Cedar is a popular material in Dallas siding installation for one reason: its unique and unmatched beauty. If you want to create a home that will catch the eye of people passing by, cedar is a siding that will create admiration without the overwhelming feel of stone siding. Unfinished it creates an unmistakable ambiance of warmth and aroma that only a natural wood can deliver. For more stylized effects, you can finish or stain the wood to any number of colors and appearances while maintaining cedar's beautiful texture.
Cedar Shake Siding in Dallas
In Dallas, cedar shake siding is the most popular from of cedar siding. Shake is made from splitting cedar logs with an axe to create manageable pieces of wood. Regular cedar siding is sawn an all sides. Using cedar shake siding in Dallas makes sense from a lumbering perspective, and it creates a nice texture for your siding installation.
Other less common types of cedar siding include panel siding (where cedar shingles are mounted on sheets of plywood to create a panelized look) and beveled cedar (siding made of cedar shingles of different thickness). Even the type of cedar tree you choose will have a big impact on your siding installation. Red cedar from the Pacific Northwest is a little more common; Eastern White Cedar imported from Quebec is more expensive, although it?s generally considered more beautiful and longer-lasting.
Maintaining Cedar Siding in Dallas
Cedar is one of the only woods that can be used as a viable siding material. Its natural ability to resist rot makes it better suited to endure rain and moist conditions. While treatments are often advised, even untreated cedar can withstand a good amount of water. Of course, proper maintenance is still needed to create a long-lasting siding installation. Dallas cedar siding should be re-sealed every couple years. You should also minimize the amount of tree and plant growth along the side of your home to increase the ventilation and reduce the time it will take for the cedar to dry out after it rains.
Cost of a Dallas Cedar Siding Installation
If cost is a huge concern, cedar siding may not be the answer for you, but it's far from prohibitively expensive. To give you some idea, the average vinyl siding installation is around $7,500 and your cedar siding project will probably be somewhere in this neighborhood. On the other hand, it could cost as much as a stone siding installation which can often exceed $12,000. These numbers, though, are only averages. Depending on the size of your home, a Dallas cedar siding installation can range from as little as $5,000 to more than $10,000.
Project Length of a Dallas Cedar Siding Installation
Unfortunately, installing cedar siding is labor intensive. Your Dallas cedar siding contractor may spend up to a week or more pounding his or her hammer against your home. Usually homeowners try to arrange it so this work is done during the day when the house is, hopefully, empty. In fact, the cost of labor plays at least as big of a role in the overall cost of your siding installation as the material itself. The good news is that labor costs can vary more between different Dallas cedar siding companies than the price of building materials. This means if you do your homework and talk to multiple contractors you can frequently find a bid considerably lower than competition. Still, it never pays in the long run to install siding with inferior workmanship. Make sure whoever you hire can be trusted to do the job right.

Marcus Pickett is a professional freelance writer for the home remodeling industry. He has published more than 600 articles on both regional and national topics within the home improvement industry.