Burlingame Wood Siding

Nothing matches real wood on a period home, and Burlingame has the housing stock to prove it. Cedar and redwood clapboard, shingle and shake, board-and-batten — natural wood is the material many of the city's Craftsman, Tudor, Spanish-revival, and shingle-style homes were originally clad in, and for owners who want authenticity, it's often the only material that truly reads right. Wood is renewable, it can be repaired board by board rather than replaced wholesale, and it takes stain or paint in a way no synthetic quite mimics. Bay Area Siding Company installs and restores wood siding across the Peninsula, and this page is an honest account of what it offers and what it asks.

Set on real wood for your Burlingame home? Request a bid or call (415) 619-5167.

The case for wood on a Burlingame character home

Burlingame is an established, design-conscious city, and its homes reward material authenticity:

• It reads correct. On a Craftsman bungalow in the Easton Addition or a shingle-style body on the central blocks, real cedar or redwood carries the original texture, reveal, and shadow lines that define the architecture — the thing profiles in other materials approximate but don't equal.
• It's repairable. Wood siding can be patched, spliced, and blended one board or shingle at a time, which suits a homeowner who wants to preserve rather than replace an original wall.
• It's flexible. Clapboard, shingle, shake, and board-and-batten give real range, and wood can be milled to match an unusual historic profile when an off-the-shelf product can't.
• It matters for historic homes. If your house is on Burlingame's Historic Register, keeping — or faithfully restoring — original wood siding is often what a designated property's character calls for, and what design review will want to see.

The honest trade-offs, especially here

Wood's virtues come with real obligations, and Burlingame's climate sharpens two of them.

Maintenance is the big one. Wood is the highest-upkeep cladding there is. In Burlingame's mild but genuinely damp marine climate — wet winters, seasonal rain, fog off the Bay, and salt air on the eastern, bayfront-leaning blocks — the finish is what stands between the wood and rot, and it has to be maintained on a real schedule. Neglected wood cups, splits, and decays, and it can host insects. Kept sealed, caulked, and refinished, quality cedar or redwood performs and ages beautifully; left to weather with a failing coat, it fails. That's the commitment to go in with clearly.

Combustibility is the other. Wood burns, and that's a genuine consideration on any parcel in or near a fire-hazard zone. Most of Burlingame is flat and not in a Very High or High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, so for the majority of homes in the city this is not a code driver — a real point in wood's favor here compared with the hillside towns. But a limited area was flagged on newer state fire-hazard maps, and if your lot is in or near it, a noncombustible material is the safer and possibly required call. In that case, fiber cement offers profiles that mimic wood while meeting a noncombustible standard, and we'll confirm your parcel's designation before you commit.

If the wood look matters but the upkeep gives you pause, LP SmartSide engineered wood splits the difference, and the general Burlingame siding replacement overview compares all the options. The wood siding hub covers the material more broadly.

Design review, and the wall behind the wood

Because Burlingame cares how its streets read, the Planning Division runs a residential design-review process for significant street-facing changes, and the Historic Resources program under Municipal Code Chapter 25.35 governs designated properties — with minor changes handled by the Planning Director and major ones by the Historic Preservation Commission. For a wood re-side that preserves or restores original character, that review is usually an ally rather than an obstacle, but it can affect approved profiles, and we flag it early.

On the install itself, the wall behind the wood is what keeps the house dry. On an older home we take the existing cladding off to the sheathing, inspect and rebuild the water-resistive barrier and flashing, and address any concealed rot around windows and at the base of walls before new wood goes up. New siding is then installed with proper clearances, back-priming where called for, and sealed joints, then finished — because on wood, the finish is part of the assembly, not an afterthought.

What drives the cost

Wood sits at the premium end, and the cost tracks the species and grade (clear cedar or heart redwood costs more than lower grades), the profile and how much of it is custom-milled to match, the size and stories of the home, and the finish system. The biggest variable, as with any re-side, is what tear-off uncovers. Ongoing maintenance is a real line item to budget for too. The City of Burlingame permit is part of the scope, and on the city's tree-lined lots we plan staging around protected mature trees. A walkthrough is the only honest way to price it.

FAQ

Is wood siding a good idea given Burlingame's damp climate? It can be excellent, with the commitment to maintain it. The marine climate makes the finish critical — sealed, caulked, and refinished on schedule, quality cedar or redwood holds up and ages well; neglected, it decays. If you won't keep up the upkeep, engineered wood or fiber cement is the more forgiving choice.

Do I have to avoid wood for fire reasons in Burlingame? For most of the city, no. Burlingame is largely flat and not in a fire-hazard severity zone, so wood isn't ruled out on code grounds the way it can be in the hills. A limited area was flagged on newer state maps, so we confirm your specific parcel; if it's fire-exposed, noncombustible fiber cement is the safer path.

Can wood siding satisfy Burlingame's historic and design review? Often it's exactly what review wants — preserving or faithfully restoring original wood is well aligned with a Historic Register property's character. Profiles and details may need to match the original, so we confirm requirements with the Planning Division before ordering.

Do I need a permit for wood siding work in Burlingame? Yes. Re-siding is permitted through the City of Burlingame Building Division, with requirements that follow the scope. We prepare and submit the permit.

Get started

If real wood is what your Burlingame home deserves, let's talk species, profile, and a maintenance plan you can live with. Request a bid or call Bay Area Siding Company at (415) 619-5167. Browse the project gallery, plan Burlingame window replacement alongside the re-side, or see our wider Peninsula service area.