Siding Contractor in Austin, TX Built for Heat, Hail & Hill Country Homes

Hardboard lap siding and T1-11 plywood panels were made from wood fibers and veneers. Once water gets past the paint, they soak it up. The bottom edges swell, the faces delaminate, and the siding eventually turns soft and crumbles.

Builders used hardboard and T1-11 on a huge number of homes during the 1980s–90s boom in North and Southwest Austin. These boards are now 30 to 40 years old. Austin's heavy rain bursts soak them, the summer heat bakes the paint until it cracks, and humid springs keep wet edges from drying out. Sprinklers and mulch beds piled against the walls speed it up. Pulling it off often uncovers sheathing rot or termite damage that no one could see beforehand.

• Swollen or flared bottom edges on lap boards
• Mushy spots that give under thumb pressure
• Paint peeling at butt joints and nail heads
• Wavy or delaminating panel faces
• Visible fungal growth or dark staining
• Gaps opening between boards

This is especially common in Jollyville, Wells Branch, Shady Hollow and older parts of Pflugerville and Southwest Austin. The worst damage tends to be on walls next to sprinklers, on north sides that stay shaded and damp, and along the lowest two courses near the ground.

Our fix: Remove the hardboard, check and replace rotted sheathing, put in a new water-resistive barrier, and install fiber cement or engineered wood with the right ground clearance.

Hail impacts crack or punch holes in vinyl, dent aluminum and metal, and chip or fracture fiber cement. Hits that look minor can still break the paint film or the substrate, which lets water reach the wall.

Central Texas is in a hail corridor, and supercells from March through June regularly drop quarter- to golf-ball-size stones. One storm can damage siding across an entire neighborhood in Pflugerville or Circle C Ranch in a few minutes. Vinyl that has gone brittle after years of UV breaks much more easily. Storm chasers usually show up within days, and partial replacements get tricky when the original profile or color has been discontinued.

• Holes or spiderweb cracks in vinyl panels
• Dents on aluminum siding, trim or gutters
• Chipped corners or spalled spots on fiber cement
• Spatter marks concentrated on one elevation
• Torn window screens and dented AC fins nearby
• Granules from the roof collected in gutters

We see heavy spring damage in Pflugerville, Manor, Avery Ranch and Buda, where many homes have vinyl or fiber cement on the sides and rear. West-facing walls usually take the most hits, since storms tend to move in from the west.

Our fix: Photograph and document the damage for your adjuster, then replace damaged courses or whole elevations, matching profile and color as closely as we can.

A kick-out flashing sends roof runoff away from the wall where a roof edge meets a sidewall. When it's missing, water runs down behind the siding every time it rains and rots the sheathing and framing without being seen.

During the 2000s–2020s, production builders in Austin's suburbs put up homes quickly. Kick-out flashing, proper roof-to-wall clearance and sealed cut edges were often skipped. Austin's rain comes in short, intense bursts, so a single storm can push gallons down a roof valley and into one spot on the wall. The damage builds for years before a stain or soft patch finally shows up inside.

• Streaking or staining below roof-wall intersections
• Swollen siding or trim beneath a roof edge
• Drywall stains or musty odor inside
• Peeling paint in a vertical stripe
• Soft sheathing when pressing on siding
• Siding cut tight against shingles

This is common in two-story tract homes in Falcon Pointe, Manor's Shadowglen, Sunfield in Buda and Del Valle subdivisions. It also shows up on west Austin customs that have complicated rooflines with lots of roof-to-wall transitions.

Our fix: Remove siding at the problem area, replace rotted sheathing, install kick-out flashing and step flashing correctly, and reinstall siding with proper clearance.

Paint and stain on south- and west-facing walls chalk, fade and peel years earlier than on shaded sides. Vinyl in the same spots can buckle, oil-can or even melt when reflected sunlight concentrates on it.

