Vinyl siding tops cladding list for 25 years

No doubt vinyl siding has critical mass when it comes to single-family housing. It has been the top cladding selected for newly built homes since 1994, giving it a 25-year reign after it took wall share from mostly aluminum and wood but also brick.

Of the 840,000 single-family dwellings constructed in 2018, vinyl siding was installed on 215,000, or 26 percent, compared to stucco on 25 percent, brick on 21 percent, fiber cement on 20 percent, wood on 5 percent and other materials like aluminum siding on 2 percent.

Vinyl siding is king of cladding again, although the crown has slipped from its peak of 40 percent of the distribution in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which releases figures about new housing every July in its survey of construction.

The U.S. residential siding market is valued at $7.3 billion as of 2018 and is expected to reach $8.2 billion in 2021, Casey Olson, an industry analyst at Prinicipia Consulting LLC, said in a phone interview.

But new construction is only part of the picture, she added, noting that vinyl siding also is a popular cladding in the expanding remodeling market, where its use outstrips new construction.

In 2018, spending on exterior and interior remodeling reached $172 billion and is expected to grow 1.6 percent this year and 1.1 percent in 2020, according to the National Association of Home Builders, a Washington-based trade group.

Homeowners looking to update their curb appeal tend to replace with like materials so that bodes well for vinyl siding, Olson said. Nowadays they have a wider selection of vibrant colors, smooth modern profiles and products engineered to withstand sunlight and winds of 210 mph, resist moisture and impact damage, and provide energy efficiency if insulated.

Prinicipia puts the size of the siding market in 2018 at 63 million squares. A square is equivalent to 100 square feet. The firm tracks 10 siding materials, which in descending order by volume are: vinyl, fiber cement, brick, engineered wood, wood, stucco, masonry, veneer, polymer composites and others like metal.

Overall, vinyl siding has 28 percent of the national volume, or just under 18 million squares, Olson said.

"We estimated over three-quarters of the demand for vinyl siding in the U.S. comes from the replacement market. That's one of the highest among materials," Olson said. "It works to vinyl's benefit to already be on so many houses. That's why competing materials sell against it."

The competition is playing out at manufacturing plants, builder shows, design conferences and state capitals as product innovations, material rivalries and home design restrictions have vinyl siding in both the limelight and the crosshairs. Everyone is vying for piece of the wall.

A big piece of the wall currently goes to Cornerstone Building Brands Inc., which includes Ply Gem and NCI Building Systems. With $2.1 billion in sales, Cornerstone ranks No. 2 among North American pipe, profile and tubing manufacturers, according to Plastics News' latest ranking.

Other major players are CertainTeed, Royal, AMI, Kaycan, Style Crest and Provia, which sells a lot to manufactured housing.

Still, despite momentum from manufacturing innovations related to darker colors, UV resistance, extreme weather performance and energy efficiency, vinyl siding is growing at a slow rate. The top cladding is a lagging growth product as opposed to a leading growth product or an average growth product.

"It's growing slower than all other materials but wood and stucco," Olson said.

Part of the reason can be attributed to the places where vinyl siding sales have traditionally been strongest, like the Midwest and Northeast. Construction activity has been depressed in some metro areas of these regions.

Architects are another factor. Many reject any siding that mimics the grain of wood. They prefer smooth-surface siding, especially those in the New Urbanism movement, which emphasizes traditional neighborhoods featuring houses with porches, park benches and cafes for socializing.

Fiber cement began taking share from vinyl siding because the textured face has a smooth backing, Fernando Pages Ruiz, a developer, author and technical consultant for the Vinyl Siding Institute, which is based in Washington, said in a phone interview.

"The architects started reversing fiber cement because they didn't want the fake texture. It took off in the sector and that's the secret of its success," Ruiz said. "The architects' basic line is, 'We don't hate vinyl; we just don't like materials that imitate other materials.' They don't want plastic that looks like wood."

Another secret of sorts needs to get out, Ruiz added. There are polymeric sidings that come with smooth or suitable surfaces. He pointed to a brand called Restoration Smooth by CertainTeed as well as siding by Royal Building Products and other manufacturers that offer a brush-stroke finish on cellular PVC.

"This is close and to many architects acceptable," Ruiz said.

