Understanding the Materials
Different Forms, Same Function
Siding and shingles perform the same structural function, protecting the frame of your home, but express it differently and require different finishing approaches.
Siding (horizontal lap, bevel, or board-and-batten) gives homes a crisp, architectural rhythm, often found on Craftsman, Victorian, and contemporary styles. Siding creates clean lines and defined shadow patterns that emphasize horizontal movement.
Wood shingles provide a softer, organic texture that weathers gracefully in coastal light, a hallmark of historic and shingle-style San Francisco Bay homes. Shingles create visual depth through their layered, irregular surface that catches light beautifully.
Both materials protect your home’s structure, but they move and breathe differently. Understanding these differences is critical to choosing finishes that enhance rather than damage these essential protective surfaces.
Paint vs. Stain: What’s Best?
Differences That Determine Longevity
The choice between paint and stain isn’t about aesthetics alone. It’s about understanding how different materials breathe, move, and interact with coatings.
1. Paint for Siding
Paint is suitable for wood siding, provided it’s maintained on a five-year cycle to prevent moisture intrusion and peeling. Regular repainting keeps the surface sealed and resilient against UV degradation, ensuring longevity of the underlying wood.
Paint creates a protective film that works well on relatively stable siding materials. It provides excellent color options, UV protection, and weather resistance when properly maintained.
2. Never Paint Shingles
Paint should never be applied to wood shingles. Unlike siding, shingles expand, contract, and flex as humidity changes. Paint forms a film that traps moisture underneathโleading to cracking, blistering, and premature rot. This is where so many homeowners unknowingly create maintenance nightmares.
3. Stain for Shingles
Instead, we recommend solid or semi-transparent stain systems for shingles. Stain penetrates the wood fibers rather than sitting on top, allowing the material to breathe while providing UV protection and color uniformity.
Over time, stain ages gracefully, wearing away softly rather than peeling, making re-coating far easier and less costly. This breathing characteristic is essential for shingles that constantly flex and move with weather changes.
Professional Siding & Shingle Services
Comprehensive Restoration and Protection
Our siding and shingle restoration services address the unique needs of each material while protecting your home’s structural integrity.
Our process typically includes pressure washing and surface cleaning to remove dirt, mildew, and oxidized coatings, scraping, sanding, and selective stripping of failing paint or stain, spot priming and repair of exposed wood or minor rot areas, application of appropriate coatings (paint for siding, stain for shingles), and ongoing maintenance recommendations to extend the life of the finish.
Each home is assessed individually. We evaluate the substrate type, exposure, age, and desired aesthetic to recommend the best product and maintenance plan for lasting protection.
Premier Residential Painting Company
Maintenance Planning
Exterior wood requires regular maintenance to perform optimally. We provide customized maintenance plans based on your specific materials, exposure, and environmental conditions.
Our maintenance recommendations include inspection schedules for early problem detection, cleaning and minor repair timelines, re-coating intervals based on your coating type and exposure, and priority areas that need more frequent attention.
Proactive maintenance prevents small issues from becoming expensive problems. A maintenance plan extends the life of your finishes and protects your home’s structural integrity.
The Bay Area Difference
Tailored Solutions for Varied Microclimates
From the fog and salt air of the coast to the sunny microclimates of the East Bay hills, local conditions vary dramatically. Our team understands how marine air, UV exposure, and seasonal moisture affect siding and shingles differently in each neighborhood.
Coastal homes face salt air and constant moisture that require specific products and maintenance intervals. Inland homes endure intense summer sun and temperature extremes that demand UV-resistant coatings and different prep techniques.
That’s why we tailor our prep and coating systems to your home’s specific environmentโensuring resilience, beauty, and structural protection year-round.
Cookie-cutter approaches fail in the Bay Area’s diverse conditions. Our localized expertise ensures your finishes perform optimally wherever you live.
Shingles + Siding Staining Services
Satisfaction Guaranteed
Why Arana Craftsman Painters?
For 21 years, Arana Craftsman Painters has been the trusted choice for San Francisco Bay homeowners who want their siding protected and beautiful. We’ve earned Nextdoor’s Neighborhood Favorite award four years running and Best of Oakland recognition.
Our crews understand different siding materials, proper prep techniques, and premium products. We back every project with 5-year warranties. We’re also fully licensed and insured.
Contact Arana Craftsman Painters today at 510-405-3279 and schedule a complimentary consult.
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