Larkspur Wood Siding

Wood is woven into how Larkspur looks. The cottages along the Magnolia Avenue corridor and the older homes tucked into the redwoods were clad in cedar and redwood, and for many owners nothing else reads right on a house like theirs. Real wood siding — clapboard, shingle and shake, board-and-batten — is a premium, renewable, repairable cladding with a warmth that manufactured products chase but never quite equal. Bay Area Siding Company is based in town on Magnolia Avenue and both installs and restores wood siding, so this page is a candid account of what living with it here involves — including the places it's the wrong call.

Restoring or re-cladding in wood? Request an estimate or call (415) 619-5167.

The case for wood

On the right home, wood earns its place for real reasons:

• Authentic character. On a Larkspur cottage or a redwood-canyon house, cedar or redwood is the material the architecture was designed around — the look is genuine, not simulated. That matters most in and near the Magnolia Avenue historic district, where profile and proportion carry weight.
• Repairable. Individual boards or shingles can be swapped, and the whole wall can be refinished; you aren't locked into replacing a full system.
• Renewable and natural. For owners who want a natural material, wood is exactly that.
• Profiles that suit the town. Shingle and shake for the cottage vernacular, clapboard for traditional lines, board-and-batten for a cleaner vertical look.

The two honest trade-offs

Wood asks for something in return, and there's no use pretending otherwise:

• Maintenance is the highest of any cladding — and Larkspur is hard on it. Wood must be painted or stained on a cycle, and it's vulnerable to rot, water intrusion, and pests whenever the finish lapses. In the shaded redwood canyons, where damp shade and slow-drying duff hold moisture against the wall for months, and in the tidal-damp flats near Corte Madera Creek, an unprotected board finds trouble quickly. Budget for upkeep, not just installation.
• Wood is combustible. This is the trade-off that governs the decision on a slope. Solid wood siding will burn, which makes it a poor fit for a home with real wildfire exposure up a canyon or hillside.

Read this before you commit to wood on a slope

If your home sits up a Larkspur canyon or on a wooded hillside, the combustibility of wood isn't a footnote — it's the deciding factor. Central Marin Fire adopted California's updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps in 2025, and where a parcel falls in a High or Very High zone or the Wildland-Urban Interface, California Building Code Chapter 7A steers the exterior wall toward noncombustible or ignition-resistant assemblies, which a solid-wood skin runs directly against. Whether and how that applies depends on your parcel's designation, the product, and how much of the wall you're touching, so we confirm the specifics with the City of Larkspur and Central Marin Fire rather than assume. For a slope home that wants the wood look, the honest answer is usually a noncombustible substitute that reads as wood: fiber cement and James Hardie come in shingle and lap profiles that hold the character while being noncombustible. If you want a real-wood texture with far less upkeep and are outside the high-hazard zones, LP SmartSide engineered wood is worth comparing.

Where wood still makes sense

None of that rules wood out. On flatland and lower-neighborhood homes outside the high-hazard zones, where the historic character is paramount and the owner is committed to the maintenance, real cedar or redwood is a legitimate and beautiful choice — sometimes the one that keeps a heritage-quality Larkspur home true to itself. Design review or heritage considerations can apply near the Magnolia Avenue historic district depending on scope, which we handle at permitting. For the wider material decision, see Larkspur siding replacement.

Cost drivers

Wood sits at the premium end, and the total reflects the species (cedar and redwood aren't cheap), the profile (hand-applied shingles are labor-intensive), the home's size and detailing, access on a sloped lot, and the finish. There's also the lifetime cost: paint or stain on a cycle is simply part of owning wood in this climate. Installation cost turns partly on what tear-off reveals once old siding is off and the sheathing, water-resistive barrier, and flashing can be inspected. A City of Larkspur permit applies, and design review may as well near the historic district.

FAQ

Can I put wood siding on a canyon home in Larkspur? Solid wood is combustible, so on a canyon or hillside fire-zone parcel it generally runs counter to the exterior-wall rules favoring noncombustible or ignition-resistant materials. We confirm your parcel's designation with the City and Central Marin Fire; for slope homes we typically recommend a noncombustible cladding that still reads as wood, like fiber cement shingles.

How much maintenance does wood siding really need here? More than any other cladding, and Larkspur's damp accelerates it. Expect repainting or restaining on a regular cycle and prompt attention to any finish failure, since shaded canyon walls and marine air will find unprotected wood. On the right home, many owners consider that upkeep worthwhile for the authentic look.

I have an older cottage near downtown — do I have to use real wood to keep the look? No. Real cedar shingle is the original, but fiber cement and engineered-wood shingle profiles can hold the character with far less maintenance. Near the historic district, design review may apply either way, which we manage at permitting.

Do I need a permit for wood siding in Larkspur? Yes. The City of Larkspur Building Division requires a permit for siding work, and design review may apply near the historic downtown. Canyon and hillside parcels carry added exterior-wall requirements.

Talk through wood — and the alternatives

Call (415) 619-5167 or request an estimate. We'll be straight with you about whether wood is right for your Larkspur home and parcel, and show you the look-alike options where it isn't. See finished work in the project gallery or our Marin service area.