What a Siding Contractor Website Needs

What the site is actually for

Re-siding a house is a large purchase most homeowners make once. They research for weeks, often through the wet months, and start calling in spring.

By the time they contact anyone, they have compared materials, looked at houses like theirs, and formed an idea of the cost, sometimes a wrong one.

A siding contractor's site has two jobs: to convince that homeowner you do their kind of house well, and to gather enough about the house to make the first conversation useful.

The materials, explained plainly

Most homeowners arrive knowing the names of the materials and little else. A page comparing them honestly is the most useful thing on the site.

• Vinyl: the lowest cost, little upkeep, and fixed in the colour it arrives.
• Fibre cement: heavier, resistant to fire and rot, painted or prefinished.
• Engineered wood: the look of wood, lighter to handle, paint needs maintaining.
• Cedar: natural and handsome, with the most upkeep and often the highest price.
• Metal: durable and modern, often used as an accent on newer homes.

The second is the one homeowners ask about most and understand least. A page explaining why it costs more than vinyl and takes longer to install saves the estimator that conversation every week.

Projects shown by material

A gallery of eighty unlabelled photographs tells a homeowner you have done a lot of work, not whether you have done their kind of work.

Sort projects by material and label each with the house type, area and colour, since people look for houses like their own: a 1970s split-level in a named suburb, fibre cement in dark grey.

Before and after pairs do the most work, taken from the same spot. A close-up of corners and window trim shows the finishing, which is where careful installers differ from quick ones.

If you re-side townhouse complexes, give strata work its own section, with the things councils ask about: insurance, references from other complexes and how residents are kept informed.

An estimate request that asks for photographs

A form with a name, an email and a message box tells you almost nothing about the house.

Ask for the address or postal code, the age of the house, the number of storeys, the current siding and the material they are considering.

Then ask for photographs of each side, plus close-ups of any damage, and make sure the form accepts several large files from a phone. Most homeowners can take them in five minutes.

The photographs show size, height, access and condition. With them you can give a rough range by email, rule out jobs you do not take, and bring the right samples to the visit.

A worked example

A siding company with three crews working across the North Shore had one long gallery and a contact form asking for a name, an email and a message.

The estimator drove to every enquiry, including single walls, sheds, and steep lots where access changed the price completely. Many homeowners first heard the price difference between materials at their own kitchen table.

The rebuild sorted projects by material and house type, added a plain comparison of the five materials, and replaced the form with one asking for four photographs and the material of interest.

The estimator now sees the house before getting into the truck, brings samples of the right material, and can tell some people by email that the job is not a fit.

What sits behind the siding

The parts nobody sees decide whether a job lasts, and explaining them is how a careful contractor stands apart.

On the coast, many walls are now built with a rainscreen: a narrow gap behind the siding, often made with strips of wood, that lets water drain and the wall dry. Say whether your price includes it.

Show the membrane, the flashing over windows and doors, and the trim details, briefly, with a photograph of each.

Then say what happens when you find rot under the old siding, which is common on older houses: how it is assessed, how the homeowner is told and how it is priced.

Warranty, in plain words

Siding comes with two warranties, and homeowners routinely confuse them.

The manufacturer's warranty covers the material and is often long, with conditions in the small print. Some depend on installation following the manufacturer's instructions, and some must be registered.

The workmanship warranty is yours and usually much shorter. Say exactly how long it lasts, what it covers, whether it transfers if the house is sold, and how to make a claim.

Show proof of liability insurance and workers' compensation coverage alongside it. A homeowner wants to know the company will still be answering the phone when the warranty matters.

Where you work and when

Name the towns and neighbourhoods you cover, in text rather than only on a map, and say whether you travel further for larger jobs.

Then be honest about timing. Spring and summer fill early, and wet or cold days limit painting and caulking, which need dry conditions above a minimum temperature.

State your current lead time and when it was last updated, such as booking from mid-June as of this week, so a homeowner planning a summer project calls in time.

The counter-case

Not every siding business needs all of this at once.

A one-crew contractor working mostly by referral can start smaller: the materials page, a sorted gallery and the estimate form. Referred homeowners already trust you; they mainly need to see the work.

A contractor working mostly for builders has a different audience, and the site serves more as a credential than as a source of enquiries.

But any contractor who wants homeowners to call needs to show the work by material and see the house before the visit.

What to build first

1. Write a materials page in plain language.
2. Sort the gallery by material and house type.
3. Ask for photographs in the estimate form.
4. Name every town you serve.
5. Explain the rainscreen and what happens with rot.
6. State your workmanship warranty in writing.
7. Post your current lead time, updated monthly.

Step three changes the estimator's week more than anything else on the list, because every set of photographs is a drive that can be planned, shortened or skipped.

The same estimate-from-photographs approach for exterior cleaning is covered in what a pressure washing business website needs.

Frequently asked questions

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