Anacortes Exterior Why We're Writing This Instead of Just Selling You Something
If you've priced out siding in Anacortes, you've probably run across LP SmartSide. It's a well-marketed, widely available product, and plenty of contractors in Skagit County install it. We don't. This page explains why, using the same standard we apply to every product we're honest about: what it does well, where it runs into trouble, and what actually happens to it over 15-20 years on a home exposed to salt air and Pacific Northwest rain.
This isn't a takedown. LP SmartSide is a legitimate engineered wood product with real engineering behind it. But "legitimate" and "what we'd put on our own house near Fidalgo Bay" aren't always the same thing, and our job is to tell you the difference before you sign a contract, not after the caulk lines start failing.
What LP SmartSide Actually Is
LP SmartSide is an engineered wood siding product made from wood strands bonded with resin under heat and pressure, similar in concept to oriented strand board (OSB) but manufactured specifically for exterior use. LP treats it with a proprietary process (SmartGuard) that includes zinc borate for insect and fungal resistance, then seals the strands and applies a factory primer or finish coat depending on the product line.
It comes in lap siding, panel siding, trim, and soffit profiles, and it's designed to be lighter and easier to install than fiber cement, which is part of why it's popular with builders working on tight schedules.
What It Gets Right
- Lighter weight than fiber cement, which can reduce installation labor and crew fatigue
- Easier to cut and fasten without the silica dust fiber cement produces
- Reasonable impact resistance compared to vinyl
- A 5/50-year limited warranty from LP that covers material defects when installed and maintained per their specifications
- Wide availability of trim and accessory profiles that make certain architectural details simpler
None of that is spin. On a home in a drier, more moderate climate, with a contractor who installs and maintains it exactly to spec, LP SmartSide can perform reasonably well for a long time. The problem is that "installed and maintained per spec" is doing a lot of work in that sentence, and Anacortes doesn't make it easy.
Why Skagit County Weather Puts Engineered Wood to the Test
Anacortes sits right on the water, which means homes here deal with a combination most inland siding never has to survive: salt-laden air off Fidalgo Bay and the Guemes Channel, long stretches of driving rain through fall and winter, and a moss and algae season that can run most of the year on north- and west-facing walls under tree cover. Add in the temperature swings between damp winter mornings and dry summer afternoons, and you've got a climate that's constantly testing whatever seal is protecting a wood-based product.
Engineered wood siding is still, at its core, wood. It performs best when its factory seal and field-applied caulking stay intact. Salt air accelerates the breakdown of sealants and finishes faster than it does inland, and Skagit County's rain volume means more days per year where water is sitting against the siding surface, working into any gap that's opened up.
The Moisture Story: Where Engineered Wood Siding Runs Into Trouble
The failure mode we see most often with engineered wood siding isn't dramatic — it's slow. It starts at the places every siding job has to interrupt the wall plane: butt joints, cut edges around windows and doors, nail penetrations, and the bottom edges of lap boards. LP's strand-based core is more absorbent at a cut or exposed edge than the factory-sealed face, so if a joint isn't fully primed and caulked, or if caulking cracks and isn't renewed, that edge can wick moisture and begin to swell.
Once swelling starts, it's usually progressive. A swollen edge holds paint less well, which exposes more raw material, which absorbs more water on the next rain. In a climate with occasional wet weeks, that cycle is slow. In a climate with a genuine wet season plus salt air breaking down sealants faster, it moves quicker than most homeowners expect from a product marketed as low-maintenance.
What This Means in Practice
- Every cut edge, joint, and penetration needs to be properly primed and sealed at installation — there's little margin for a rushed install
- Caulking is a wear item, not a one-time step, and it needs to be inspected and renewed on a schedule
- Repainting on a regular cycle isn't optional maintenance — it's what keeps the water-resistant layer intact
- Ground clearance and gutter performance matter more, since splashback and overflow are direct moisture exposure at the most vulnerable edges
None of this makes LP SmartSide a bad product in the abstract. It makes it a product whose long-term performance depends heavily on installation discipline and an ongoing maintenance commitment from the homeowner — and that's exactly the kind of dependency we try to design out of the homes we work on.
