Siding Installation Cost Calculator
Siding Installation costs $11,475 to $17,325 for a typical 1,800 sq ft job in 2026, against a national benchmark of $13,975. Labor runs 62 crew hours at $37.25 an hour. Enter a ZIP code to apply that area's measured wages for this work and its regional price level.
What makes up the price
Cost by size
National averages, before any local adjustment. Computed from the same model as the calculator above, so the two always agree.
| Home size | Sq ft of wall | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft | 1,200 | $8,275 | $6,775 to $10,250 |
| 1,450 sq ft | 1,740 | $11,475 | $9,425 to $14,250 |
| 1,800 sq ft | 2,160 | $13,975 | $11,475 to $17,325 |
| 2,450 sq ft | 2,940 | $18,625 | $15,275 to $23,100 |
| 3,050 sq ft | 3,660 | $22,900 | $18,775 to $28,400 |
The material is the decision, and it depends on how long you are staying
The four materials span more than double from end to end on the same house. What separates them is not quality in any simple sense — it is lifespan against cost, and that only resolves once you know how long you will own the place.
| 1,800 sq ft house | Lifespan | Keeping it | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vinyl | $13,975 | 20-40 years | Wash it |
| Engineered wood | $18,350 | 30-50 years | Repaint every 8-12 years |
| Fiber cement | $20,825 | 50-75 years | Repaint every 10-15 years |
| Cedar | $31,450 | 30-50 years, well kept | Refinish every 5-8 years |
Read it this way:
- Selling within ten years? Vinyl. The premium on fiber cement does not come back in that window, and the Cost vs. Value numbers put both materials in much the same band at resale — around 60 to 85% of cost recouped.
- Staying fifteen years or more? Fiber cement earns its $7,000 premium. You will have bought one wall covering instead of planning for a second.
- Cedar is an aesthetic decision, not a financial one. It costs more than twice vinyl and needs refinishing twice as often as anything else here. Buy it because the house wants it.
- Engineered wood is the hedge: the look and paintability of wood, most of the durability of cement, and about $2,500 less.
Do not side over the old layer
This gets offered because it is cheaper — it saves the strip and the dumpster, about 10% of the job. It is almost always the wrong call, for three reasons that have nothing to do with tidiness.
- You never find out what is behind it. Rot in the sheathing, a failed flashing over a window, a leak that has been running for five years. Opening the wall is the only inspection this house is going to get, and re-siding is the one moment it is free.
- The weather barrier stays as bad as it was. The house wrap and the flashings are what actually keep water out; the siding is the rain screen in front of them. New siding over a failed barrier is a new coat of paint on a rotten board.
- Thickness. Another layer pushes the siding out past window and door trim that was not detailed for it, which is why sided-over houses have that recessed, slightly wrong look around the openings.
The exception is genuine: a sound wall with one layer of tight original siding, a barrier known to be intact, and a budget that will not stretch. That is a real situation. It is just much rarer than the number of times it gets quoted.
What you are actually paying for
For vinyl on an 1,800 sq ft house at $13,975:
| Siding, trim, wrap and flashing | around $5,800 |
| Labor, about 62 crew hours | around $3,200 |
| Permit and dumpster | around $350 |
| Stripping the old layer | around $1,250 |
| Overhead and margin | the balance |
Labor is a bigger share on the expensive materials, not a smaller one. Cedar takes nearly twice the hours of vinyl because every board is hand-nailed, mitered at the corners and back-primed on both faces before it goes up. Fiber cement takes about 1.7 times, because a 12 ft plank needs two people and every course is nailed to a struck line.
The things that go wrong
Nailed too tight
Vinyl has to hang loose. It expands and contracts a quarter-inch over a 12 ft panel across a year, and a nail driven home instead of left a sixteenth proud is what causes the waviness you see on badly sided houses. It cannot be fixed afterwards without taking the panel off.
Flashing skipped at the openings
Head flashing over every window and door, and the house wrap lapped over it rather than under. This is the single most common cause of water in a wall, and it is invisible the day the job finishes.
No clearance at the bottom
Siding needs to stop short of grade and of the roof — usually six inches and two inches respectively. Siding run down into the dirt wicks water and is a termite route.
Cut edges on fiber cement left bare
Every cut end of primed fiber cement has to be sealed before it goes up. It is a two-second job and it is the difference between a 50-year wall and a swollen edge in eight.
Insulated vinyl, and whether it is worth it
Insulated vinyl has rigid foam bonded to the back of the panel. It adds about R-2 to R-3, which is not much in energy terms, and about 25% to the vinyl price.
What it actually buys is rigidity and quietness: the foam backs the panel so it does not oil-can or wave, and it reads much more like a solid wall. If you are going vinyl and want it to look like a better material, this is where the money goes — not into a thicker standard panel.
Separately: if the walls are being opened anyway on an older house with no wall insulation, this is the cheapest hour anybody will ever have to blow insulation into them. Ask.
Permits and the things that catch people out
Most jurisdictions require a permit to re-side, because the weather barrier is being replaced. In hurricane zones there are wind-rating requirements on the fastening schedule, and they are enforced.
Two others:
- Houses built before 1978 may have lead paint under wood siding, and disturbing it requires an EPA RRP certified contractor with containment. Stripping old wood siding is exactly the kind of work that triggers this.
- Asbestos cement shingles, common on houses from the 1920s to the 1970s, are the small gray or colored shingles that break rather than bend. They must not be sawn or broken up, and removal is a licensed abatement job that costs several times a normal strip. If the existing siding looks like this, say so when you ask for quotes.
Questions worth asking
- Is the old siding coming off? If not, why not?
