LP SmartSide is treated engineered wood siding built to handle what Wisconsin does to a house — freeze-thaw cycling, driving rain, and summer hail. The Exteriors Company installs LP SmartSide lap, panel, shake, and trim across Madison and Dane County from our shop on S. Stoughton Road, and we handle the whole exterior, not just the walls.
LP SmartSide is engineered wood siding made from aspen wood strands bonded with resins and waxes, then treated with zinc borate and sealed under a resin-saturated overlay. LP calls this the SmartGuard® process, and it’s what separates the product from ordinary wood siding: the protection is built through the board, not painted onto it.
That matters more in Dane County than it does in most markets. Our walls go through roughly a hundred freeze-thaw cycles a year, and the failure pattern on older wood and hardboard siding here is always the same — moisture gets behind the paint film at a butt joint, freezes, and works the board apart from the inside. SmartSide resists cupping and splitting through that cycle, and it holds up on the south and west elevations that take the worst of the afternoon sun and wind-driven rain off the lakes.
Zinc borate and water-resistant waxes are pressed into every strand during manufacturing, so a cut end or a nail penetration isn’t an open door for rot the way it is with untreated wood.
LP’s limited warranty covers hail damage up to 1.75 inches in diameter on properly installed siding — coverage vinyl and fiber cement generally don’t offer. After a Dane County storm, that’s the difference between a claim and an argument.
Cedar texture and brushed smooth finishes in lap, panel, shake, and nickel gap. It reads as real wood from the curb because the substrate was engineered to hold deep grain.
Sixteen-foot lengths mean fewer seams across a wall, and the boards cut and nail like wood. Less time on your house, fewer joints to maintain.
Every warranty claim on engineered wood siding turns on installation: fastener placement, clearance to grade, flashing at penetrations, and how the butt joints were handled. LP’s coverage assumes the boards went on to spec. We’ve been installing exteriors out of Madison since [YEAR], and siding is a core trade here, not a sideline we subcontract out.
Correct fastener schedule, proper clearances, and flashed penetrations. We document the install so a warranty claim years from now has something behind it.
Our crews work out of 2117 S Stoughton Road. You get a start date, a crew lead’s cell number, and a project manager who walks the job with you at the end.
Siding rarely fails alone. When the wall is open we can address sheathing, flashing, gutters, and window trim in the same scope instead of handing you three contractors and three warranties.
We walk the full exterior, photograph failures, and check what's happening behind the siding at penetrations and grade.
Full-size samples at your house, in your light. Profile, texture, and either an ExpertFinish color or a paint plan.
Line-item pricing naming every component: product line, trim, house wrap, flashing, and quantity. No allowances you can't see.
We pull the municipal permit and stage material. Most homes take 5 to 10 working days depending on size and detail.
Magnet sweep, final walkthrough with your project manager, and we register your LP warranty for you.
We walk the full exterior, photograph failures, and check what's happening behind the siding at penetrations and grade.
Full-size samples at your house, in your light. Profile, texture, and either an ExpertFinish color or a paint plan.
Line-item pricing naming every component: product line, trim, house wrap, flashing, and quantity. No allowances you can't see.
We pull the municipal permit and stage material. Most homes take 5 to 10 working days depending on size and detail.
Magnet sweep, final walkthrough with your project manager, and we register your LP warranty for you.
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Forty to fifty years is realistic in Dane County when it’s installed correctly and the finish is maintained. The substrate carries a 50-year prorated warranty. What shortens that number here is almost always water: siding installed too close to grade, unflashed penetrations, or a finish that’s gone ten years past due for repainting.
For most Madison homes, yes — but it costs more. LP SmartSide holds up to hail that cracks vinyl in cold weather, gives you an authentic wood grain vinyl can’t match, and carries hail coverage in its warranty. Vinyl’s advantages are real too: lower cost and no repainting. If budget is the deciding factor, vinyl is a legitimate answer and we install it.
Most Dane County projects run $9 to $14 per square foot installed, or about $22,000 to $32,000 for a typical 2,000-square-foot two-story. Tear-off complexity, trim detail, profile, and whether you choose prefinished or primed boards move that number more than anything else.
It depends which version you buy. Primed boards are painted after installation and need repainting roughly every 10 to 15 years. ExpertFinish prefinished siding arrives with a factory-applied finish in one of 16 colors, warranted for 15 years against peeling, chipping, and excessive fading — no painting at install.
If hail or wind caused it and your policy covers those perils, often yes. Age and wear never are. LP’s own limited warranty also covers hail up to 1.75 inches on properly installed siding, so on a marginal claim you may have two avenues. Document the damage before repairing anything, file within your policy window, and have someone who knows siding meet the adjuster — initial scopes routinely miss damage on the elevations that took the hit.
Most Dane County homes take 5 to 10 working days from tear-off to final walkthrough. Larger homes, heavy trim detail, or sheathing repairs extend that. We give you a real start date at the estimate rather than a season
Tell us about your house and we’ll come look at it. No pressure, no same-day-discount routine — just a written scope with real numbers. We serve Madison and all of Dane County, and we respond to most requests within one business day.
