Clad cleanly.
Squares and linear feet of siding for any house. Accounts for gables, openings, and typical 10-15% waste by material type.
How we calculated this
Wall area is the perimeter of the house times the average wall height. Perimeter means the sum of all exterior wall lengths, for a simple rectangular house, just 2 × (length + width). For houses with offsets, bays, or wings, add each wall length separately.
Gable triangles (the triangular ends of a house with a gable roof) are added separately because the math is different. A gable is half of a rectangle: (base × rise) ÷ 2. Gable size depends on roof pitch and house width: 30 sq ft is typical for a small gable on a narrow house; 100 sq ft is large (steep pitch on a wide house). Hip roofs have no gables.
Openings (doors and windows) are subtracted using an average of 20 square feet each. This is a compromise: exterior doors are about 21 sq ft, standard windows are 15-18 sq ft, large picture windows are 25-35 sq ft. For more accuracy, count large windows as two.
Waste factor varies by material. Vinyl lap siding has panels 12 feet long with butt-joint ends: minimal waste (10%). Fiber cement (like James Hardie) comes in 12-foot planks with similar waste. Wood clapboard has more cuts and grain matching: 15%. Engineered wood (LP SmartSide) falls in between at 12%.
Siding is sold by 'square': 100 square feet of coverage. One carton of vinyl siding covers 2 squares (200 sq ft). Fiber cement comes in cartons that cover about 1.5 squares per box. The calculator rounds up to the nearest whole square when ordering.
Not included in this calculator: soffit, fascia, house wrap, insulation, fasteners, corner posts, starter strip, or finish trim pieces. These typically add 15-25% to the total material cost. Budget for these separately when shopping. Also not included: the labor cost, which for professional installation runs $2-8 per sq ft depending on material and region.
Siding is measured in squares, but priced per square foot
The siding industry uses "squares" the same way roofing does: one square equals 100 square feet of wall coverage. A 2,000 square foot house exterior needs 20 squares. But when you shop for siding at a supply yard or big-box store, prices are listed per square foot. This creates a translation step that trips people up. A fiber cement siding priced at $8 per square foot costs $800 per square. If you need 20 squares, your material bill is $16,000 before labor or trim.
How we calculated these numbers▾
Wall area calculations use perimeter × height with standard deductions for openings (20 ft² per door, 15 ft² per window). Gable area uses the triangle formula. Pricing reflects 2026 installed costs from contractor associations and James Hardie, CertainTeed, and LP SmartSide distributor pricing. Waste factor of 10% applied for standard rectangular homes.
Measuring your walls
The tricky part is gable ends. Gable triangles add significant area on steep-pitched homes. A 30-foot-wide gable with a 6/12 pitch adds about 112 square feet per gable end. A ranch with hip roofs has no gables. A Colonial with two gable ends might add 200+ square feet to the total. The calculator above handles this if you enter your gable dimensions.
What siding costs installed
Composite illustration based on typical project dimensions, regional contractor pricing, and 2026 material costs. Not a specific real project.
Vinyl | Fiber cement | Cedar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Install cost (2,000 ft² home) | $6,000 to 16,000 | $12,000 to 26,000 | $16,000 to 32,000 |
| Fire rating | Melts (not rated) | Class A (1 hour) | Class C (limited) |
| Impact resistance | Cracks in cold | Excellent | Good |
| Can be painted? | No (color-through) | Yes (must be painted) | Yes (stain or paint) |
| Insurance discount? | Rarely | Often (fire rating) | Rarely |
Fiber cement is the contractor's default for new construction. Vinyl dominates the retrofit and budget market.
Panel siding and lap siding are different calculations
Lap siding, which covers vinyl, fiber cement, cedar, and clapboard, installs in overlapping horizontal courses. What matters is the exposure, meaning the visible height of each course after the overlap. Shiplap siding works the same way, with a milled rabbet setting the overlap instead of a simple lap. An 8-1/4 inch fiber cement board typically shows 7 inches, so it covers 7 square feet per 12 foot board rather than 8-1/4. Vinyl is named for its exposure directly: a D4 panel is a double 4 inch profile with 8 inches of exposure, and a D5 shows 10.
