Why Choose Wood Siding?
Wood siding is not something everyone is after, it tends to come with homeowner’s concern for maintenance, degradation and replacement. This is why vinyl products have become the most popular siding product in North America, it’s cheap, it’s plastic, and it lasts long. It takes a particular person to interest themselves in wood, which as we all know is not your average siding product. As a builder interested in creating beautiful craftsman homes, we often use wood siding and consider it to be the best for both curb appeal and building. For the best of the best, we always use wood siding from Quebec-based Maibec.
Maibec Company Profile
Maibec Inc. was founded in 1970 in Quebec as a lumber manufacturer, and as the company’s operations expanded they began orientating their efforts into the personalization of homes. Maibec wanted to help build beautiful dream homes across North America, which inspired it’s creation of 2 more divisions within the company; wood sidings and horticultural mulches.
By now Maibec has grown into a company that prides itself in it’s products, and it’s ethical production processes. Maibec maintains it’s goal of zero waste because they produce timber, siding, shingles, and mulch, ensuring maximum use of each tree. Upon request, Maibec can even provide wood products that have a “FSC traceability chain” that can track the wood from forest floor to consumer. This is all thanks to their membership with the Forest Stewardship Council of Canada and ethically managed forests.
Siding Styles and Profiles
Maibec’s siding has often been described as the traditional cottage country look, but with 6 different profiles, and over 75 colours, the siding has the potential to transform any home into a beautiful work of art and fit into any setting.
The horizontal lap siding comes in a variety of widths and in 5 style profiles; contemporary, rabbeted bevel, cove, v-joint, and channel. But it was the release of the em+ series siding that made this product above and beyond other wood siding products. The em+ series features end matched tongue and groove joints around the entire board that firmly secures the top, bottom, and sides. This new system makes installing a snap, it gives a cleaner appearance with hidden fasteners, and reduces waste as less cutting is required since board ends can join anywhere along the wall and not just on a furring strip.
Not to be outdone by the new products, the Board and Batten option features a 10″ board and 2″ batten to give the wall the rustic barn look. And Maibec is the largest manufacturer of eastern white cedar shingles in North America, producing them in many styles, sizes, strips, and colours.
Today’s main concern of consumers in regards to siding is the selection and wanting to avoid too much of one thing, and not surprisingly, many people are not interested in the full board and batten look of their home as it would give a barn appearance. Which is why Maibec has put exceptional work into their style inspirations and colour palettes, providing many options to entice consumers to mix and match siding styles and colours to give the appearance they desire.
Colour and Moulding Options
To provide the level of personalization desired, Maibec created 4 colour palettes, each inspired from different home environments. Referred in all of their marketing material as colour inspirations, each palette is designed to mix and match for the main siding colour, accent colour, and trim colour.
The Nautilia inspirations is a 19 colour palette of blue’s and greys are reminiscent of warm summer breezes and sunny lake homes. Balsamia inspirations is a 19 colour palette of deep blues and greens are evocative of a forests tranquility. Provincia inspirations is an 18 colour palette of pale whites and yellows that remind you of rolling hills and lush countryside. And finally Terra inspirations is a 19 colour palette of rich fall colours that reflect the changing beauty of surrounding woodlands. And if you cannot find what you are looking for in their colour palette, you can custom order your siding in a colour of your choice.
To accent the siding application, Maibec makes a large selection of mouldings in varying sizes and styles. The mouldings come in any colour from their palette, including custom orders. The trims are designed for any application (fascia, window/door, crown, corner, etc.).
My only concern so far is the architectural mouldings that feature more grooved casings. The casings come in a few sizes and styles for window and door mouldings that want extra detail, but these are made from finger-jointed pine, the same as indoor mouldings. Every carpenter and supplier I’ve spoken with would not be confident using that product in an exterior application for fear of water getting in the joints and accelerating wood rot. Better to stick to the solid wood mouldings.
Perceptions and Corrections
With the growing rate of people using vinyl siding in the last 30 years, a lot of negative press has been given to wood siding. Vinyl has been marketed as the product that lasts a lifetime and does not require repainting, won’t rot, have insect infestations, etc. I could write about everything wrong with vinyl siding, but let’s correct the perception of wood siding.
The Maibec pre-finished siding has been treated in it’s manufacturing process to fend off insects and fight moisture so well that they have attached a 50 year warranty on all Maibec siding products against wood rot. Given the age of most people when they consider re-siding their home, there is no need to worry about replacement in your lifetime.
No paint is going to last forever, and even vinyl colour will fade over time (worse is that it can’t be painted again), but the double stain treatment on Maibec wood is good for a 15 year warranty. Talking to contractors and painters alike, both agree that even though there are paint products that claim 20 years or more before wear and tear, no paint will last much more than 15 years. To put a positive spin on it, you get to redesign the colour of your home every 15-20 years.
The truth is that there are cheaper siding materials available and they all have a wide variety of benefits and drawbacks, but by all appearances, if you are looking for a traditional look with real wood grain you can see in the texture of the material, nothing is more genuine and eye-catching than wood siding from Maibec. As demonstrated in the photo below of the Tucker Construction Ltd. offices, Maibec wood siding makes an excellent compliment to architectural stone, timber work, and even a steel roof.