According to the National Association of Home Builders, vinyl siding is the most common type of siding used in the United States. There are many other kinds of siding homeowners use to express their own sense of taste and style. Read on to learn everything you need to know about siding options for your home and how you can complement them with your soffits.
What Is a Soffit?
Soffits used to be installed only sporadically in homes. These days, soffit trends have changed and every modern home comes with soffits already installed. Despite their constant presence today, many people still don't know what soffits are.
The edge of your roof probably extends out past the edges of your home's walls. In between the roof and wall, soffits are installed to regulate air flow.
The air in your attic is heated by the beating sun in hot summer months. Unless this air can escape, it gets hotter and hotter until it damages your roof. This can lead to water leaking into your home, causing mold and mildew.
Soffits allow air to flow outside of your attic, keeping your roof in good condition and your home free of mold.
Types of Siding for Your Home
The oldest and still most common siding trend is called clapboard. Clapboard is vinyl siding laid in horizontal panels across your home. Dutch lap siding is very much the same, except that it includes a curve across the top of each panel. This can give a little bit of a woodlike appearance, so it goes well with rustic aesthetics.
Beaded siding is a third design trend in vinyl paneling that comes in horizontal panels. Beading siding stands out because of the V groove that's placed on the bottom of each panel. It provides a greater contrast of light and shadow on your siding and is often used for Bungalow or Cape style homes.
Steel siding is another great choice for homeowners. It is completely recyclable, and modern steel siding is durable and retains its shine for many years.
Brick siding is an old classic in American homes. Modern brick siding can come in any color you like, and it's an extremely robust material that lasts for decades.
How to Combine Your Soffits and Siding
Your soffits and siding make up the first thing that people see when they visit your home for the first time. To make the best impression possible, it's important to make sure that your soffits and siding are working together.
There are basically two strategies you can use to make sure your soffits and siding look good together. You can make them match in color, or you can choose contrasting and complementary colors. If you use matching colors, you'll want to use contrasting textures.
For example, if both your siding and soffits are light blue, then you might want to make the siding textured like wood grain, while the soffits are smooth.
Find the Right Soffit to Complement Your Siding
We hope you learned something helpful about matching types of siding and soffits. To learn more about how you can get quality soffits installed, check out our other pages.
