Solid core siding is a much more rigid panel that offers many advantages over traditional non foam backed vinyl siding boards. Solid core siding is essentailly traditional vinyl siding with a solid core backing. The solid core is a foam material that gets laminated to the backside of the panels during the installation and creates much more rigidity than traditional vinyl siding products.
Pricing & Costs
Foam back siding is more expensive than traditional vinyl siding. As a rule of thumb, you can add a $1 per square foot to the material cost and $.50 per square foot to the installation cost. Therefore, consumers would be looking at spending, on average, an extra $1.50 per square foot for their project. Explore more insulated siding prices.
Straighter Walls
One of the big knocks against vinyl siding has always been that the boards don’t lay perfectly flat. This is especially problematic given the fact that wood frame homes rarely have perfectly flat walls. Many vinyl products resemble real wood siding, but with a curl at the bottom of each panel that shows if the board is pushed out even a little. Solid core panels lay much flatter on the walls and help tremendously with the overall look and appeal of the siding itself.
Better Insulation
Solid core siding makes a foam barrier around the entire home and helps provide better insulation for a home. Wall studs, as well as the bottom and top wall plates, break up the insulation in the exterior walls. Having an extra layer of foam insulation slows the rate at which heat or cold can enter a home. Contractors may argue the extent to which this helps the overall insulation of a home.
Better Energy Efficiency
This point is nearly identical to the insulation point but worth noting. Solid core products usually carry an R-value of 3 to 4, as opposed to the R-1 rating of traditional siding and fiber cement. R-value is a measure of how energy efficient a material is – the higher the R-value, the more energy efficient. However, it should be noted that many contractors discount just how much this will actually save an average household. Many solid core products do carry the Energy Star label that does carry a federal tax rebate.
Noise Reduction
The foam barrier that we discussed earlier also helps deaden some of the outside noise of a home. Exterior noise getting into a home can come from a number of sources, including the interior framing, the insulation, the walls, the windows, the doors, etc. Obviously the walls make up the majority of the space between the inside and outside and are therefore important in .
Resistant To Dents
Non foamed back vinyl siding is vulnerable to denting from hail, rocks, balls etc. The solid core siding is much more dent resistant. That’s not to say that the siding can’t be dented, but it will certainly be sturdier than the non foamed back options.