Austin's UV index sits at 10 to 11 or higher through the summer, and wall surfaces on long 100°F days get far hotter than the air. The darker charcoal and black colors that are popular in modern Austin designs absorb even more heat. Low-E windows on neighboring houses can focus sunlight onto a wall and distort vinyl that isn't rated for heat. Any material that isn't built for these conditions breaks down quickly.

• Chalky residue when you rub the wall
• Faded color on south and west elevations only
• Wavy, rippled or sagging vinyl panels
• Peeling or blistered paint on trim
• Cracked caulk lines that pulled away
• Bare wood showing on cedar siding

This shows up all over the area. It's most visible on newer homes in Mueller and Steiner Ranch with darker vinyl or painted panels, and on cedar-sided homes in Barton Creek and West Lake Hills where afternoon sun hits the walls.

Our fix: Use factory-finished fiber cement, heat-rated vinyl, or properly primed and painted materials, and choose colors and products that suit the wall's sun exposure.

Expansive clay soils swell when wet and shrink when dry, and the foundation moves with them. That movement racks the wall framing, which buckles siding, cracks fiber-cement planks, opens butt joints and tears caulk lines.

East of I-35, most of the ground is Houston Black and similar high shrink-swell clay. Austin's pattern of long droughts broken by heavy rain moves these soils a lot from season to season. Siding installed with too little clearance to grade, or with no room for movement, breaks up first. Poor drainage around the house makes every cycle worse.

• Diagonal cracks in fiber-cement planks
• Open or separated butt joints
• Caulk torn at corners and windows
• Siding bowing near the foundation line
• Doors and windows sticking seasonally
• Gaps at trim boards and corner posts

Most common in Del Valle, Manor, Pflugerville, Webberville and East Austin neighborhoods like Windsor Park. It tends to get worse after drought summers and the wet Octobers that follow.

Our fix: Replace cracked planks, re-detail joints and caulk, restore proper ground clearance, and coordinate with drainage or foundation repairs where movement is still happening.

Cedar and other wood siding gets attacked from both directions. Subterranean termites tunnel up from the soil, woodpeckers drill holes, and fungal rot spreads where the boards stay damp near mulch, patios or sills.

Austin's humid spring and fall keep wood wet, and subterranean termites, including Formosan pockets in Central Texas, thrive here. Homes along greenbelts get regular woodpecker damage to cedar. Older bungalows often have siding that sits only inches from the soil, which gives termites an easy way in.

• Mud tubes on foundation or siding
• Round holes or chiseled cavities in cedar
• Soft, crumbling boards at the wall base
• Rot at window sills and door trim
• Hollow sound when tapping boards
• Sawdust-like frass below siding

Common in Travis Heights, Bouldin Creek and Tarrytown bungalows, and in cedar homes near the Barton Creek and Bull Creek greenbelts in West Lake Hills and Rollingwood.

Our fix: Cut out damaged boards, replace them with matching cedar or durable fiber cement, raise clearances, and work alongside your pest professional.

Asbestos-cement shingles were commonly added over original wood siding from the 1940s through the 1960s. Intact shingles are fairly stable. Once they crack, break or get drilled, they can release fibers and need regulated handling.

Many central Austin homes were re-sided with asbestos-cement during the post-war decades. Seventy years of hail, ground movement and heat-cold swings have cracked a lot of them. Texas DSHS rules govern how they're removed, so trying to tear them off yourself is risky and may not be legal.

• Rigid, brittle shingles with a dimpled texture
• Cracked or broken corners
• Shingles about 12 by 24 inches with straight edges
• Missing pieces exposing older wood beneath
• Chalky gray surface under paint

We find these on 1920s–50s homes in Hyde Park, Crestview, East Austin and Clarksville, usually installed over the original wood drop siding.

Our fix: Stop any drilling or demolition. Arrange compliant removal under Texas DSHS rules, then re-side with materials suited to the home and any historic requirements.