This Siding Calculator is useful if you want to utilize panels to cover your house’s walls or gables, it doesn’t matter if they are wood, metal, or vinyl siding. All of the relevant information and information that you want, you can read in the article below.

We’ll start with a quick tutorial on how to precisely measure for siding and figure out how much you’ll need. We’ll also assist you in calculating the cost of the siding. Last but not least, we’ll go through the many types of siding and how to pick the best one for your home. We hope that you will see at least one good idea for you.

How to measure for siding?

Consider how much siding you’ll require before getting in the vehicle and traveling to Home Depot. The entire calculating method boils down to establishing the square footage of the space that you’re going to cover while the siding is installed on the walls and gables of a house. So naturally, any apertures (i.e., doors and windows) should be subtracted; after all, you don’t want siding panels to cover them!

Naturally, you don’t have to do all of your calculations by hand; instead, use our siding calculator! Then, simply use a measuring tape or a rangefinder to take the following measurements:

  1. The length and width of your wall and gable. The height and breadth are the most essential measurements in both scenarios.
  2. The size of any openings, such as doors and windows. You don’t need to do this because our siding calculator defaults to the most common opening size; but, if your house’s openings are unusual, you may wish to adjust these measurements in advanced mode.
  3. The number of positions available. This does not need any extra equipment; simply count them and enter the results into our siding calculator.

How much siding do I need?

After you’ve completed all of your measurements, you can sit back and relax; our siding calculator will handle the rest. But, first, it calculates the total area of siding using the following formula:

Area = [B x H – (n₁ x A₁) – (n₂ x A₂)] x (1 + w)

where:

  • The width of the wall is B,
  • the height is H,
  • the number of doors is n1,
  • the area of a single door opening is A1,
  • the number of windows is n2,
  • the area of a single-window opening is A2,
  • and the waste factor is w,
  • the area is the entire amount of siding that we need.

The waste factor is used to account for any material waste that happens as a result of trimming or cutoffs. It’s expressed as a percentage of the wall’s entire area. A common number is 5-10%; the more sophisticated the project, the more trash you will likely create.

If you’re estimating the siding area for a gable, double the number B x H by two to account for the roof’s triangular form.

How much does siding cost?

Additional information – the siding unit pricing – is required to determine the siding cost. It is stated as a price per square foot or per square meter, for example, $/ft² or €/m².

Siding is usually supplied in squares, which are 100 square feet increments. A typical box of vinyl, for example, has two squares of material, totaling 200 square feet. As a result, it’s critical to constantly pay close attention to the amount of material offered each package and to determine the unit pricing rather than the price per square.

You’re only one step away from understanding how much siding costs once you know the unit pricing! It’s as simple as multiplying it by the whole area:

Price = unit price x area

Last but not least, take down the entire cost of your project and proceed straight to a building supply store!

Estimate the siding cost: an example

Let’s try to figure out how much new siding will cost for a simple rectangular wall with three openings: two windows and an entry door.

  • Calculate the wall’s length and breadth. Assume H and B are 8 and 14 meters, respectively.
  • In our siding calculator, you can choose whether you want to measure the opening measurements or leave them as-is. We may presume that the door and window measurements are standard and that no modifications are required. Simply select the advanced mode icon below the calculator if you need to modify them.
  • Enter the number of vacancies. It’s one door and two windows in our situation.
  • Select a waste factor. We’ll calculate we’ll need to acquire 5% extra material to account for the cutting.
  • To calculate the total area of siding, our siding calculator will apply the formula described above. It’s the same as 108 m².
  • Input the unit pricing – we’ll use 18 €/m² as an example.
  • To get the total price, multiply the area by the unit price:

Price = 18 €/m² x 108 m² = €1,944

And that’s the end of it. A total of €1,944 is spent on siding materials. Naturally, it excludes additional costs, the price of labor, equipment, and other components like as connections; make sure you include these, additional costs in afterward!

