Santa Rosa LP Smartside Siding

Some Santa Rosa homes are meant to look like wood. Examples include a Bennett Valley ranch with long horizontal lap lines, a Rincon Valley house with board-and-batten gables, and a west-side bungalow that has worn painted clapboard for decades. LP SmartSide is an engineered wood siding built for owners who want that look without taking on the rot, splitting, and upkeep of solid wood. Bay Area Siding Company installs LP SmartSide across Santa Rosa. We will also tell you plainly when it is the right fit and when another material suits your parcel better.

Want to know if SmartSide is right for your home? Call (415) 619-5167 or request a bid.

What LP SmartSide actually is

SmartSide is made from wood strands treated through LP's SmartGuard process, then bonded with resins and pressed into boards and panels. The strands are protected against moisture and decay. The surface carries a deep cedar-style grain, and a smooth option is also available. The result looks and handles like wood, but it is more consistent than sawn lumber. You get fewer knots, less splitting, and boards that arrive straight.

The product family covers most of a home's exterior:

• Lap siding for the classic horizontal look found on many Santa Rosa ranch and tract homes.
• Panel siding, including grooved vertical panels. These are the natural successor on houses that currently wear aging T1-11.
• Trim and fascia so corners, window surrounds, and rake boards match the siding.
• Soffit to finish the underside of the eaves.

SmartSide comes in two finish options. Primed boards are painted on site in any color you choose. ExpertFinish boards arrive prefinished in a factory-applied color palette.

Why Santa Rosa homeowners pick SmartSide

It suits the housing stock. Much of Santa Rosa's established housing is mid-century and later ranch, split-level, and tract construction. Many of those homes were originally clad in wood lap, hardboard, or T1-11 panels. Replacing that cladding with SmartSide keeps the home's original character, so you avoid the "new material, different house" effect some re-sides produce.

It's lighter and tougher to knock around. Engineered wood weighs noticeably less than fiber cement. It cuts and fastens with conventional woodworking tools and resists impact well. That matters on walls that take abuse, such as side yards where the lawn mower, trash bins, and bikes live.

It solves the problems homeowners already see. The Santa Rosa siding complaints we hear most often are soft trim, swollen T1-11 edges, cupped boards, and woodpecker damage. All of them trace back to cladding that has lost its protection. SmartSide's treated strands resist that kind of decay far better than untreated wood or old hardboard.

The honest trade-offs

We would rather you choose SmartSide knowing its limits than be surprised later.

It needs paint. Santa Rosa's inland summers bring long, hot, high-UV afternoons. Sun and heat wear down any painted finish, and south- and west-facing walls take it hardest. SmartSide is far lower-maintenance than solid wood, but it is still a painted wood product. Plan on periodic repainting over the life of the siding. ExpertFinish can extend the time before your first repaint, but it doesn't eliminate repainting.

It is combustible, and in Santa Rosa that matters. The 2017 Tubbs Fire hit Coffey Park and Fountaingrove hard, and many homes in those areas have been rebuilt since. The city has a designated Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fire Area. Within it, California Building Code Chapter 7A sets standards for exterior wall coverings, and new work can trigger those standards. Engineered wood is not a noncombustible material. Whether it can be used on a WUI-mapped parcel depends on the specific wall assembly and how the code applies to your scope. We confirm that with the City of Santa Rosa before we spec anything.

On a WUI parcel, fiber cement is often the more straightforward path because it is noncombustible. That includes James Hardie siding. Many Santa Rosa addresses are outside the mapped area, and for those homes the WUI question usually doesn't drive the material choice.

It isn't the cheapest option. If budget is the main driver and the look is secondary, vinyl siding usually costs less up front and never needs paint.

How SmartSide compares

| If you want... | Consider | |---|---| | Real-wood look, lighter weight, easier handling | LP SmartSide | | Noncombustible cladding, especially on a WUI parcel | Fiber cement / James Hardie | | Lowest up-front cost, no painting | Vinyl | | Natural cedar or redwood, repairable board by board | Wood siding |

For a broader walkthrough of the re-side decision, see our Santa Rosa siding replacement page or the LP SmartSide hub.

How a SmartSide re-side goes

A SmartSide job starts at the wall, not the siding.

1. Tear-off. We remove the old cladding down to the sheathing. That exposes the sheathing, the water-resistive barrier (WRB), and the flashing at windows, doors, and penetrations.
2. Repair and weatherproofing. We inspect what we find and replace damaged sheathing where needed. We then install a new WRB and flash the openings so water that gets behind the siding drains out.
3. Installation. SmartSide goes on per LP's published installation instructions. Details like ground and roofline clearances, board gapping, fastening, and treatment of field-cut edges determine how the siding performs over the long run.
4. Finish. We paint primed boards, or finish and caulk ExpertFinish trim details.

We handle the City of Santa Rosa building permit for a full re-side. If your windows are also due, replacing them while the walls are open avoids re-flashing twice. See Santa Rosa window replacement.

What drives the cost

• Wall area and number of stories.
• Lap vs. panel profile, and primed vs. ExpertFinish.
• How much trim, fascia, and soffit is included.
• The condition of the sheathing once the old siding is off.
• The number of windows and doors that need flashing detail.
• Any fire-area requirements that change the assembly or the material choice.

We quote after an on-site look, not from a square-foot guess.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use LP SmartSide if my Santa Rosa home is in the WUI Fire Area? It depends on your parcel and the wall assembly. SmartSide is an engineered wood product, not a noncombustible one. Chapter 7A applies to specific exterior assemblies, so we confirm the requirements for your address with the City of Santa Rosa. If SmartSide isn't a clean fit, we'll show you fiber cement options.

Is SmartSide a good replacement for my old T1-11? Often, yes. SmartSide's grooved vertical panels keep a similar look. Because we replace the WRB and flashing during the job, the new wall is weatherproofed properly rather than just re-covered.

How often will SmartSide need repainting in Santa Rosa's sun? It varies with exposure, color, and paint system. Sunny south- and west-facing elevations wear fastest. Expect periodic repainting, much like any painted exterior. ExpertFinish can lengthen the first cycle.

What does LP's warranty cover? LP offers a well-regarded limited warranty on SmartSide. Coverage depends on the product and on installation per LP's requirements. We'll give you the current warranty documents for the specific product we quote.

Get your SmartSide project scoped

See finished exteriors in our project gallery, and browse our coverage across Sonoma County and Wine Country. When you're ready to talk through your home, whether it's in Bennett Valley, Rincon Valley, Coffey Park, or elsewhere, we'll come out and look at your walls.

Call Bay Area Siding Company at (415) 619-5167, or request a bid.