Siding repair cost
Repairing siding costs $300 to $2,500, typically $800. Replacing a few vinyl panels is a two-hour job. Opening a wall because the panels were hiding rot is a different project.
National average
$800
per project
On this page
- What it costs
- The colour match problem
- What is usually behind the damage
- Repair or re-side
- Frequently asked questions
- Will insurance cover it?
- Can I replace vinyl panels myself?
- How do I find where the water is getting in?
- Is it worth repairing 25 year old vinyl?
- The contractor wants to re-side the whole house for a small damaged area.
Repairing siding costs $300 to $2,500, typically around $800. Replacing a few damaged vinyl panels is a two-hour job. Opening a wall because the panels were hiding rot is a different project, and it is the one that decides whether a repair was the right call.
What it costs
| Job | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Replacing a few vinyl panels | $200 to $600 |
| Replacing a section, one elevation | $600 to $2,500 |
| Repairing fiber cement boards | $400 to $1,200 |
| Repairing wood siding, splice and finish | $500 to $2,000 |
| Repairing stucco cracks | $8 to $25 per linear foot |
| Patching a stucco elevation | $1,500 to $6,000 |
| Re-caulking around windows and trim | $400 to $1,200 |
| Replacing trim or corner boards | $8 to $25 per linear foot |
| Sheathing repair behind the siding | $3 to $10 per sq ft |
| Framing repair, rotten stud or sill | $500 to $4,000 |
| Replacing house wrap on one elevation | $1 to $3 per sq ft |
| Storm or impact damage, insurance job | varies, see below |
The colour match problem
This is the practical reason a siding repair often becomes a re-side of one wall.
Vinyl fades. A panel from the same manufacturer in the same nominal colour, fitted next to fifteen-year-old siding, will not match. Sometimes the colour is discontinued entirely.
What contractors do about it:
- Take panels from a hidden elevation — behind a garage, under a deck — and use the new panels there. This is the standard trick and it works well.
- Re-side one full elevation so the mismatch falls at a corner, where the eye accepts it.
- Accept the mismatch on a rear wall nobody sees.
Keep leftover siding from an original installation. A bundle in a garage rafter is worth several hundred dollars fifteen years later.
What is usually behind the damage
Siding is a rain screen, not a seal. Water gets behind it in normal use and is meant to drain. Damage matters mainly because of what it lets in.
Impact. A ladder, hail, a strimmer, a football. Cosmetic, and worth fixing before the opening lets water in behind.
Water at a penetration. Around a hose bib, a dryer vent, a light. The siding looks fine and the sheathing behind it is soft. This is the common one.
Missing kick-out flashing. Where a roof edge meets a wall. Water runs down the roof, past the wall, and behind the siding, for years. The visible sign is a stain low on that wall, or nothing at all until it is opened.
Wind. Vinyl unlocks and pulls loose, usually at a corner or a gable.
Rot from behind, on wood siding with no rainscreen, where the back face has never been able to dry.
If a repair reveals wet or soft sheathing, stop and find out why before closing it back up. Replacing the sheathing without fixing the source repeats the whole thing in four years.
Repair or re-side
Repair when the damage is localised, the rest of the siding is sound and the colour can be matched or hidden.
Re-side when:
- More than about a quarter of one elevation is affected
- The siding is past its life and repairs are becoming annual
- The colour is unmatchable and the damage is on a visible wall
- Opening the wall reveals that the house wrap is missing, torn or was never taped
- The house is being insulated or the windows replaced anyway
The last one matters more than it sounds. Replacing windows and re-siding in the same project means the window flashing can be integrated with the house wrap properly, which is the only way it is actually right. Doing them years apart guarantees a compromise at every opening.
Frequently asked questions
Will insurance cover it?
Hail and wind damage usually yes, subject to the deductible, and insurers will often pay for one elevation rather than the whole house even when matching is impossible. Some states have matching statutes that require them to do better. Rot, wear and gradual water damage are excluded everywhere.
Can I replace vinyl panels myself?
Yes, with a zip tool, which unlocks the interlock without damaging the panel. It is a genuinely approachable repair. Getting the replacement panel is usually the hard part.
How do I find where the water is getting in?
Look above the damage, not at it. Water travels. Start with the nearest penetration, then the roof-wall junction above, then the window head flashing. A hose test from the top down, one area at a time, is how professionals find it.
Is it worth repairing 25 year old vinyl?
If it is sound and the colour can be handled, yes, for a few hundred dollars. Vinyl lasts 30 to 40 years and there is no virtue in replacing serviceable cladding.
The contractor wants to re-side the whole house for a small damaged area.
Get a second opinion. It may be the honest answer if the wrap behind is missing, and it may be an upsell. The question to ask is what specifically they found behind the siding, and to ask for photographs.
Read next
Exterior trim replacement cost$8 to $25per linear ftExterior trim costs $8 to $25 a linear foot installed. It is the first thing on a house to rot and the last thing anyone budgets for, and it always fails at the end grain nobody looks at.
House wrap cost$0.50 to $2per sq ftHouse wrap costs $0.50 to $1.50 a square foot installed. It is a fraction of a re-siding job and it is the layer that decides whether the wall behind the siding stays dry.
How long does siding last$500 to $1,000per squareVinyl lasts 30 to 40 years, fiber cement 40 to 60, brick a century. Siding rarely fails all at once: it goes at the details first, at the trim, the caulk and the missing flashing.
Exterior house painting cost$200 to $500per sq ftPainting a house exterior costs $2.00 to $5.00 per square foot of wall. A two-storey house costs up to 50% more per foot, and the reason is staging rather than paint.
Vinyl siding cost$500 to $1,300per squareVinyl siding costs $500 to $1,300 per square installed depending on grade. Panel thickness is what stops a wall looking wavy, and it is where the money is best spent.