WHAT IS VINYL SIDING?
Vinyl siding is plastic exterior cladding for a house, used for decoration and weatherproofing, as an alternative to traditional wood siding or other materials such as aluminum.
It is an engineered product, manufactured primarily from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, resin, giving vinyl siding its name. Vinyl siding was introduced to the exterior cladding market in the late 1950s.
The innovation came with the ability to develop and produce a highly cost-effective, durable, and aesthetically pleasing product.
The result is today's vinyl siding- the most popular cladding in the United States and Canada for new construction and remodeling.
Vinyl siding today.
The vinyl siding industry has made numerous improvements in formulation that allowed the product to be produced faster, resist impacts and allow an unlimited range of colors. Co-extrusion, electronic color blending, and smooth finishes without harsh light reflection were huge steps forward. Those improvements also led to the development of a wide range of decorative architectural trim and accessories.
Options for profile design, colors, and architectural trim and accessories continue to grow, and now vinyl siding can be used to achieve virtually any architectural style.
Vinyl siding has the advantage of simple maintenance. It never requires painting, staining, or sealing and can be cleaned with mild soap and water. This lowers the cost of maintaining vinyl siding and ensures that it is not responsible for releasing harmful solvents into the environment, as typically happens with painting and staining.
With the ability to withstand high winds and a composition that resists heat, cold, and moisture, vinyl siding retains its great looks over time. Warranties offered by vinyl siding manufacturers are among the longest and strongest in the cladding industry.
Modern manufacture.
Today, vinyl siding is manufactured by coextrusion. Approximately 80 percent of its weight is PVC resin, with the remaining 20 percent being composed of other ingredients that establish color, opacity, gloss, impact resistance, flexibility, and durability.
Two layers of PVC are laid down in a continuous extrusion process; the top layer is weatherable capstock, which comprises about a third of the siding thickness. This capstock includes about 10% titanium dioxide, which is a pigment and provides resistance to breakdown from UV light.
The lower layer, known as substrate, is typically about 15% ground limestone (which is largely calcium carbonate). The limestone reduces cost, and also balances the titanium dioxide, keeping both extrusion streams equally fluid during manufacturing.
Sustainability.
To meet today's environmental challenges, vinyl siding is engineered for sustainability. The ability to immediately return scrap and off-specification materials (regrind) directly into the manufacturing process results in virtually no manufacturing waste.