Maintenance Reality: What Ownership Actually Looks Like
Homeowners are usually told siding is "low maintenance" without much detail on what that means year to year. Here's a straightforward comparison of what ownership tends to look like for engineered wood versus the fiber cement system we install.
| Maintenance Item | LP SmartSide (Engineered Wood) | James Hardie (ColorPlus Fiber Cement) |
|---|---|---|
| Repainting cycle | Typically every 7-10 years, sooner in coastal/high-moisture exposure | ColorPlus finish is factory-baked; touch-up only, full repaint rarely needed for 15+ years |
| Caulk joint inspection | Annual recommended; joints are a known moisture entry point | Fewer joints require caulk; fiber cement doesn't swell at cut edges the way wood strand does |
| Moss and algae cleaning | Needed on shaded/north-facing walls; buildup can trap moisture against the surface | Needed as well, but the substrate underneath isn't compromised by prolonged surface moisture |
| Edge and joint monitoring | Ongoing — swelling starts small and is easy to miss until paint fails | Not a comparable failure mode; fiber cement doesn't swell |
| Combustibility | Wood-based core | Non-combustible fiber cement |
None of this is a knock on homeowners who choose engineered wood. It's a real, valid product for the right situation. But on a home exposed to Skagit County's rain volume and coastal air, the maintenance schedule required to keep it performing well is more demanding than most people are told upfront.
Warranty Fine Print Worth Reading
LP's warranty is genuinely competitive on paper. Where it matters is the conditional language: coverage for issues tied to moisture, swelling, or finish failure typically requires proof that the product was installed and maintained according to LP's published instructions — correct caulking, correct paint schedule, correct clearances. If a homeowner skips a repaint cycle or a joint goes unsealed for a few years, that's exactly the kind of gap that can complicate a claim down the road.
We're not saying LP doesn't honor its warranty — we're saying the warranty's real-world value depends on maintenance records most homeowners don't keep. That's a structural issue with engineered wood siding warranties generally, not a knock on any one manufacturer.
Why We Standardized on James Hardie Instead
We made a decision a while back to install one siding system across every job: James Hardie fiber cement. It's not the cheapest option on the market, and we tell homeowners that upfront. Here's why we settled on it:
- Non-combustible core — fiber cement doesn't burn, which matters for wildfire-adjacent insurance considerations even in a coastal county
- ColorPlus factory finish — baked-on color that resists fading and chipping far longer than field-applied paint, cutting the repaint cycle most engineered wood products require
- Climate-engineered HZ product lines — Hardie manufactures specific formulations for high-moisture, coastal-adjacent climates like ours, rather than one national spec
- No swelling failure mode — the cement-based core doesn't absorb and swell at cut edges the way a wood-strand product can
- Strong transferable warranty — coverage that isn't as dependent on a homeowner maintaining a strict repaint schedule
We're not installing Hardie because it's trendy. We're installing it because after years of doing exterior work in a marine climate, it's the system that gives homeowners the fewest surprises a decade in.
Cost Factors to Weigh
| Factor | LP SmartSide | James Hardie Fiber Cement |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront installed cost | Generally lower | Generally higher |
| Repainting over 20 years | 2-3 cycles likely in this climate | Typically none to one touch-up cycle |
| Repair risk from edge/joint failure | Moderate to higher in coastal exposure | Low |
| Resale/appraisal perception | Solid, but fiber cement is often viewed as the upgrade material | Frequently listed as a premium feature |
Lower upfront cost is real and worth acknowledging — it's a legitimate reason some homeowners choose engineered wood, especially on a tighter budget or an investment property. We just want that decision made with the full maintenance picture in view, not just the sticker price.
Questions Worth Asking Any Contractor Before You Choose a Siding Product
- What's the manufacturer's actual repainting/recaulking requirement to keep the warranty valid?
- Who is responsible for sealing cut edges and joints during installation, and how is that verified?
- Has this product been used successfully on homes in similarly exposed, coastal, high-rain locations?
- What does the warranty require me to document if I ever need to file a claim?
- What's the realistic maintenance schedule over 15-20 years, in writing, not just "low maintenance" as a phrase?
Any contractor recommending a product should be able to answer these plainly. If the answers get vague, that's worth noticing.
The Bottom Line
LP SmartSide isn't a scam or a bad product — it's a reasonable engineered wood siding that performs fine in the right climate with disciplined installation and ongoing maintenance. Anacortes, with its salt air, sustained rain, and long moss season, is not the easiest place to keep that maintenance commitment on schedule. We'd rather put a product on your home that holds up with less demanded of you every few years, which is why we install James Hardie fiber cement exclusively.
If you're weighing siding options for a home in Anacortes or elsewhere in Skagit County, we're happy to walk through what we see in this climate and give you a straightforward, no-pressure estimate — no scare tactics, just the honest trade-offs.