resistant
While the humidity can warp wood and some types of engineered wood siding, vinyl is resistant to humidity damage, making it one of the best siding choices for Minnesota homes.
Vinyl Siding is Sun-Resistant
You may have heard of or seen vinyl siding that warps in certain places. Today’s vinyl siding solutions are better manufactured than the siding installed in homes a few decades ago and are far less susceptible to solar damage. The temperature point for solar vinyl siding damage is extremely high and only occurs in rare cases where window reflectivity in extremely close proximity refracts solar heat. However, with the increase in low-E window installation, this is becoming far less common.
Vinyl Siding is Fade-Resistant
Another thing we love about vinyl siding: it’s tough against UV rays. You’re probably all too familiar already with the damage such rays can cause to a huge number of things—your skin, your car’s upholstery, you name it. But because the color of your vinyl siding is “baked into” the planks instead of laid atop it, the material can stand strong against this season’s solar onslaught. No need for painting or refinishing, ever. It’s just another way that this wonderfully low-maintenance siding type shines.
Dark Vinyl Siding Does Not Make Your Home Hotter
While it is true that dark colors absorb heat, with the insulation qualities of today’s vinyl siding, dark siding should not be a problem unless your house is woefully under-insulated.
Are There Certain Maintenance Requirements for Vinyl Siding in Warm Weather?
In short: not really. Because this siding is so strong against our capricious climate, it generally is pretty worry-free at all times of year. However, because the weather is now warmer, it’s a better time than ever to wash it up and get it looking its best. Over the spring, summer, and fall, all sorts of dirt and debris can accumulate on your siding, no matter what material it’s made out of—so it’s time to break out the bucket and scrub brush and get to work!
Bob Vila, a trusted home advice blog, details the entire process in this article, including what cleaners you should use and which ones you should stay away from. We’ve also written a siding installer blog on it ourselves! As you’ll see, there are quite a few ways to get your vinyl siding clean and shiny, so pick the one that works best for you and your situation.
What Not to Do
Cleaning vinyl siding is generally pretty straightforward; there isn’t a lot that can go wrong, so long as you do your research ahead of time. But a few rules of thumb can help ensure that the process is successful.
For one, don’t use harsh cleaners. What constitutes “harsh” of course varies from person to person—but in this case, bleach is the primary material to watch out for. It can wreak havoc on your landscaping and also eat away at your siding, making it more vulnerable to damage in the long-term.
Also, if you use a pressure washer, be careful. If you don’t set it to the right PSI or are otherwise careless with its usage, you can push water up underneath the slats of your vinyl siding installation—not somewhere it’s supposed to be!
Contact Budget Exteriors for Friendly and Affordable Vinyl Siding Installation
Does your home need an upgrade? Take advantage of the warm weather and call Budget Exteriors’ Bloomington vinyl siding installers at 952.887.1613 or contact us online for a completely free quote. You’ll love what vinyl siding can do for your home!