He attended the Congress of New Urbanism in Louisville, Ky., in June and said his three presentations about synthetic sidings and trims were well attended.

The talks coincided with the launch of a 74-page, VSI-backed book called "Architectural Design for Traditional Neighborhoods" by Ruiz, Korkut Onaran, Ronnie Pelusio and Tom Lyon. The last chapter describes how modern materials "authentically reproduce the intent and detail of the classical materials used in traditional architecture" without decaying, needing much maintenance or reducing forest land.

Restoration Smooth was designed by Wolverine Siding and is easily mistaken for sanded, sealed and painted cedar, Robert Clark, marketing manager of CertainTeed Siding Products Group, told Plastics News.

"The company did a great job with case studies and getting vinyl specified in markets that were traditionally anti-vinyl markets because of this finish," Clark said. "Many municipalities would only accept wood being used. This siding broke through that requirement in the '90s."

Other parts of the architectural design book show how synthetic trims, such as crowns, casings, fluted columns, pediments and brackets, can contribute to Craftsman, Victorian, Italiante, farmhouse, foursquare and prairie styles of homes.

"Architects are opening their eyes the to fact that the materials offer some beautiful finishes and high-end products that they can use creatively to easily achieve some of the difficult detailing they're looking for," Ruiz said.

Could it all help vinyl siding regain market share?

"I don't know, but I think that it's punching back hard," Ruiz said.

Olson is watching.

"Even with the evolution of product technology, I don't think vinyl will ever be back at 40 percent, but it could potentially stem the erosion," Olson said. "Because it has such a large share, even if it just held steady and grew at an average rate, it could do really well."

Vinyl siding manufacturers have run into some brick walls, however, with many U.S. cities enforcing residential design standards that ban their products or restrict their use. In Texas, some 230 jurisdictions prohibit or limit use of any building material besides brick, according to VSI.

For example, in Hudson Oaks, Texas, commercial buildings must be all masonry while residential structures are required to be 75 percent masonry. In Annetta, Texas, the exterior walls of houses must be 80 percent brick or stone masonry.

These restrictions will be nulled, however, in September when a new law dubbed the Prohibition on Government Product Mandates goes into effect. The measure, which was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in June, says local governments can't prohibit products approved by the national code.

"Texas finally realized what was going on and said it isn't right for one product to be regulated into the market through a local law," VSI Vice President Matthew Dobson said in a phone interview.

VSI and builders also successfully spoke out against similar measures in Arkansas earlier this year and North Carolina in 2015.

"We're getting the states to realize how the local governments are overreaching in the planning realm. They're getting into areas that the building codes cover already," Dobson said.

VSI and some builders are looking next at pockets of Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio.

"The communities that say 'no' to vinyl siding are hoping to get rid of an inexpensive material to upgrade the housing stock but then they don't achieve it," Ruiz said. "No amount of expensive materials will make up for a lousy neighborhood layout or a bad architectural design. It's like saying a good functioning kitchen must be at least 32 percent granite and have at least 15 percent ceramic tile. That's meaningless, right?"

In Atlanta, VSI and homebuilders are urging Georgia state lawmakers to pass a bill that would ban local governments from setting home design standards that dictate siding materials, location of windows, and exterior paint color.

The measure has been referred to a committee also tasked with considering labor and affordability issues related to the local regulations, which are often backed by the brick industry.

"Brick is substantially more expensive than most materials, so it's not only cutting out products but affecting workforce housing affordability," Dobson said. "The house resolution in Georgia calls for studying the ability of some people in construction to live in the homes they may be building. The issue got very comprehensive in a successful way."

Vinyl siding manufacturers also have been focused on broadening their portfolio into other materials, particularly manufactured stone and masonry veneer, which look authentic but are less expensive and easier to install.

In January, NCI Building Systems Inc. bought Environmental Stoneworks for $186 million, and CertainTeed has offered stone façade panels since 2016.

"For a number of years, the findings show that about half of new homes have a secondary siding material," Olson said, noting polymer shake is another popular accent product.

In response, manufacturers have hustled to branch out of vinyl.

"They're making the moves they need to make to defend some share of the wall," Olson said. "If vinyl isn't cutting it like it used to because there are newer products around, it makes sense for vinyl manufacturers to get into those products. It's all about share of wall."