Panel siding is a different product entirely and it is where most estimating mistakes happen. T1-11 siding, board and batten, and most log siding come as 4 by 8, 4 by 9, or 4 by 10 sheets, so they are bought by the sheet rather than by the square. A 4 by 8 sheet covers 32 square feet, so a 1,200 square foot wall takes 38 sheets before waste. Because panels have to land on studs, the practical number is usually higher: cuts at corners and openings cannot be reused the way a lap course offcut can.
Sold as | Coverage | Order by | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vinyl lap (D4 or D5) | Boxes of 2 squares | 8 or 10 in exposure | Squares |
| Fiber cement lap | Boards, 12 ft | 7 in exposure typical | Squares, then boards |
| Cedar bevel or clapboard | Boards by the foot | 4 to 6 in exposure | Squares, then linear ft |
| T1-11 panel | 4x8, 4x9, 4x10 sheets | 32 to 40 ft² per sheet | Sheets |
| Board and batten | Sheets plus batten stock | 32 ft² plus battens at 12 to 24 in | Sheets and linear ft |
| Cedar shake | Bundles or panels | 25 ft² per bundle typical | Squares |
| Shiplap siding | Boards, tongue and groove | Face width less the lap | Squares, then linear ft |
How each family is sold and covered. Panel products are ordered in sheets; lap products are ordered in squares and converted by exposure.
Siding materials, honestly compared
Installed $/ft² | Life | The honest trade-off | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vinyl | $4 to 9 | 20 to 40 yr | Cheapest and lowest upkeep; can warp near heat |
| Aluminum siding | $5 to 10 | 30 to 40 yr | Dents permanently; mostly a repair market now |
| T1-11 panel | $4 to 9 | 20 to 30 yr | Cheap and fast; fails at the bottom edge if unsealed |
| Engineered wood siding | $6 to 12 | 25 to 40 yr | LP SmartSide and similar; better rot resistance than plywood |
| Board and batten vinyl | $5 to 10 | 20 to 40 yr | The look without the maintenance |
| Fiber cement, hardie plank | $8 to 16 | 40 to 50 yr | Heavy, needs specific tools, excellent longevity |
| Cedar shake or clapboard | $9 to 20 | 30 to 50 yr | Best appearance, wants stain every 5 to 8 years |
Installed cost per square foot, 2026 US averages. Life expectancy assumes the material is installed and maintained correctly, which for the wood products is a real condition rather than a formality.
A few notes the price table cannot carry. T1-11 siding is plywood or OSB with milled grooves, and its weakness is the bottom edge: left unprimed or in contact with grade, it wicks water and delaminates. Priming all six faces before installation and keeping 6 inches of clearance to soil is the difference between 15 years and 30. Engineered wood siding, sold as LP SmartSide and similar, is the modern answer to the same brief with resin treatment that resists exactly that failure.
Masonite siding deserves a specific mention because people search for it by name and often own it without knowing. It was a hardboard product widely installed from the 1980s through the 1990s, it swelled and rotted at the edges in wet climates, and it was the subject of a major class action settlement before being discontinued. If you have hardboard siding that is soft or mushrooming at the butt joints, that is what you are looking at, and patching rarely holds; it is a replacement conversation.
On the question people ask most about vinyl: yes, you can paint vinyl siding, with two conditions. The paint must be a vinyl-safe acrylic formulated for the purpose, and the colour must be no darker than the original. Vinyl expands with heat, and a dark colour on a substrate not engineered for it absorbs enough additional heat to warp the panels. Clean thoroughly, prime where the manufacturer calls for it, and expect 8 to 10 years before a repaint.
Installation: what goes under the siding
No matter which material you choose, the installation layers are the same. Sheathing (OSB or plywood) provides structure. House wrap (Tyvek or equivalent) provides the air and moisture barrier. Siding goes over the house wrap with a nailing pattern that allows drainage behind the cladding. Fiber cement boards are heavy (a 12-foot plank weighs 30+ pounds) and require two people to handle. Vinyl is light and clicks into a nailing hem, which makes it the most DIY-friendly siding material.
