Piedmont LP Smartside Siding

If you love the warmth and texture of real wood siding but not the upkeep it demands, LP SmartSide is the product that usually comes up. It's engineered wood — wood strands treated through LP's SmartGuard process and bonded into siding, trim, and panels that resist the moisture, rot, and pests that plague solid cedar and redwood. It carries a genuine wood grain, works easily under a saw, is lighter and more impact-resistant than fiber cement, and holds paint well. Bay Area Siding Company installs LP SmartSide across Piedmont, and this page explains where it shines on the city's homes — and the one place, the fire zone, where it deserves a careful conversation.

Interested in the wood look without the wood maintenance? Request an estimate or call (415) 619-5167.

Why homeowners choose engineered wood

• Real-wood character. SmartSide holds an authentic grain and deep profiles — a natural fit for Piedmont's period-revival and cottage-style homes where texture matters.
• Lighter and more forgiving. It's lighter than fiber cement and less brittle, which makes for cleaner cuts and detailing around the trim-heavy exteriors common on older Piedmont houses.
• Impact resistance. Engineered wood takes a knock better than fiber cement, which can chip.
• Treated against the usual failures. The SmartGuard treatment is engineered to resist fungal decay and termites — the failure modes that end a solid-wood exterior's life in a wet-winter climate.
• Strong warranty. LP backs SmartSide with a well-regarded, long limited warranty (we'll confirm the current term and terms for your product rather than quote a figure).

The honest trade-offs

SmartSide is engineered wood, and that means two things worth knowing:

• It needs paint. Unlike a factory-finished fiber cement, SmartSide is painted (it ships primed), and the finish needs periodic refreshing over the years — less often than solid wood, but it's not zero-maintenance.
• It's combustible. As a wood-based product, SmartSide is not noncombustible. On Piedmont's fire-zone parcels, that's the deciding factor (below).

SmartSide vs. the neighbors

Choosing a material is really a set of trade-offs:

• Fiber cement / James Hardie — noncombustible and factory-finished, but heavier, more brittle, and a longer repaint cycle. The fire-zone choice.
• Wood siding — the most authentic, the highest maintenance, the most fire-prone.
• Vinyl — cheapest and lowest-upkeep, least convincing texture.
• CertainTeed — a brand spanning vinyl, polymer, and fiber cement.

SmartSide's sweet spot is the homeowner who wants real wood texture and workability, is comfortable repainting on a long cycle, and isn't on a fire-zone parcel. The broader comparison lives on the Piedmont siding replacement page.

The fire-zone caveat — read this if you're on the southeast side

In 2020 Piedmont adopted Ordinance 755 N.S., designating its southeastern section — the area around Park Boulevard, St. James Drive, and Tyson Lake, roughly 20% of the city — a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, along with citywide defensible-space rules. Where a fire-hazard designation applies, California Building Code Chapter 7A governs the exterior wall covering and generally calls for noncombustible or tested ignition-resistant assemblies. Engineered wood is combustible, so on a designated parcel SmartSide may not be the right call — fiber cement is usually the better fit there. Whether 7A applies to your home depends on the parcel's designation and the scope of work, so we confirm that with the City before recommending SmartSide. If you're in or near that southeastern zone, tell us early.

Design review and the period-home fit

Piedmont reviews exterior appearance closely, and changing your cladding can put a project into design review through the Planning & Building Department (120 Vista Avenue) before the building permit issues; routine maintenance with no change in material, design, or size is generally exempt. SmartSide's authentic grain and deep profiles are an advantage in review — it reads as real wood, which sits well on the Tudor, cottage, and revival homes the city is known for.

Installation notes

We don't cover over old cladding. The existing siding comes off so we can inspect the sheathing, correct any concealed rot around windows and wall bases, and rebuild the water-resistive barrier and flashing before new material goes up. SmartSide is then installed to LP's clearance, fastening, and joint specs — including proper ground clearance and sealed cut edges — because the warranty depends on it, and because correct detailing is what keeps an engineered-wood wall performing.

What drives the cost

The variables at your home: size and number of stories, concealed repair found at tear-off, the profile you choose, trim and detailing on a period house, the paint/finish scope, whether an appearance change triggers design review, and — on southeastern parcels — whether the fire zone rules SmartSide out in favor of fiber cement. A walkthrough is the only way to price it honestly.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use LP SmartSide on a home in Piedmont's fire zone? Possibly not. SmartSide is engineered wood and therefore combustible, and the southeastern Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone is subject to Chapter 7A provisions that favor noncombustible or ignition-resistant wall coverings. Whether 7A applies to your parcel depends on its designation and the scope — we confirm with the City, and often recommend fiber cement there instead.

How is SmartSide different from real wood siding? It's engineered from treated wood strands rather than solid boards, so it resists the rot and termite damage that end a cedar or redwood exterior, while keeping a real-wood grain. It still needs periodic repainting, but far less trouble than solid wood.

Does SmartSide need painting? Yes. It ships primed and is painted after install, and the finish needs refreshing on a long cycle over the years — less often than solid wood, more than a factory-finished fiber cement.

Will it suit my period-revival home and pass design review? Its authentic grain and deep profiles read as real wood, which sits well on Piedmont's traditional homes. Changing the cladding can trigger design review through the Planning & Building Department; we prepare the submittal.

Get started

We'll walk your home, weigh SmartSide against fiber cement and the alternatives, and map any permit or fire-zone considerations. Request an estimate or call Bay Area Siding Company at (415) 619-5167. See finished work in our project gallery or across the East Bay.