What exterior trim material should you stay away from?

The answer: a material called SPF. This stands for Spruce, Pine, and Fir. These materials can be finger-jointed together to make one larger piece or they can be a solid piece of one of the three species. Much of the exterior trim material you see on homes is SPF. The main reason that it is so commonly used is cost. It is the most inexpensive product on the market.  Unfortunately, it is also the first to succumb to rot. Even when well caulked and painted, it seems to give way in a relatively short amount of time compared to other materials.  Builders love to use it because – like a lot of other cheap materials – it will look good on a brand new house in the short term.  They only need it to look good for the short amount of time that is needed to sell the home.  Cutting material costs also allows them sell larger, more extravagant looking homes for a lower price which allows them to move homes more quickly. They rarely care what happens to the home once they have received their payment. 95% of the exterior trims repairs we do is replacing rotten SPF.

Better exterior trim material options

Pretty much anything other than SPF is a better option! Cedar has been tried and true for many years and is still a great option. Most lumber yards will tell you that cedar will outlast SPF by ten to fifteen years. It is one of the more expensive options, and the tannin in the wood that protects it can bleed through latex paints. However, it is also very lightweight and easy to cut. Another option would be vinyl trim.  Many companies have come out with nice wood grain vinyl products in various sizes that are rot-proof. The down side to vinyl is that it can be pricey, doesn’t come in as many sizes as wood, and can have expansion and contraction issues. The last, somewhat new option is fiber cement. This product is basically the same material that Hardie Plank is made from. The James Hardie company is also one of the manufacturers. Like Hardie Plank siding this product is one of the most bulletproof we have seen.  It paints very well, is virtually rot-proof, and in most cases is harder to damage. There are only two major flaws that we have found with this product. It is extremely heavy (cement usually is) and it is not a good idea to cut it with a conventional saw blade. To cut this material we will switch to diamond blades.

What is the best exterior trim option?

The best exterior trim option is the one that best fits the application. Some contractors will only use one product and for them that might work. However, we feel that many factors must be taken into consideration when choosing an exterior trim material. All of the “better” options that we mentioned will last a long time. However, factors such as cost, material characteristics, paint issues, etc. must be taken into consideration and weighed to make the best choice for the application.

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