Home Improvement: Skirting Choices

When thinking about different ways to put skirting around your house, you need to think about what the actual job of the skirting is. Skirting has a few different responsibilities including the obvious ones like keeping animals from under your house, and keeping the floor temperatures warmer in the winter. To get the best return on your investment, you should keep those things in mind when considering the different possibilities.

There are also decorative aspects to consider when choosing the kind of skirting you plan on using. You want to pick something that will make your house look better, and that will not make it stick out like a sore thumb. There are many different things you can use for skirting. The most popular choices for skirting are wood, vinyl, and metal. Though each material has its own advantages and disadvantages, you should go with the choice that best fits your needs. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of materials you can use to skirt your house.

Wood skirting looks very nice, and can match up with almost any house. It is also easy to maintain by painting or sealing the wood, but paints and sealers are not cheap and the maintenance costs should be considered when planning to skirt your house with wood. Since it is much thicker than the other popular choices, wooden skirting will provide the best kind of insulation for the bottom of your house, too. Because it is much thicker though, it is heavy, and not very easy to work with. Think about if you had to do something under the house and how easy it would be to move the skirting. Even though wood is a personal favorite for many, there are other materials to use.

Vinyl skirting is very simple to install, lightweight, and affordable. Because it is so thin and lightweight, the “insulating factor” is not as good as you would get with other materials. Another good thing about vinyl siding is it requires very little maintenance, and will not rot away as fast as wood or metal. It can also be recycled, making it the top choice for those who care about the environment.

Metal skirting is more expensive than vinyl siding, and can even offer the same (or even better) resistance to rotting away when compared to vinyl or wood siding. If you decide to go with a metal skirting material, make sure it is made of a non ferrous metal, so it does not rot away. Non ferrous metals are the ones that a magnet will not stick to. Lightweight metal panels can be removed and replaced fairly easily if there are any repairs need to be done under the house, also.

So now you know a few of the most popular material choices, and a little bit about the good and bad things about using each one. Hopefully you have enough information to make an informed decision on which type of skirting to put around your house. Though that choice is completely up to you, one thing that all of these materials have in common is that when used and installed properly it that they can enhance the beauty of your house, as well as aid in lowering your utility bills when it comes to heating and cooling.