Siding installation cost per square foot
The installed price per square foot is the number contractors quote and the number you need for budgeting. It includes material, labor, house wrap, trim, and basic flashing. It does not include removal of old siding (add $1 to $3 per square foot if tear-off is needed).
Material/ft² | Labor/ft² | Total installed/ft² | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vinyl | $2 to 4 | $2 to 4 | $3 to 8 |
| Fiber cement (Hardie) | $3 to 6 | $4 to 7 | $6 to 13 |
| Engineered wood (LP) | $3 to 5 | $3 to 5 | $5 to 10 |
| Cedar lap | $5 to 9 | $4 to 7 | $8 to 16 |
| Aluminum | $2 to 4 | $3 to 5 | $4 to 8 |
Labor is 40-55% of the installed price for most siding types. Fiber cement labor is the highest because the boards are heavy and require precise face-nailing with caulked joints.
For a full cost analysis with 30-year total cost of ownership, see the cost to install siding guide. For the gutter and insulation calculators, use those tools alongside this one since all three are typically part of the same exterior renovation project.
Frequently asked
How many squares of siding do I need for a 2,000 sq ft house?
For a typical 2,000 sq ft two-story house with 140 ft perimeter, 9 ft walls, 2 gables, and 14 openings: about 19-21 squares of vinyl siding. A single-story home with the same square footage but larger footprint (250 ft perimeter) needs 22-25 squares. Use the calculator above for exact numbers.
What's a siding square?
One siding square equals 100 square feet of coverage, same unit as roofing. Siding is sold by the carton, which typically covers 2 squares (200 sq ft) for vinyl. Fiber cement and wood sidings are often sold by the piece or square foot instead, but the 'square' unit still helps with estimating.
Do I subtract windows and doors from my total?
The calculator subtracts 20 sq ft per opening automatically. This is a practical average: real doors are 21 sq ft, standard windows 15-18 sq ft, large windows 25-35 sq ft. For a kitchen with lots of large windows, manually count large ones as two openings. For houses with mostly small windows, don't adjust.
How do I measure a gable?
A gable is a triangle. Measure the base (width of the wall at ceiling level) and the rise (distance from the ceiling level to the peak of the roof). Area = (base × rise) ÷ 2. Typical residential gable: 24 ft base × 6 ft rise = 72 sq ft. Use the calculator's gable-size presets as a rough guide.
What's the cheapest siding material?
Vinyl is cheapest: $3-8 per sq ft installed. Then engineered wood ($4-10), fiber cement ($6-13), then cedar wood ($7-15). These are 2025-2026 installed prices including labor. Removing old siding adds $1-3 per sq ft. For a 2,000 sq ft project, total budget ranges from $6,000 for basic vinyl to $30,000 for premium fiber cement.
Do I need house wrap and insulation under the siding?
House wrap (like Tyvek) is recommended under all siding: it sheds liquid water while allowing vapor to escape. Required by most modern building codes. Exterior insulation (rigid foam) under siding is increasingly standard for energy efficiency, especially in colder climates. Neither is in this calculator.
How long does siding last?
Vinyl: 30-40 years typical. Fiber cement: 30-50 years. Cedar wood: 20-30 years (requires staining/painting every 3-7 years). Engineered wood: 25-40 years with maintenance. Warranty periods often don't reflect real life: replace when the old siding cracks, fades, warps, or shows water intrusion, not when the warranty expires.
Can I install siding over existing siding?
Vinyl siding can be installed over existing wood or vinyl siding in some cases, but it's not recommended: hides potential rot, adds 1-2" thickness to walls (messes with window and door trim), and limits the ability to inspect for damage. For a proper job, tear off old siding to the sheathing and re-install.
Sources
- Vinyl Siding Institute: Installation Manual - Panel exposure, coverage per square, and expansion allowance requirements
- James Hardie: Installation Instructions - Fiber cement lap exposure, fastening, and clearance to grade
- APA: Panel Siding Application - T1-11 and other plywood panel siding thickness, span, and edge sealing
- IRC 2021, Section R703: Exterior Covering - Water resistive barrier, flashing, and minimum clearance to grade
- LP Building Solutions: Engineered Wood Siding - Engineered wood substrate treatment and installation requirements
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