Los Gatos Siding & Windows Replacement

Los Gatos sits where the Santa Clara Valley floor climbs into the Santa Cruz Mountains, and its homes run the full range in between — Victorian and Craftsman cottages in the downtown historic districts, mid-century and ranch houses on the flats, and custom houses on the wooded hillside lots. Bay Area Siding Company, a Larkspur-based siding and window contractor, replaces siding on all of them. The job is the same either way: get the old cladding off, look at what's behind it, and rebuild the wall so it sheds water and matches the house.

Talk it through first. Call (415) 619-5167 or request an estimate and we'll walk the exterior with you.

Start with the house you actually own

A re-side in Los Gatos is rarely a generic swap, and the smartest first question is what kind of home you have — because it changes the whole conversation.

• A downtown or Almond Grove-era character home. Los Gatos maintains several designated historic districts (Almond Grove, Broadway, University/Edelen, Fairview Plaza, and the Downtown commercial core) plus individually listed historic resources. If your home is a contributing property or a designated resource, exterior changes — including cladding, profile, and sometimes color — can fall under the Town's historic preservation review. That doesn't mean you can't re-side; it means profile and detailing get chosen deliberately, and it's worth confirming your property's status with the Town of Los Gatos before you commit to a material.
• A flatland ranch or mid-century home. Usually the most straightforward: the decision is mostly about material, budget, and how much of the original trim you want to keep.
• A hillside or wooded-lot home. Here fire exposure enters the picture, and material choice is no longer only aesthetic — see the note further down and our dedicated Los Gatos James Hardie page.

What tear-off actually shows us

The reason full replacement beats siding over the top of failing material is simple: you can't fix what you can't see. When the existing cladding comes off, the wall is opened to the sheathing and substrate, and that's when the parts that decide a wall's lifespan become visible — the water-resistive barrier (WRB) and the flashing at windows, doors, deck ledgers, and wall penetrations. On older Los Gatos homes, those layers are frequently thin, improvised, or simply missing, because they predate modern practice.

Covering over hides all of that, adds weight, and can trap moisture against wood that's already tired. A clean tear-off lets us dry out and repair any damaged sheathing, install a proper WRB and flashing sequence, and then hang new siding on a wall that's genuinely sound. (Framing behind the sheathing only gets exposed if the sheathing itself has to come off — a larger scope we'd flag if we found it.)

Choosing a material

We install and can compare several systems in person, and the right answer depends on your home's style, exposure, and whether design review is in play:

• James Hardie fiber cement — noncombustible, holds paint well, and mimics traditional wood profiles closely (the usual pick for hillside/fire-exposed lots)
• Fiber cement generally — the broader category if you want to compare manufacturers
• LP SmartSide — engineered wood, lighter and easy to work into ornate trim details
• CertainTeed and vinyl — lower-maintenance options where they suit the home and the neighborhood
• Natural wood, where authenticity on a period home matters more than upkeep

For a character home in a historic district, the conversation usually centers on keeping the right reveal, board width, and trim shadow lines — the details a reviewer and your own eye will notice.

Cost drivers, honestly

We don't post prices because no two Los Gatos re-sides are alike. What moves the number: the size and number of stories; how much concealed substrate or dry rot turns up once the wall is open; the material and finish you choose; the amount of custom trim and detailing on a character home; whether historic review or hillside fire requirements shape the spec; and access — steep or heavily landscaped hillside lots take more setup than a flat corner lot downtown. We give you a real scope after we measure, not a number over the phone.

Permits and the hillside fire note

Exterior siding work in Los Gatos is permitted through the Town of Los Gatos Building Division, and the applicable scope and any design-review path are things we confirm with the Town for your specific property. If your home is on the hillside side of town, note that portions of Los Gatos and the adjacent unincorporated Santa Cruz Mountains fall within mapped Fire Hazard Severity Zones served by the Santa Clara County Fire Department. In those areas, California Building Code Chapter 7A can govern exterior wall coverings, generally favoring noncombustible or ignition-resistant assemblies — but whether and how it applies depends on your parcel's designation and the scope of work, so it's a Town/County-Fire confirmation, not an assumption. If that's your situation, our James Hardie siding page covers the material side in depth.

Working with us

We're based in Larkspur (Marin) and work throughout the South Bay. Browse finished work in our project gallery, see the wider South Bay service area, and if you're updating windows in the same project, look at Los Gatos window replacement.

FAQ

My home is in a Los Gatos historic district — can I still re-side it? Usually yes, but exterior work on a contributing or designated historic property may be subject to the Town's historic preservation review, which can affect profile, detailing, and sometimes color. We confirm your property's status with the Town of Los Gatos and plan the material and trim around it.

Do I need a permit to replace siding in Los Gatos? Exterior cladding work is permitted through the Town of Los Gatos Building Division. The exact requirements depend on your scope and property, which we confirm with the Town as part of scoping the job.

Should I re-side or just install new siding over the old material? For older Los Gatos homes we almost always recommend full tear-off, because it's the only way to inspect the sheathing, water-resistive barrier, and flashing and fix problems instead of sealing them in.

How long does a re-side take? It depends on the home's size, the material, any substrate repairs found once the wall is open, and permitting. We give you a realistic timeline after the walkthrough.

Get your Los Gatos re-side moving

Call (415) 619-5167 or request an estimate. We'll look at the walls, talk through materials and any review or fire-zone considerations, and lay out the process.