San Mateo LP Smartside Siding

Many San Mateo homeowners want the look of wood without the upkeep. That is the case for LP SmartSide. It is an engineered wood siding with a deep, cedar-like grain. It weighs less than fiber cement and is easy to cut and detail. It also tolerates bumps and knocks better than many alternatives. We install LP SmartSide on gables, dormers, additions and full re-sides across the city. We'll tell you plainly when it's the right fit and when another material serves your house better.

Bay Area Siding Company is a siding and window contractor based in Larkspur, Marin County, working throughout the Peninsula.

Planning a project? Call (415) 619-5167 or request a bid through our siding replacement page.

What LP SmartSide is, and what it isn't

LP SmartSide is made from wood strands treated through LP's SmartGuard process. The strands are bonded with resins and pressed into boards and panels with an embossed wood texture. The result keeps the warmth of real wood but is more consistent. You won't find knots, splits or the board-to-board variation of natural lumber.

Here is where it fits among the alternatives:

• It's not solid wood. It won't take a transparent stain the way cedar or redwood does, and you can't sand it back and refinish it like a clear-grade board. Most homeowners paint it, just as they would a painted wood lap siding.
• It's not fiber cement. It is lighter and easier to handle and cut. It also stands up well to impacts, such as a basketball, a ladder or a wayward hose nozzle. Fiber cement, however, is noncombustible and does not need the same attention to cut-edge sealing.
• It's not maintenance-free. Painted LP SmartSide needs periodic repainting over its life. Most product is supplied primed for field painting. LP also sells a factory-prefinished option if you'd rather start with a baked-on color.

The product family includes lap siding, vertical panel siding (useful for a board-and-batten look), and matching trim and fascia. That range lets us keep profiles consistent from wall to corner to eave.

Where it earns its place on San Mateo homes

San Mateo's housing stock shapes how LP SmartSide gets used here.

Accents on stucco period-revival homes. Much of the city's early-to-mid-century housing is Tudor Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival and related styles. On those homes the main walls are usually stucco. Siding shows up on gables, dormers, bay projections and later additions. These are small areas where you want wood character, a crisp paint line and a board that holds up to fog-and-sun cycling. Engineered wood suits that job, especially where the original was painted wood lap or shingle that has swollen, split or lost its paint.

Additions and secondary elevations. When an addition needs to read as part of the original house, not a bolt-on, we can match exposure, board width and corner detailing to what's already there. SmartSide's trim products help keep reveals and proportions right.

Full re-sides on later wood-sided homes. Some San Mateo neighborhoods have mid-century and later homes clad entirely in wood lap or panel siding. For those, LP SmartSide is a practical full replacement. The texture looks right, it paints like wood, and it is a lower-maintenance path than going back to natural lumber.

Where we'd steer you elsewhere:

• If you want a noncombustible exterior, fiber cement is the material to look at. See our San Mateo James Hardie siding page for that brand.
• Some parcels fall within a mapped fire hazard severity zone. On those, cladding requirements can apply to specific wall assemblies, and they depend on product and scope. We confirm your parcel's status with the City before recommending any material.
• If you want the natural variation and stainable grain of cedar or redwood, look at wood siding.
• If budget and low upkeep matter more than an exact architectural match, consider vinyl.

Side by side: LP SmartSide, fiber cement and natural wood

| | LP SmartSide | Fiber cement | Natural wood | |---|---|---|---| | Look | Embossed wood grain, painted | Wood-grain or smooth, painted or factory color | Authentic grain; paint or stain | | Weight and handling | Lighter, cuts with standard tools | Heavier, needs dust control and skilled handling | Light, easy to work | | Impact resistance | A strength | Good, but can crack or chip on a hard hit | Varies by species and grade | | Combustibility | Combustible (wood-based) | Noncombustible | Combustible | | Upkeep | Periodic repainting; keep edges sealed | Repainting on a longer cycle, depending on finish | Highest: paint or stain, plus rot and pest watch |

No column wins everywhere. It depends on your house, your parcel and how long you plan to stay. Our LP SmartSide overview goes deeper on the product itself.

Getting the details right

Engineered wood performs well when it's installed to the manufacturer's instructions. Shortcuts show up years later as swollen edges or peeling paint. Our process on a San Mateo job looks like this.

Tear-off to the substrate. We remove the old siding down to the sheathing so the water-resistive barrier (WRB) and flashing can be inspected. Framing is exposed only if a section of sheathing itself has failed and must be replaced. That is a separate scope we'd discuss with you before proceeding.

WRB and flashing. We install a new WRB and flash windows, doors, and roof-to-wall intersections. We take particular care where new siding meets existing stucco, which is common on period-revival homes where only the gables are sided. Those transitions are where water tends to find its way in.

Installing to LP's instructions. That includes the manufacturer's required clearances from grade, roofing and hard surfaces, correct fastening and gapping, and priming or painting every field-cut edge. Unsealed cut ends are the most common source of moisture trouble with engineered wood.

Paint and finish. Primed product gets a quality exterior paint system soon after installation. Prefinished boards get touch-up at cuts and fasteners. Then comes trim, caulking, cleanup and a walkthrough.

If you're also updating windows, doing them during the re-side lets us integrate flashing properly. See window replacement in San Mateo.

Permits and historic neighborhoods in San Mateo

Siding replacement in San Mateo requires a building permit, and we handle the application with the City.

The State Office of Historic Preservation has identified the Baywood, Aragon and San Mateo Park neighborhoods, west of El Camino Real, as register-eligible historic areas. A 2022 City analysis found the Baywood study area meets National Register district criteria. What that means for a specific project depends on the address and scope. If your home is in or near one of these areas, we check with City Planning staff about what review, if any, applies before we finalize the material and profile. Engineered wood's ability to replicate a painted wood lap profile can be useful in those conversations, but we don't assume approval in advance.

What drives the cost

We quote every San Mateo project individually. The main variables are:

• whether it's a few gables or a full re-side
• wall area and number of stories, which affects access and staging
• sheathing repair uncovered at tear-off
• primed versus prefinished product
• how much custom trim the architecture calls for
• stucco-to-siding transitions that need careful flashing and patching

Period-revival homes often carry more detail per square foot than simpler houses.

FAQ

Is LP SmartSide a good choice for the gables on my Tudor or Spanish-style home in San Mateo? Often, yes. Gables and dormers on stucco period homes are a natural use for it. The board takes paint well, holds a clean line and handles weathering on exposed upper elevations. We match exposure and trim to the original design, and we confirm with the City whether any historic review applies to your address.

Does LP SmartSide need to be painted? Primed product is painted after installation. Prefinished boards arrive with a factory color. Either way, plan on repainting over the life of the siding, as with any painted wood exterior.

How does the warranty work? LP offers a long limited warranty on SmartSide products, and its terms depend on proper installation and finishing. We'll walk you through LP's current published warranty for the specific product before you commit.

Can you replace just part of the house and match what's there? Yes. Partial replacements, such as one elevation, an addition or the gables only, are common in San Mateo. We select the profile and exposure to blend with the existing siding and trim.

Let's look at your house

Every San Mateo home has its own story, and the right siding depends on it. Browse finished exteriors in our project gallery, see our work across the Peninsula, or compare materials on our San Mateo siding replacement page.

Call (415) 619-5167 or email info@bayareasidingco.com to schedule a consultation. You can also request a bid here.