Types of siding

There are many different types of siding materials on the market, ranging from vinyl to brick and wood to stucco siding (a traditional Spanish siding). You have a free estimate to choose what is best for you. However, we’ll concentrate on the most prevalent varieties, popular types and best siding in the next section.

Types and low maintenance siding:

  1. Siding made of vinyl is by far the most common construction. It is both long-lasting and low cost, which makes it the most apparent choice when paired with a large range variety of colors. It has a long lifespan of 30-40 years, is reasonably easy to clean, and comes in a variety of styles, including one with added insulation. Its biggest flaw is that it isn’t waterproof; if you’re not careful during the installation process, water might leak behind the panels and cause damage to your walls, like much moisture.
  2. A prominent form of siding is metal siding. It has a sleek appearance and is water, weather, and fire-resistant. Nonetheless, it is significantly heavier than vinyl, which raises installation expenses. It is also susceptible to mechanical damage such as scratching and collision.
  3. Wood siding seems natural and eco-friendly, so it’s no surprise that many homeowners like it. It is the most environmentally friendly of all the alternatives, has good insulating capabilities, and can be quickly replaced if damaged. However, wood siding is not impervious to deterioration; both water and insects can cause your siding to deteriorate. The expenditures of upkeep are very expensive; you should repaint it every 4-5 years. When properly maintained, wood shingles may last up to 30 years, albeit they do require more upkeep than many other materials. Cedar is commonly used for wood shingles because it is inherently more resistant to insects and decay than other types of wood.
  4. Brick siding is without a doubt the most long-lasting alternative since it can resist over 100 years of exposure to adverse weather conditions such as rain and freezing temperatures. It is fireproof, water and pest resistant, and simply the most durable substance available. The biggest disadvantage is, as you could assume, the price, as well as the considerable work necessary for installation.

Aluminum siding

Use of aluminium is still accessible today, although it isn’t as popular as it once was. Unlike vinyl siding, aluminum has to be repainted every five to ten years by a skilled siding and roofing service provider. Aluminum, like vinyl, is effortless to keep and may endure for decades if properly cared for. As much as 40 years or more, aluminum siding can survive if we maintain it well. Aluminum siding is also more resistant to high temperatures and weather than vinyl siding.

Disadvantages:

  • replacing or just repairing part of the aluminum siding can be very challenging,
  • to make the look of your home better, you need to paint the siding every five or ten years.

Tips for Estimating

Projects usually involve a lot of moving parts, and time plays a big role in these projects. Due to these opposing pressures, determining the time and effort necessary with pinpoint precision is extremely challenging. You may drastically enhance your estimating methods, decrease and mitigate risks, and boost your project success rate by adopting a set of proactive estimating strategies to define, plan, and restrict your project conditions.

Tips

We will give some tips for estimating, to be easier for you:

  1. Keep track of the time you spend on each component of your projects in a continuous “real hours” database. Use the information to help you forecast future projects and determine the historically correct buffer time required to complete the task in a reasonable amount of time.
  2. Create and utilize project plans, specifications, and other planning documents.
  3. Conduct a thorough task analysis of the job that you need to finish.
  4. Use a complexity factor as a multiplier to determine how complicate is a new project.
  5. To get at an estimate, combine many methods and search for a middle ground between them.
  6. Determine a set of cautions, limits, and assumptions to go along with your calculations, which will limit the circumstances in which your estimates will be useful.
  7. If the suggested budget or timeline does not appear to be sufficient to complete the task, suggest changing one or more of the four project scoping criteria: cost, schedule, quality, and features.
  8. Consider whether there are any easier or more efficient methods to plan and carry out the task.
  9. To avoid a chaotic rush at the end, plan and estimate the project rollout from the beginning. You may, for example, suggest a low-impact method like a pilot program or a staggered launch.
  10. Consider a phase-based strategy in really murky circumstances, with the first phase focusing mostly on gathering needs and estimating.
  11. Develop contingency planning by categorizing deliverables into “must-have” and “nice-to-have” categories from the outset.
  12. On new projects, use your lessons-learned database for “20:20 foresight,” and incorporate your best practices into a future estimate.