Is Re-Siding Your Home a Good Investment?

A person’s home is often the largest investment someone will make in their lifetime.  You’ve probably heard the expression “the joys of homeownership” when it comes time to make a large purchase or when a problem arises.  Residing your home is a project that most people will only do once in their lifetime, that is if they hire the right contractor, and it will be one of the most expensive projects you will do on your home.  For example, the typical James Hardie siding is between $30,000 and $40,000.

There are a couple of major questions that you want to ask when you are making a big investment like this.  First, am I choosing the right product for my home?  Second, how much of my money am I going to get back from my investment, and is this adding value to my home?

We have written several articles about James Hardie Siding and all the benefits it provides to you as the homeowner.  It is extremely durable and resists damage from the elements better than any alternatives on the market.  There are countless style and color combinations that allow you to design the home of your dreams using fireproof, rot-resistant products that are impervious to woodpeckers and termites. Ask any local painter, it holds paint better than any other siding product out there.  Leading to a longer lasting beautiful finish on your home.

As a homeowner in the Kansas City area, there is no better solution for your biggest investment than James Hardie Siding.

In addition to low maintenance, highly customizable siding you also get one of the absolute best returns on your investment out of any remodeling project you could choose.  The gold standard for determining how much money you can expect to get back from your home improvement project is the annual Cost vs Value report.  This report looks at bathroom additions to garage door replacements and everything in between. They then use national and local data to determine how much of a percentage you can expect to get back from your home improvement project.

One of the important reasons that I like this report is because it takes into account local data when calculating the return on investment.  Looking at national data doesn’t set a clear expectation of what home improvement projects will cost or what you can expect to get back from the project.

According to the 2021 Cost vs Value report, in Kansas City, the average cost of replacing your siding with fiber cement (James Hardie is the #1 brand of fiber cement in North America) is $19,479 for roughly 1250 square feet of wall coverage.  The average home in Kansas City has roughly 2600 square feet of wall coverage.  So you should expect to pay on average around $40,000 to reside your home.

One of the things that really surprised me with this report is how little difference there was between fiber cement and vinyl siding.  The reports show that the average cost to reside your home with vinyl siding is $16,441 for the same 1250 square feet of wall coverage.  That means that for the same 2600 square foot home you are only paying $6,000 more for fiber cement.  That is insane! Vinyl is thin plastic that doesn’t hold up to hail, cannot be painted when it starts to fade and needs to be power washed every year to get rid of the mildew and mold that grow on it.  Plus, you may have to pay more for your homeowners’ insurance for having vinyl since most insurance companies view it as a higher risk!

The differences don’t stop at the overall cost of the project.  The percentage return that you can expect to get back from your siding project is dramatically different depending on which material you choose.  If you choose vinyl siding you can expect to get a little over 50% of what you spend back when you go to sell or refinance your home.  This is the second worse return on investment out of the 25 different types of projects this report looks at.  Not good news at all.

It’s a completely different scenario when you choose James Hardie fiber cement.  Residing your home with fiber cement is the 3rd highest return on investment out of the projects listed in the cost vs value report.  3rd!  You can expect to get roughly 71% of your investment back on your James Hardie reside.  The only projects delivering a higher percentage return are replacing your garage door and manufactured stone veneer.

James Hardie is a well-known brand that is going to inspire confidence and provide peace of mind to prospective home buyers when you go to sell your home.  After looking at this report it is clear that residing your home with fiber cement is the best investment that you can make on your exterior.  At Canes Exteriors, we have over 16 year’s experience working directly for James Hardie, and we have trained all of the installers in Kansas City.  We invented the “42 Point Siding Perfection Inspection” that we complete on every project and stand behind our workmanship for 15 years! We would love to quote your siding project and encourage you to reach out via phone at (913) 645-1007 or by email at info@canesconstruction.com.