Nothing else looks quite like real wood. Cedar and redwood clapboard, hand-split shakes, board-and-batten — natural wood siding has a depth and warmth that engineered look-alikes get close to but never fully match, and for the right Clear Lake home, a lakeside cabin or a character house, it's genuinely the right material. Bay Area Siding Company installs and restores natural wood siding across the lake area. We also want to be straight with you before you commit, because wood carries two real costs in this particular county: it's the highest-maintenance cladding, and it's combustible in a place with a serious wildfire history.

Call (415) 619-5167 or request a bid to talk wood siding for your home.

Why homeowners still choose wood

The case for real wood is a real one:

• Unmatched natural appearance — grain, texture, and the way it takes stain or paint. On a rustic lake home it belongs in a way little else does.
• Renewable and repairable — a damaged board can be replaced individually, and the wall can be refinished rather than torn off, which suits a home you intend to keep and care for.
• Versatile looks — clapboard, bevel, shiplap, shingle and shake, and vertical board-and-batten, in cedar, redwood, and other species, so the material can match almost any period or style.

If the look is what you're after and you go in clear-eyed about the upkeep, wood delivers something the alternatives can only imitate.

The maintenance reality in this climate

Wood is a living material, and Clear Lake's climate is hard on it. Long, high-UV summers break down finishes and gray untreated wood; the wet-winter swing drives the expansion, contraction, and moisture cycles that eventually open joints and invite decay. Concretely, that means:

• A finish schedule you actually keep — repaint or restain on a cycle, because the coating is what protects the wood, and out here the sun shortens that cycle.
• Watching for rot and pests — especially at the base of walls, around windows, and anywhere water can sit. Redwood and cedar have natural resistance, but no wood is immune.
• Prompt repairs — a failed board or open joint left alone lets water in behind the wall.

None of this is a reason to avoid wood — it's the honest cost of owning it. Where a homeowner wants the wood look with far less of this upkeep, LP SmartSide engineered wood is the closest substitute worth comparing.

The fire question — the one to settle first

This is the conversation to have before any other in Lake County. Natural wood is combustible, and this is one of the most wildfire-exposed regions in California — a history serious enough that Cal Fire's 2025 maps expanded the very-high fire-hazard zones across much of the area. That reality bears directly on whether wood siding is even an option for your home. On a designated fire-hazard parcel, California Building Code Chapter 7A can require noncombustible or ignition-resistant cladding on specific wall elements, and plain wood siding generally won't satisfy that requirement where it applies. Whether it reaches your parcel depends on the severity-zone designation and your scope of work, which we confirm with the City of Clearlake or the Lake County Community Development Department before speccing.

If your parcel is designated, the honest recommendation is usually fiber cement — noncombustible, and available in profiles that read as clapboard or shake. If your parcel isn't in a regulated zone, natural wood remains a legitimate, beautiful choice, and we'll help you specify it to give the finish and the wall the longest life this climate allows.

How wood compares

Against fiber cement: wood wins on authenticity and repairability, fiber cement wins decisively on maintenance and fire. Against LP SmartSide: SmartSide gives much of the look with less upkeep and better rot resistance, but it's still a treated wood product, not solid wood. Against vinyl: no contest on looks; vinyl wins on cost and maintenance. The siding replacement hub frames the whole comparison. Wood's lane is the character home, off a regulated fire parcel, owned by someone who values the look enough to maintain it.

The install and restoration

A wood re-side starts like any other: the old cladding comes off to the sheathing or substrate so the water-resistive barrier (WRB) and flashing can be inspected and corrected — the layer that decides whether the new wall keeps water out, and frequently the source of hidden trouble on older lake homes. New wood is then installed with proper spacing, back-priming where called for, and careful flashing at every opening and transition, because water management is even more critical with a material that can rot. Where you have sound existing wood that's simply tired, restoration and refinishing is sometimes the better spend than full replacement, and we'll say so if that's what the walls show.

What drives the cost

We quote after seeing the walls. Drivers: species and profile (redwood and clear grades cost more than common cedar); the wall area and detailing; how much substrate or WRB repair surfaces at tear-off; the finish system; and access on rural or lakeside lots. Wood's up-front material cost is high, and the recurring cost is the finish cycle — both are part of the honest number.

FAQ

Can I put wood siding on my home if it's in a Clear Lake fire zone? Where Chapter 7A applies to your parcel and scope, plain wood generally won't meet the noncombustible/ignition-resistant requirement, and fiber cement is the recommended path. Whether your parcel is designated is confirmed with the City of Clearlake or Lake County — we settle that before recommending wood.

How much maintenance does wood siding really need out here? More than any other material. Plan on refinishing on a cycle that the high-UV summers tend to shorten, plus watching for rot and pests at vulnerable spots. Redwood and cedar resist decay better than most species, but the finish schedule is non-negotiable if you want the wall to last.

Is there a lower-maintenance way to get the wood look? Yes — LP SmartSide engineered wood is the closest, giving a genuine wood texture with better rot resistance and a longer repaint cycle, and fiber cement offers wood-look profiles that never need the same upkeep. We can show you both against real wood.

Do I need a permit to install wood siding? Yes. A re-side is permitted work — through the City of Clearlake Building Department in the city, or the Lake County Community Development Department on unincorporated parcels. We prepare and submit it.

Get a wood siding bid for your Clear Lake home

We'll walk your walls, confirm whether your parcel allows it, and — if it does — help you specify wood for the longest life this climate gives. Also weighing the full exterior or new windows? See Clear Lake siding replacement and Clear Lake window replacement, browse the project gallery, or explore the Lake County service area.

Call (415) 619-5167 or request a bid.