Siding Installation & Repair in Totowa, NJ

Siding on Totowa Houses Today

Totowa’s housing is mostly detached single-family homes, about 71% of all units, and more than half of the borough’s homes were built before 1960. The 1950s alone account for about 28% of the borough’s homes. Houses of that age usually started with wood clapboard or shingles and have been covered at least once since. When we start a Totowa siding job, here is what we commonly find:

• Aluminum siding from the 1960s and 1970s, faded and chalky, with dents from hail, ladders and lawn equipment.
• Cement shingles from the mid-1900s, which often contain asbestos and should be tested before they are cut or removed.
• Early vinyl that has become brittle and cracks easily in cold weather.
• Original wood trim and fascia hidden behind aluminum wrap, sometimes rotted where gutters overflowed.
• Additions sided in a different material or color than the original house.

Knowing what is on the wall, and what is under it, decides whether new siding can go over the old or whether a tear-off is needed.

Siding Options for Totowa Homes

We install and repair four siding materials, and each suits different Totowa houses:

• Vinyl: low upkeep and the most popular choice for postwar houses. Insulated vinyl adds stiffness and a little energy savings. See our vinyl siding page.
• Fiber cement: heavy, rigid and fire-resistant, with a painted finish that looks like wood clapboard. A good fit on older homes where you want a traditional look.
• Engineered wood: lighter than fiber cement, with a factory finish and the look of real wood.
• Aluminum: useful for repairing existing aluminum walls and for wrapping trim.

On houses with additions, matching matters. An addition sided in a slightly different profile or color makes the whole house look patched together. Re-siding is the chance to bring the original house and every addition under one material, one profile and one color, with matching corner posts, window trim and soffit, so the house reads as a single design from the street.

Because about three in four Totowa homes are lived in by their owners, many of our customers here choose based on how long they plan to stay. We explain the trade-offs between cost, upkeep and appearance plainly, without pushing the most expensive option.

Permit Rules for Siding in Totowa

New Jersey treats repair or replacement of existing siding on one- and two-family dwellings as ordinary maintenance. Unlike the roofing rule, this one does not require the house to be detached, so re-siding a Totowa single-family home, two-family home or attached townhouse needs no construction permit. Polypropylene siding is the exception under the state rule.

Soffit, Fascia and Trim

On Totowa’s postwar houses, the soffit and fascia often need more attention than the walls. Many were wrapped in aluminum decades ago, and the wood behind the wrap has rotted where gutters overflowed or ice dams pushed water back under the roof edge. We open suspect areas, replace rotted fascia boards and rafter tails, and finish with vented soffit and aluminum fascia so the attic can breathe. Our soffit and fascia repair page explains that work.

Repair versus full re-siding

If a storm or a fallen limb damaged one wall, a repair is often the sensible choice, though matching faded aluminum or a discontinued vinyl color can be hard. When several walls are cracked, loose or faded, or when the trim behind them is rotting, a full re-side usually makes more sense. Read more on our siding repair page.

Siding Questions from Totowa Homeowners

More Siding and Roofing Help in Totowa

Our Totowa roofing contractor page covers all of our work in the borough, our Passaic County page covers the wider area, and our main siding services in New Jersey page covers every material we install.

Siding projects often go hand in hand with roofing and gutters, so see roof repair in Totowa, roof replacement in Totowa and gutters in Totowa.

We also install siding nearby, including siding in Paterson, siding in Woodland Park and siding in Little Falls.