Vinyl siding loses lead as top cladding for new homes

Vinyl siding has lost its 25-year lead to stucco as the most popular cladding choice for newly constructed houses, while fiber cement gained ground to round out the top three exterior wall materials.

Stucco was installed on 27 percent of the 903,000 single-family houses built in 2019 compared to vinyl siding on 25 percent and fiber cement on 21 percent, according to the characteristics of new housing data collected in a survey of construction by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Of the other exterior siding materials, brick was installed on 20 percent of new houses, wood on 5 percent, and "other," as in concrete block, stone and aluminum, on 2 percent, the survey says.

In the latest shift, stucco gained 2 percent, fiber cement picked up 1 percent, vinyl siding and brick each lost 1 percent, and use of wood and other materials held steady, the survey also says.

The figures, which are based on new single-family houses completed in 2019, are part of a database going back to 1973. Vinyl siding use has been tracked since 1992, when it was put on 23 percent of new houses. That was second to wood's 33 percent share of wall but not for long.

Two years later, vinyl siding edged out wood by 1 percent after being installed on 28 percent of new homes. Use of vinyl siding peaked in 2002, when it was installed on 40 percent of 1.325 million new houses for single families.

Affordable, durable, low maintenance vinyl siding enjoyed a 25-year reign until there was a surge of stucco installations in the South. There, the cement-water-sand mixture took wall share from brick, the region's preferred exterior wall material since 1990, and contributed to unseating vinyl siding.

Steve Booz, marketing vice president of Royal Building Products, which is marking its 50th anniversary this year, said he is a little surprised by the results, but not concerned.

Royal Building Products is owned by Houston-based Westlake Chemical Corp., which posted sales of $1.3 billion and is the No. 4 pipe, profile and tubing producer in North America, according to Plastics News' newly updated ranking.

Booz told Plastics News: "If certain regions are building a larger proportion of homes, the geographic shift could have caused stucco to rise to the top of this survey. Vinyl siding remains a strong product choice from the Midwest to the Atlantic and even into the Southeast. If these results are due to regions, such as the West and the Southwest, having more home building, we don't find these results concerning."

And, that is the case.

The South leads the U.S. in new home construction and stucco has been making steady gains there for more than 40 years while also staying on top of exterior wall materials in the west for 37 out of the last 46 years.

In the South, builders have constructed more than 400,000 new homes a year since 2016, giving an increasing wall share to fire-resistant stucco and its array of earthy hues and Spanish and Mediterranean qualities.

Matt Dobson, vice president of the Vinyl Siding Institute, an Alexandria, Va.-based trade group, also said the survey doesn't tell the whole story of vinyl siding's popularity.

Dobson said it's important to note that stucco and vinyl siding represent two different categories of exterior finish that point toward regional differences more than consumer preferences.

"Vinyl and other polymeric products will continue to be recognized for their strong attributes, including low maintenance, durability, not susceptible to freeze-thaw issues, and providing great value," Dobson said. "And with the industry offering more and more innovative polymeric products, we are beginning to diversify and grow more in other areas."

Dobson pointed to advances with architectural polymers, such as polypropylene siding, insulated vinyl siding and cellular PVC siding, which he said are creating new opportunities for vinyl siding manufacturers.

"If these new polymeric products that are part of our industry were added to the vinyl siding column, our total number would still be dominant," Dobson said.

In the South, where builders finished 499,000 single-family houses in 2019, brick keeps its commanding lead with installations on 33 percent of those new dwellings, but that's down from 36 percent. Meanwhile, stucco use jumped by 4 percent to 25 percent of exterior walls.

Vinyl siding was put on 21 percent of new southern homes — that's down 1 percent — while fiber cement went onto 18 percent, which is up 1 percent. Use of other materials and wood remained unchanged at 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

In the West, where 221,000 new homes were completed, vinyl siding was installed on a meager 3 percent compared to 53 percent for stucco, 37 percent for fiber cement, 5 percent for wood, and 1 percent each for brick and other.

However, the survey shows vinyl siding and its wide array of colors continue to dominate in the Northeast, where it was installed on 74 percent of the 62,000 new houses, and the Midwest, where it's on 58 percent of 121,000 new houses.

Dobson said the trade group is pleased with the continued strength of vinyl siding in northern harsh climates.

He also said other data shows a strong preference for vinyl siding in 33 percent of contractor-owner builds and 28 percent of homeowner builds, which are more consumer-driven decisions.

"The industry continues to innovate and evolve, regularly developing a wide range of diverse products and systems," Dobson said. "The bottom line: consumers love vinyl siding and that's why it continues to maintain such a strong share, especially in certain regional markets."

Vinyl siding manufacturers have been improving the curb appeal, installation and performance of their products with lighter weights, darker colors and insulative benefits as well as bold, contrasting trims.