- What goes on the sheathing — which house wrap, and how are the openings flashed?
- Who pays if rotten sheathing turns up, and at what rate?
- Is the trim included? Corners, window and door surrounds, soffit and fascia are often separate lines.
- How are fiber cement cut edges sealed?
- What is the warranty on the finish, as distinct from the substrate? Prefinished coatings are usually 10 to 15 years where the board itself is 30 to 50.
- Is the fastening schedule wind-rated for this county, on a coast?
Common questions
How much does new siding cost?
Around $13,975 to re-side an 1,800 sq ft single story house in vinyl, with most jobs that size falling between $11,475 and $17,325 — about $6.50 per square foot of wall. Engineered wood on the same house is around $18,350, fiber cement $20,825 and cedar $31,450. A second story adds about 12%, because siding is staged once rather than laddered.
Is fiber cement worth the extra over vinyl?
It depends entirely on how long you are staying. Fiber cement is about $7,000 more on an 1,800 sq ft house and lasts 50 to 75 years against vinyl's 20 to 40, so a homeowner staying fifteen years or more buys one wall covering instead of budgeting for a second. Selling within ten years, the premium does not come back: both materials recoup roughly 60 to 85% of cost at resale, so vinyl is the better arithmetic.
How long does siding last?
Vinyl 20 to 40 years, engineered wood 30 to 50, fiber cement 50 to 75, and cedar 30 to 50 if it is actually kept up. The upkeep matters as much as the number: vinyl needs washing, engineered wood repainting every 8 to 12 years, fiber cement every 10 to 15, and cedar refinishing every 5 to 8. Cedar left alone does not last 30 years.
Can new siding go over the old siding?
It can, it saves about 10% of the job, and it is almost always the wrong call. You never find out what is behind the old layer, which matters because re-siding is the only free inspection the walls will ever get. The house wrap and flashings underneath — which are what actually keep water out — stay as bad as they were. And the extra thickness pushes the siding out past window trim that was not detailed for it, which is why sided-over houses look slightly wrong around the openings.
Why is vinyl siding wavy on some houses?
It was nailed too tight. Vinyl expands and contracts about a quarter of an inch over a 12 ft panel across a year, so it has to hang loose — the nail is left roughly a sixteenth of an inch proud rather than driven home. A panel fastened solid buckles the first hot afternoon, and it cannot be corrected afterwards without taking the panel off. It is the most common installation fault in the trade and it is visible from the street.
Does new siding need a permit?
In most jurisdictions yes, because the weather barrier is being replaced, and the permit is typically $100 to $300. In hurricane zones there are also wind-rating requirements on the fastening schedule, and those are enforced. Two other regulatory traps: a house built before 1978 may have lead paint under wood siding, which requires an EPA RRP certified contractor, and asbestos cement shingles need licensed abatement rather than a normal strip.
How can I tell if my existing siding is asbestos?
Asbestos cement shingles were common from the 1920s to the 1970s and look like small, rigid, gray or colored shingles that break rather than bend. They are usually about 12 by 24 inches with a wavy or scalloped bottom edge and two nail holes. Do not saw, sand or break them to find out — removal is a licensed abatement job costing several times a normal strip, and disturbing them is the hazard. Mention it when you ask for quotes so nobody is surprised on the day.
Is insulated vinyl siding worth it?
For about 25% more than standard vinyl you get R-2 to R-3, which is not much energy, and a panel that is rigid and quiet, which is what people actually notice. The foam backs the panel so it does not oil-can or wave, and it reads much more like a solid wall. If you want vinyl to look like a better material, that is where the money goes rather than into a thicker standard panel.
Should I insulate the walls while the siding is off?
If the house is old enough to have uninsulated walls, yes — this is the cheapest access anybody will ever have to them, and blowing dense-pack cellulose or fiberglass in from outside while the sheathing is exposed costs a fraction of doing it as its own job. It will not appear on a siding quote unless you ask for it, so ask.
How long does it take to side a house?
About 62 crew hours for vinyl on an 1,800 sq ft house, which is a week for a small crew including the strip. Fiber cement is roughly 1.7 times that and cedar nearly twice, because the heavy material needs two people on every plank and the cedar is hand-nailed, mitered and back-primed. Weather moves all of it: the wall cannot be left open overnight in rain, so a wet week stretches the schedule.
What is the most common cause of water damage behind siding?
Flashing skipped or lapped the wrong way at the openings. Every window and door needs head flashing with the house wrap lapped over it rather than tucked under, and when that is done backwards the water runs behind the barrier instead of in front of it. Nothing about it is visible the day the job finishes, and the damage shows up years later as soft sheathing. Ask specifically how the openings are being flashed.
Does new siding increase home value?
Partly. Remodeling Magazine's Cost vs. Value work puts siding replacement at roughly 60 to 88% of cost recouped for fiber cement and 60 to 80% for vinyl, which makes it one of the better exterior projects but not a money-maker. Its real value is that it is the most visible single surface on the house, so failing siding depresses offers out of proportion to the repair, and sound siding removes an objection rather than adding a premium.
Where these numbers come from
Nothing here is copied from a contractor directory. Labor is priced from what the trades are actually paid, materials from published producer prices, and both are adjusted to your area using federal cost-of-living data.
- Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors, United States: $37.25/hour, August 2026 (BLS CES CES2023810003)
- Vinyl siding, panels and trim: $2.20 per sq ft of wall (price recorded October 2026, not index-adjusted)
- House wrap, flashing, fasteners and sealant: $0.50 per sq ft of wall (price recorded October 2026, not index-adjusted)