Burlingame LP Smartside Siding

If you love the look of real wood on a Burlingame home but not the upkeep of solid cedar or redwood, LP SmartSide is usually the material that comes up. It's engineered wood — wood strands bound with resins and treated through LP's SmartGuard process against moisture, fungal decay, and termites — finished with a genuine wood grain that reads warm and traditional the way a period home wants. It's lighter and more impact-resistant than fiber cement, easy to work into the trim and detailing older homes carry, and it takes paint beautifully. Bay Area Siding Company installs LP SmartSide across the Peninsula, and this page walks through where it shines and what it asks of you in return.

Interested in LP SmartSide for your Burlingame home? Request a bid or call (415) 619-5167.

Why engineered wood suits Burlingame's character homes

Burlingame is a city of established, well-detailed houses — Craftsman bungalows in the Easton Addition, Tudor and Spanish-revival homes on the central blocks, ranches toward the north. On homes like these, the cladding's texture and profile carry a lot of the character, and that's LP SmartSide's strongest suit:

• A real wood look, in real wood formats. Lap, panel, shake, and the wide trim and fascia pieces that let you rebuild a bungalow's original board-and-batten or a deep Craftsman frieze — all in matching engineered-wood texture.
• Lighter and more forgiving to install. Because it's engineered wood rather than cement, it's lighter to handle and easier to cut and fasten cleanly, which helps on the fiddly trim details older Burlingame homes are full of.
• Impact resistance. It takes a knock better than fiber cement, a practical plus at ground level and around active side yards.
• A well-regarded warranty. LP backs SmartSide with a long limited warranty; we describe the coverage generally and confirm the current written terms before you order rather than citing a figure that can change.

The honest trade-off: it's still wood, and it needs paint

Engineered wood is not maintenance-free, and in Burlingame's climate that matters in a specific way. This is a mild, marine-influenced part of the Peninsula — cool, damp winters, seasonal rain, and fog off the Bay, with salt air on the eastern, bayfront-leaning blocks. Persistent moisture is the real stress on any wall here, and LP SmartSide comes primed to be painted; keeping that finish sound is what protects the product over the long run. Installed to spec — correct clearances at grade and roofline, sealed field cuts, sound flashing — and repainted on a normal cycle, it performs well in exactly this climate. Left to weather with a failing finish, any wood-based product suffers. That's the deal to go in with eyes open: less upkeep than solid cedar, more than fiber cement or vinyl.

If low maintenance is your top priority over the wood look, it's worth comparing LP SmartSide against fiber cement and vinyl; if authenticity is everything and you'll commit to the maintenance, weigh it against natural wood. The general Burlingame siding replacement overview sets the materials side by side, and the LP SmartSide hub covers the product line.

A note on fire, and on review

Most of Burlingame is flat and not in a Very High or High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, so a noncombustible cladding generally isn't a code requirement here — which is part of why a wood-based product like SmartSide is a reasonable choice for many homes in the city. A limited area was flagged on newer state fire-hazard maps, so if your parcel is in or near it, we confirm the designation and whether a noncombustible assembly is the better call; on a fire-exposed lot, fiber cement is the safer material. Separately, because Burlingame's Planning Division reviews significant street-facing changes and its Historic Resources program (Municipal Code Chapter 25.35) governs designated properties, we check whether a material or profile change on your facade needs review before we order.

What to expect, and what drives the cost

On an older Burlingame home the wall behind the siding is where the real protection lives. We take the old cladding off to the sheathing, inspect and renew the water-resistive barrier and flashing, and address concealed rot around windows and at the base of walls before any new board goes up. SmartSide is then installed to LP's clearance, fastening, and sealing specs, and finished — priming and painting the field cuts and the wall so the coating does its job from day one.

Cost tracks the size and stories of the home, how much specialty trim and detailing the design carries, factory-primed versus a full finish package, and access on a tight central lot. As always, what tear-off uncovers is the biggest swing, and the City of Burlingame permit is part of the scope. Where mature protected trees crowd the walls, we plan staging around them.

FAQ

How is LP SmartSide different from fiber cement? SmartSide is engineered wood — lighter, more impact-resistant, and easier to work, with a warm real-wood grain — but it needs periodic repainting to protect the finish. Fiber cement is heavier and noncombustible and holds a factory finish longer. Which wins depends on whether you prioritize the wood look and workability or maximum low-maintenance durability.

Will LP SmartSide hold up in Burlingame's damp, foggy climate? Yes, when installed to spec and kept painted. Its SmartGuard treatment resists moisture, decay, and termites, and correct clearances and flashing plus a sound paint film are what carry it through the Peninsula's wet winters and marine air. The maintenance is the finish, and it's manageable.

Is LP SmartSide okay for a home near a Burlingame fire-hazard area? It depends on the parcel. Most of the city isn't in a fire-hazard severity zone, so engineered wood is fine for many homes; if your lot is in or near the limited area flagged on newer state maps, we confirm the designation and may recommend noncombustible fiber cement instead.

Do I need a permit to install LP SmartSide in Burlingame? Yes. Exterior re-siding is permitted through the City of Burlingame Building Division, with requirements that follow the scope of work. We prepare and submit the permit.

Get started

If the warmth of wood is what you want without solid-cedar upkeep, LP SmartSide is worth a serious look for your Burlingame home. Request a bid or call Bay Area Siding Company at (415) 619-5167. See finished work in the project gallery, plan Burlingame window replacement alongside it, or explore our wider Peninsula service area.