New siding offers many benefits, from boosting your home’s curb appeal to increasing its resale value. You must be excited to make such a big change to your home’s exterior!
Of course, you’re not letting the excitement get to you. You’re being reasonable about this! You’ve researched siding types, talked with a few local contractors, checked their reviews, and perhaps even settled on the perfect partner to go forward with your plans.
You’re still left with a few questions, such as
- Will the time of year affect the quality and speed of the installation job?
- Are certain seasons busier than others for siding professionals?
- What sorts of things can affect project timelines?
You’ve Got Questions: Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors Has Answers
Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors is here to help you get the most out of your new siding! As Sauk Rapids roofers, siding contractors, and general exterior renovators, we believe in personalized service and client-focused solutions.
We also believe in the benefits of sharing our expertise with potential customers. Let’s dive in: when is the best time to install new siding?
The Short Answer to the Question: It Depends
The long answer: It depends on a lot of things! Climate, local markets, and the type of siding you choose all factor into the best time to install your siding.
At Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors, we work on home exteriors all year round, including siding. Our seamless siding machines have heaters in them for the winter months! That said, there are a couple things to keep in mind…
Extreme Cold Weather Can Affect Vinyl Siding
To answer a question posed above: yes, the time of year that the siding is installed can affect the results. The keyword here, though, is can; Many types of siding can be installed year round without a hitch, such as seamless steel siding and your standard steel siding installation.
However, one of the most popular types of siding, vinyl, can become very fragile in extreme cold temperatures. That’s why at Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors, we consider the weather when scheduling vinyl siding installation jobs.
Siding Contractors Do Have Busy & Slow Seasons
Just like any other field, the siding industry has slow and fast seasons. Spring and fall tend to be the busiest seasons for home exteriors contractors, though local trends and climates can very well affect this.
In Minnesota, one of the preferred windows of time to install siding is the late summer and early fall months. In other words, when the weather is still agreeable, but before the busy fall season starts for real. Everyone hustles in the autumn months to get their siding work done so it can protect their home from harsh winter weather.
What Else Can Affect When my Project Starts and Ends?
On the subject of time-related concerns, it’s helpful as a homeowner to know the few extenuating circumstances that can affect when your project is finished and when you should begin it. While contractors do their best to estimate project timelines—they want to know what they’re getting into as much as you do—sometimes, things can happen outside of anyone’s control that can delay a project finishing. These can and do sometimes become more common depending on what time of year you’ve chosen to work in.
Weather-Related Concerns
This is why siding installation prime-time tends to be when the weather is milder; weather constraints become much fewer and further between. But when they do happen, they can put a bit of a damper on your hopes for a quick installation.
Nobody can control the weather, and therefore nobody is, per se, responsible for this delay—so they’re generally handled a bit differently than other timeline hiccups. According to Levelset, which helps construction companies manage their cash flow, “Well-drafted construction contracts should include a section on how to deal with weather delays, and what amounts to excusable and severe conditions.” At least you should know far ahead of time what may or may not cause delays!
Change Orders
If you can: avoid these. Change orders are, in a legal sense, as per the American Bar Association, “an amendment to a construction contract that changes the contractor’s scope of work. Most change orders modify the work required by contract documents (which, in turn, usually increases the contract price) or adjust the amount of time the contractor has to complete the work, or both.”
In plainer terms: they’re what must be done if you suddenly decide that you don’t like the siding type that’s being installed, or if you decide mid-project that you only want part of the home done. Changes like this can drastically lengthen project timelines, as they often require contractors to go back and undo some portion of their work. They’re also bad for budgets, as we cover in our roofing contractor blog!
Contact Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors for Year-Round Siding Installation
We strive to stick to a predetermined timeline while also being honest with you about what that schedule might look like and notify you should something unpredictable occur. Extenuating circumstances that could affect the caliber of the finished work will not be swept under the rug. Instead, we talk about these circumstances before beginning the project, helping you to make a smart siding decision.
Ready to experience true quality from a siding company near you? If so, there’s only one company that can help: Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors. Request a quote here, or give our Sauk Rapids office a call at 320-252-9086.