Lynden Siding Why We're Writing This
If you've priced out siding in Lynden, vinyl has probably come up. It's the most commonly installed siding material in the country, it's inexpensive, and plenty of homes wear it just fine. We're not here to tell you vinyl siding is a scam or that everyone who installs it is doing you wrong. We're here to explain why, after years of exterior work in Whatcom County, we made the decision not to install it ourselves — and to give you the honest trade-offs so you can make your own call with your eyes open.
This page isn't a sales pitch dressed up as an article. It's the same conversation we'd have with a neighbor who asked us over the fence.
What Vinyl Siding Actually Gets Right
Credit where it's due. Vinyl siding earned its market share honestly:
- Low upfront cost. It's typically the cheapest siding option per square foot, materials and labor combined.
- Low maintenance in mild conditions. A rinse with a garden hose keeps it looking decent in a lot of climates.
- No painting required. The color is baked into the plastic, so you're not repainting on a cycle — at least not by choice.
- Fast installation. Panels go up quickly, which keeps labor costs down.
For a lot of homeowners in drier, more moderate climates, that combination works out fine for years. The problem is that Lynden isn't that climate.
Where It Struggles in Whatcom County's Climate
Moss Season Is Longer Here Than People Expect
Lynden sits in a corner of the state that stays damp for a good chunk of the year, and shaded north- and west-facing walls barely dry out between rain events all winter and into spring. Vinyl's overlapping panel design creates horizontal ledges and butt joints that trap moisture and organic debris — exactly what moss, algae, and mildew need to take hold. Once it's established behind the laps, a hose-down only cleans the surface; it doesn't reach what's growing in the seams.
Driving Rain Finds the Gaps
Vinyl siding is installed as a rain-screen system by design — it's not meant to be fully watertight on its own. That's normally fine, because the housewrap behind it is supposed to do the real waterproofing work. But in wind-driven rain, which this area gets plenty of off the Fraser Valley and Georgia Strait weather systems, water gets pushed harder into those laps and joints than the system was designed to shrug off in a calmer climate. When the housewrap or flashing details underneath aren't perfect — and after enough freeze-thaw cycles and UV exposure, seals and tape adhesives do degrade — that moisture has somewhere to go: into the sheathing.
Salt Air Accelerates Everything
Lynden isn't beachfront, but Whatcom County's proximity to the Salish Sea means salt-laden air reaches inland further than people assume, especially on windier days. Salt exposure doesn't melt vinyl, but it does accelerate the breakdown of fasteners, trim screws, and any exposed metal flashing and J-channel faster than in a landlocked climate. Vinyl itself is chemically inert, but the hardware holding your whole wall assembly together isn't.
The Installation Sensitivity Problem
This is the part most homeowners never hear about until something looks wrong. Vinyl siding is a temperature-reactive material — it expands and contracts significantly with heat and cold, more than fiber cement or wood. That means it has to be installed "hung," not nailed tight, with room to move in its track. Nail it too snug and you get buckling and waviness within a season or two, especially on south- and west-facing walls that see the most sun. Nail it too loose and wind gets underneath it and rattles or pulls panels off in a storm.
Correctly installed vinyl can handle this. The issue is that the margin for error is small, the fastening technique isn't intuitive to crews used to other materials, and a huge share of vinyl siding on the market is installed by whoever quotes the lowest number — not necessarily the crew that nails every course with the right slack and the right fastener placement. You often can't tell the difference by looking at the wall the day it's finished. You find out two summers later.
Fading, Chalking, and the Color Ceiling
Vinyl's color runs all the way through the panel, which sounds like an advantage — and it is, compared to a coating that can peel. But UV exposure still breaks down the pigment and the plastic surface over time. Darker colors fade faster and can also cause the panels to absorb more heat, which accelerates warping. Most vinyl siding will chalk and dull noticeably within 10-15 years, and once it fades, there's no repainting your way back to the original color without real prep work, because standard paint doesn't bond well to vinyl without the right primer. You're largely locked into whatever color you picked and however it happens to age.
What's Really Happening Behind the Panel
The biggest risk with any siding isn't really about the face material — it's about what happens when moisture gets behind it. Vinyl is a floating, non-rigid panel system with no structural stiffness of its own. If water does get past the laps and the drainage plane underneath isn't performing, there's often no early visual warning. Vinyl doesn't stain, cup, or show water spotting the way wood-based products do, so trapped moisture can sit against the sheathing and framing for a long time before anyone notices — usually when a panel is pulled for a repair, or when rot finally shows up somewhere else on the wall.
Cost Over the Life of the Siding
Sticker price is only half the story. Here's how the honest math tends to break down over a typical ownership period:
| Factor | Vinyl Siding | James Hardie Fiber Cement |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront material + install cost | Lowest of common siding options | Moderate to higher |
| Typical realistic lifespan (PNW conditions) | 15-25 years before warping, fading, or moisture issues show up | 30-50 years with correct installation and maintenance |
| Repainting needed | Not designed for repainting; color fades permanently | ColorPlus factory finish holds color for decades; can be repainted when desired |
| Impact and wind resistance | Can crack in cold weather impacts; can be pulled loose in high wind if under-fastened | Rigid, non-combustible, engineered for higher wind ratings |
| Moisture behavior | Relies entirely on the drainage plane behind it; hides trapped moisture | More dimensionally stable; less prone to hidden warping from moisture |
| Resale perception | Viewed as a budget/entry-level upgrade in most markets | Frequently cited as a top return-on-investment exterior upgrade |
None of this means vinyl is a bad product in the abstract. It means that in a marine climate with this much sustained moisture exposure, the trade-offs stack up differently than they would in a drier region.
Why We Standardized on James Hardie Instead
We stopped installing vinyl, LP SmartSide, and the primed wood products years ago, and we standardized on James Hardie fiber cement for every job we take on. A few honest reasons:
- It's non-combustible. Fiber cement doesn't burn, melt, or feed a fire the way vinyl and wood-based products can.
- It's dimensionally stable. It doesn't expand and contract with temperature the way vinyl does, so it holds its line without buckling.
- The ColorPlus factory finish is baked and cured under controlled conditions, with a longer color-hold warranty than field-applied paint typically offers.
- Hardie's HZ5 product line is engineered for climates with exactly this kind of moisture exposure — freeze-thaw cycling, sustained humidity, and driving rain.
- The warranty is transferable, which matters when you eventually sell the house.
Correct installation still matters enormously with Hardie — it's not a magic material that forgives sloppy flashing or bad nailing. But the failure modes we see with fiber cement, installed to spec, are far less common and far less severe than what we've pulled off walls wearing vinyl.
Before You Choose Vinyl, Ask Yourself
- Does my wall get significant afternoon sun that could accelerate fading and heat warping?
- Are there shaded, damp sides of my house where moss already collects on the roof or fences?
- Am I planning to sell within 10-15 years, and how might buyers in this area perceive vinyl versus fiber cement?
- Has the contractor explained their fastening method for thermal movement, or just quoted a square-footage price?
- What's actually happening behind the panel — housewrap type, flashing details, and drainage plane — not just what color I'm picking?
Get an Honest Look at Your Home
Every house is different, and the right answer depends on your walls, your exposure, and your budget — not just a general rule. If you'd like a straight assessment of your siding situation in Lynden, we're glad to come take a look, walk the property with you, and give you a free, no-pressure estimate for what a James Hardie installation would actually involve on your home.