Royal Building Products has launched 19 different products since January, including black soffits to pair up with vinyl siding and create an accent for porch ceilings, eaves and overhangs.

"We're offering architecturally accurate trim options that can make any ordinary home stand out," Booz said.

More product launches are in the works, Booz added, saying April sales were weak but the company completely recovered and is back on track for the year.

"Exterior projects have become increasingly popular as homeowners don't have to invite a contractor into their home and we are benefiting from increased virtual selling to make these projects possible while still maintaining social distancing," Booz said.

Malvern, Pa,-based CertainTeed Corp. also is using online resources to give builders and homeowners access to virtual learning, design inspiration, sales and installation videos.

"However, new products and colors, as well as unique product offerings, are by far the best way to engage and appeal to builders and homeowners alike," Kara Radcliffe, CertainTeed's director of vinyl siding management, said.

With an estimated $740 million in sales, CertainTeed holds the No. 5 spot of North American pipe, profile and tubing manufacturers.

This year, the company came out with four cedar color blends of its Monogram brand vinyl siding. The siding captures the appearance of Eastern white cedar and Western red cedar at various stages, Radcliffe said, and can be used to achieve new color patterns for one-of-a-kind exterior designs.

Wedgewood blue is another new Monogram color.

CertainTeed has also seen tremendous growth on board and batten vertical siding as an accent and for full-house applications, Radcliffe said.

"For homeowners, the updates offer innovations to protect and elevate their investment at a time when every dollar counts," she said. "The durable, weather-resistant materials and the latest deluxe color and design trends can be mixed and matched for a distinctive look that will last for years to come."

Even so, vinyl siding is expected to continue to lose market share in terms of volume, according to Principia Consulting LLC, a Malvern, Pa.-based research and consulting firm that was still analyzing market value data at press time.

Principia tracks use of residential exterior wall materials by three groups: single-family dwellings, multi-family structures up to three stories, and multi-family structures that are four stories or more.

Vinyl siding still accounts for the largest wall share by volume of new single-family houses and multi-family low rises, such as assisted living facilities, that are three stories or less, Casey Olson, a Principia analyst, told Plastics News.

However, in the new construction market, vinyl siding isn't growing as fast as some competing materials.

"Vinyl's stomping ground strongholds have been in the Midwest and Northeast, and if you look at construction activity for the last several years, both of those regions have been lagging," Olson said.

The wall share for exterior materials in descending order by volume are vinyl, fiber cement, brick, engineered wood, stucco, wood, masonry, veneer, polymer composites and others like metal, Olson said.

"Through 2022, growth in vinyl siding is expected to be flat to very low-single digits, and it is growing below the market average of all siding products. So, it's going to lose a little share," she added.

Vinyl siding does continue to make a strong showing in the repair-and-remodel (R&R) market, where two-thirds of the exterior wall material finds a home. Vinyl siding has about one-third share of wall in R&R by volume.

"When people go to replace their siding, often, if they already have vinyl, and a lot of them, do they go ahead and replace it with vinyl siding," Olson said.

Still, some challenges persist.

In state capitols, VSI continues to push for vinyl-siding friendly legislation that says local governments can't enact ordinances to control design and aesthetics of one- and two-family houses, including what type of siding can be used.

The trade group, which was successful in North Carolina in 2015, Texas and Arkansas last year, and Oklahoma this year, currently is focused on Georgia, Tennessee, Minnesota and Indiana, Dobson said.

"A big win was Texas, where the masonry industry had put in places many masonry ordinances over the decades that prohibited our products," Dobson said. "We are looking towards opportunities in Texas in the coming year where there have always been significant housing starts."

The language of the legislation passed to date accomplishes the same thing but has shifted from limiting local governments' control of architectural requirements and materials in North Carolina toward recognizing building codes as the regulator of building materials, Dobson said.

"Of course, polymeric materials are very well recognized in the building codes, as they are based on sound fact and science vs. some of the emotion that helped drive the material restrictions in the first place," he added.

Much of vinyl's bad rap can be traced to the American Planning Association's smart growth codes in the 1990s. The codes aimed to implement smarter planning practices as suburban sprawl moved an era of building away from city centers and suburbs to rural areas.

At the time, Dobson said people saw cornfields filled with vinyl-sided houses and associated it with a bad architectural feel. Planners then started building in architectural requirements, including bans on the use of vinyl siding on the fronts of houses while requiring brick.

In the places where VSI is pushing for legislation, Alex Fernandez, the group's advocacy director, is creating grassroots alliances with builders at the state and national levels and consumer representatives.

Dobson said the stakes are high.

"Basically these legislations open up free markets that have been closed," he said. "We need to continue to educate local officials on what the changes mean and also provide education on our products so they can understand polymeric claddings can play an important role in providing good durable housing options while offering the potential to help with the housing affordability issue."