Novato has more postwar and mid-century tract housing than most of Marin, and a lot of it is wearing cladding that has been on the walls for fifty or sixty years. Bay Area Siding Company is a Larkspur-based siding and window contractor working throughout northern Marin, and we take siding replacement the whole way through: removing the old material, checking what the tear-off exposes, rebuilding the weather barrier and flashing, and installing the new system to the manufacturer's instructions.

Want to talk it through? Request an estimate or call (415) 619-5167.

When a re-side beats another repair

Patching buys time; it rarely fixes the reason the siding is failing. On the ranch homes and tract subdivisions that fill neighborhoods like San Marin and Pleasant Valley — plus the older bungalows and cottages around downtown — the same wear-out signs keep showing up. If you're seeing several of these, it's usually time to replace rather than repair again:

• T1-11 plywood or hardboard panels that are swelling, delaminating, or crumbling at the bottom edge
• Original wood or aluminum siding that's checked, split, or chalking no matter how often it's painted
• Caulk lines that keep opening up and paint that peels within a season or two
• Fasteners backing out, panels that flex or sound hollow when you press them
• Staining, soft trim, or a musty smell on the inside of an exterior wall

Why we tear off instead of siding over the top

Furring new panels over tired siding is faster on paper, but it seals in whatever is happening behind the wall — and on a home built in the tract-development years, that "whatever" is often a wall assembly that predates modern water-resistive barriers. Pulling the old cladding is the only way to actually look at the sheathing, find dry rot around windows or at the mudsill, and confirm there's a drainage plane doing its job. It also keeps you from stacking weight and trapping moisture in a wall that then has nowhere to dry. You pay more up front for a wall you can trust.

Picking a material for a Novato home

We install a range of siding systems and would rather walk the trade-offs with you at the house than push one product. A place to start:

• James Hardie fiber cement — noncombustible fiber cement; see our Novato James Hardie page for the fire-zone and product detail
• Fiber cement generally — the wider category and other makers
• LP SmartSide — engineered wood with a familiar look
• Vinyl — a lower-upkeep option where the home and budget suit it

We also install CertainTeed, natural wood, and aluminum. For homes along Novato's wooded and open-space edges, material isn't only an aesthetic call — there's a fire-exposure piece covered further down.

What to expect: our process

1. Consultation — we look at the existing walls, talk through goals, and flag anything that changes scope.
2. Measure and spec — field measurements and a written scope so everyone knows the plan.
3. Permit — Novato treats a like-for-like siding replacement as a permittable project through the City's building division (more below).
4. Tear-off and substrate inspection — the old siding comes off and we inspect sheathing and framing before anything new goes up.
5. Weather-resistive barrier and flashing — a code-compliant WRB with flashing at windows, doors, and transitions.
6. Install to spec — the new siding goes on per the manufacturer's published instructions, including clearances and fastening.
7. Finish and walkthrough — trim, caulk, cleanup, and a final look with you.

Novato-specific things to know

Permits and the express-permit route. The City of Novato Building Division is the permitting authority, and siding work is on the City's list of projects eligible for a streamlined Residential Express Permit — specifically "Residential Siding (Replace or Repair) Like-for-Like." That covers straightforward replacement in kind; changing the material, thickness, or wall configuration can move the job out of the express lane and into a standard review. Novato builds to the 2022 California Building Code as amended, and we confirm the current submittal path for your scope rather than assume it.

Wooded edges and fire-hazard zones. Novato isn't a single condition. The flatland core is ordinary suburban stock, but the town wraps around wooded hills and open space — Indian Valley, Black Point and Green Point, Bahia, and the canyon pockets — where homes meet wildland fuels. The Novato Fire Protection District adopted Cal Fire's updated 2025 Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps, and parcels in those higher-hazard areas fall under the Wildland-Urban Interface provisions of California Building Code Chapter 7A, which generally steer exterior wall coverings toward noncombustible or ignition-resistant assemblies. Whether and how 7A applies depends on your parcel's designation and the scope of work, so if your home backs up to open space, tell us early and confirm the parcel classification with the District and the City — it shapes the material list.

Climate that's harder on cladding than coastal Marin. Inland Novato runs a classic warm-dry-summer, wet-winter pattern: dry stretches with real UV load from roughly June through September, then the bulk of the year's rain arriving December through February. That swing — bake, then soak — is what works old caulk joints loose and finds the gaps in a fifty-year-old wall. New siding is worth speccing with that annual cycle in mind, not a coastal fog assumption.

Doing more than the walls? We also handle window replacement and James Hardie siding in Novato, and you can see finished work in our project gallery. For the wider service area, visit our Marin service-area page.

What affects the cost

There's no honest online price for a re-side. The real drivers are the size and number of stories, how much substrate repair the tear-off turns up, the material and finish you choose, whether trim and windows get integrated at the same time, access on hillside or large-lot properties, and any fire-zone assembly detailing if the parcel calls for it. We price it after we've measured and seen the walls.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a permit to replace siding in Novato? Yes. Siding replacement is a permittable project through the City of Novato Building Division, and a like-for-like replacement can qualify for the City's Residential Express Permit. Changing materials or wall configuration may require a standard permit review.

My home borders open space — does that affect my siding? It can. Parcels in Novato's Wildland-Urban Interface / higher fire-hazard areas are subject to Chapter 7A, which favors noncombustible or ignition-resistant exterior wall coverings. We confirm your parcel's designation with the Fire District and City before speccing the material.

Should I re-side over the old panels or tear off? On Novato's older tract and mid-century homes we almost always recommend tear-off, so the sheathing, framing, weather barrier, and flashing can be inspected and corrected. Siding over the top hides the problems that matter most.

How long will the project take? It depends on the home's size, the material, what the tear-off reveals, and permit timing. We give you a realistic schedule once we've measured and confirmed the permit path.

Get started

Let's get your Novato re-side scoped and moving. Request an estimate or call Bay Area Siding Company at (415) 619-5167.