What Is the Best Siding for Cold Climates?

Cold climates can wreak havoc on certain types of siding — and it’s not just the extreme cold that you have to worry about. The expansion and contraction that comes from freeze-thaw cycles can pose several problems, and winter weather also tends to bring a lot of moisture in the form of snow, freezing rain, and ice.

So what is the best siding for cold climates? Below, you’ll discover the various ways that winter weather can damage siding — and which type of siding is best equipped to stand up to these harsh conditions.

What Factors Make the Best Siding for Cold Climates?

The best siding for cold climates requires three things: insulation, moisture resistance, and freeze-thaw durability. We’ll examine how each of these contributes to creating siding that can stand up to harsh winter weather conditions.

Insulation

Most of the siding materials available today offer little to nothing in the way of insulation, despite the fact that this is a key component that can really improve energy efficiency and keep your home more comfortable. The most common insulated siding options include insulated steel siding, insulated vinyl siding, and insulated fiber cement siding. Each of these siding options comes with foam backing material that increases the siding’s R-value.

The R-value is a measurement of the siding’s thermal resistance. The higher the number the more resistant it is to heat flow (either heat coming in during the summer or heat going out during the winter). The R-values of insulated siding options are:

• Insulated steel siding, including TruLog steel siding, has an R-value of 4.
• Insulated vinyl siding has an R-value of 4.
• Insulated fiber cement siding has an R-value of 2.5.

Other siding options offer much lower R-values. For example, natural wood siding has an R-value of 1, while other options, including engineered wood, vinyl, fiber cement, and metal siding, have even lower R-values ranging between 0.70 and 0.37.

In poorly insulated homes, energy bills can skyrocket in the winter, not only due to excessive heat transfer through uninsulated spaces, but also due to drafts. Typical R-values for exterior walls range between R-13 and R-20 — and that’s without adding insulated steel siding. By adding insulated steel siding, you’ll be raising the total R-value of your home’s exterior walls by quite a lot. Ultimately, your home will be more comfortable and less drafty, and your energy bills will be lower. 

Moisture Resistance

Cold weather isn’t the only threat that comes with winter. In most cold climates, you’ll also need to deal with snowfall, sleet, ice, freezing rain, and high humidity during melting periods, which can all cause moisture damage to many types of siding. 

For this reason, the best siding for cold climates will feature a high degree of moisture resistance. TruLog steel siding is a great choice because it features a cold-rolled steel core with a galvanized alloy coating that prevents rust. Plus, it has a reflective top coat that adds even more protection.

Vinyl siding is another option that offers a high level of moisture resistance, and while fiber cement siding can take on moisture damage with time, it’s more resistant than alternatives like wood or stucco, both of which are relatively weak against moisture.

Freeze-Thaw Durability

Freeze-thaw cycles represent another threat to your home’s siding. Freezing temperatures cause building materials to shrink while warmer temperatures result in expansion. Over the course of the winter, these fluctuations can cause many types of siding to warp, crack, splinter, or split. In particular:

• Vinyl siding is prone to warping and cracking due to temperature changes.
• Wood and engineered wood can warp, develop splinters, or even split. 
• Painted siding can start to peel when moisture seeps beneath the paint, then freezes.
• Porous materials like wood or fiber cement can buckle, split, or shift as they absorb water that then freezes and expands.
• Freeze-thaw cycles can make concrete, brick, stone, and stucco crack, and it can also cause spalling problems, which is when moisture seeps into the material’s surface, freezes, and causes the surface to flake away.

For these reasons, steel siding is considered to have the best durability and weather performance. Whereas other types of siding will take on damage, fluctuations between extreme cold temperatures and warmer weather won’t affect steel siding at all. That durability comes from a combination of properties: TruLog steel is nonporous, coated with an impenetrable finish, and doesn’t become brittle or weak when exposed to extreme temperatures.

How to Choose the Right Siding for Winter’s Extreme Weather

Still wondering how to choose the best siding for cold climates? To help you choose, we’ll explore a few common questions that homeowners are asking.

What Siding Is Best for Snowy Weather?

Harsh snowy weather can pose a variety of threats to siding, including water damage from melting snow, extreme cold, and possibly even high winds. You’ll need a high-quality siding that offers:

• Insulation against cold temperatures and drafts
• Moisture resistance to prevent water damage when snow melts
• Freeze-thaw durability that keeps the siding from warping and cracking as temperatures shift
• The toughness to stand up to the pressure of high winds without warping, cracking, or coming loose

TruLog’s steel siding stands out as the clear winner in each of those categories. With a foam insulation backing, galvanized coatings that make it moisture resistant, and a durable design, it’ll handle everything that even the worst blizzards can throw at it.

What Prevents Freezing and Cracking?

Freezing and cracking is a process that happens over the course of freeze-thaw cycles. During warmer, wet weather (like freezing rain or a day when snow is melting), moisture seeps into house siding materials. Then, the weather turns colder, the water freezes, and because water expands when it freezes, affected areas of the siding crack.

That’s why the best siding for cold climates includes those that are impervious to moisture. For example, steel siding and vinyl siding can’t absorb moisture, so freezing and cracking won’t be a concern — although cold weather can make vinyl brittle enough to crack without the moisture. 

Materials like wood and fiber cement have both lower weather resistance and higher maintenance requirements because they need to be painted and sealed regularly to keep them as moisture-resistant as possible. 

Does Steel Siding Work in Winter?

Yes, if you’re using TruLog steel siding, it works great in winter. And the reason why we say that is because not all types or brands of steel siding are created equally. Only TruLog steel siding gives you the exact right features to keep your home protected and energy bills low during harsh weather.

That’s because:

• Unlike most metal siding brands, TruLog steel siding features a foam insulation backing that gives the siding an R-value of 4, the highest among any type of exterior siding.
• It uses cold-rolled, galvanized steel and a durable topcoat designed to make it incredibly resistant to moisture.
• Steel is not a brittle material, and it won’t absorb moisture, which means freeze-thaw cycles won’t damage it.
• When installed following correct siding installation instructions, TruLog steel siding locks in place to prevent gaps and loose edges that can cause drafts or lifting during high winds.

Protect Your Home From Harsh Winter Weather With TruLog Steel Siding

If you want the best siding for cold climates, TruLog steel siding has everything you need: a foam insulating layer; the best moisture resistance that siding can offer; and incredible durability against freeze-thaw cycles, high winds, and other cold weather dangers. In addition to these advantages, it’s also a cost-effective option that is easy to install and comes with low-maintenance requirements.

If you’d like to learn more, download our free catalog. Explore available colors and styles, and discover what makes TruLog steel the best choice no matter the weather.