Story at a glance:
- Diamond Kote Building Products has been a leader in pre-finished siding since 2004.
- Product consistency, longevity, and reduced environmental impact are among pre-engineered siding’s benefits.
- Pre-engineered siding is adaptable and versatile enough to suit many architectural styles or aesthetics.
When it comes to longevity and reliability in a building’s exterior, pre-engineered siding offers an ideal solution with easy installation and environmental responsibility as added perks. Diamond Kote® Building Products, a leader in building products and a pioneer in pre-finished siding, has been innovating in the product space since 2004. Today the company’s pre-engineered, pre-finished complete siding system combines function and aesthetics to guarantee at least 30 years of beautiful durability in a home.
“It’s designed to last for decades,” says Andy Strey, Diamond Kote’s brand development manager. Diamond Kote offers a 30-year No Fade Finish warranty as the natural pigments in the paint leave the siding vibrant for years.
Diamond Kote’s history gives them industry perspective that provides the employee-owned company the tools to continuously meet and redefine industry standards. When specifying a project, Diamond Kote provides architects technical data, a three-part CSI specification, approved AIA continued education courses, and a team of product specialists that are able to go to job sites and ensure correct product installation. The Diamond Kote team is eager to communicate with architects and builders. “We’re looking to continue that relationship and invite conversation and suggestions from that community,” Strey says.
This lakefront custom-built house in Wisconsin uses Diamond Kote’s Custom Color RigidStack™ with white trim and corners. Photos courtesy of Diamond Kote
What is Pre-Engineered Siding?
Pre-engineered siding is made of a wood substrate that is engineered, refined, and strengthened off-site. When the product is packaged and delivered, it is quick and easy to install. “As a pre-finisher, we want to make sure we’re partnering with quality substrate providers, and that provides owners and installers benefits with our durability,” Strey says. Diamond Kote re-manufactures and pre-finishes LP® SmartSide® wood substrate, allowing the resulting siding to withstand weather conditions across climates.
In the manufacturing process, the siding is made to stand up against extreme weather and hold to its promise of durability and longevity. The process utilizes moisture-resistant resins to create a composite product that’s treated to withstand rot and decay. “What’s important about that is every part of the board is actually treated as it’s manufactured. So it is making it strong and resistant from the inside out,” Strey says.
Then Diamond Kote’s waterborne pre-finish tops off the siding, completely free of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) and with very low levels of VOCs.
What are the Major Benefits?
Though the strengths of pre-engineered siding form a long list, the biggest bonuses are product consistency, longevity, and reduced environmental impact. “The siding we’re using today is a treated, engineered wood siding. By having that product pre-engineered, it allows for the wood to be straighter, stronger, and last longer than in regular traditional wood siding,” Strey says. This allows Diamond Kote’s complete siding system to perform better, last longer, and be particularly easy to install.
Diamond Kote’s complete siding system includes all of the components necessary to protect a home from the elements—including the siding itself, trim, diverter flashing, and mount blocks—in one aesthetically and functionally cohesive package. When the system leaves the production facility, it is packaged to be as easy to install as possible. “Anybody can be trained to use it effectively and efficiently and do a good job with it,” Strey says. “We generally see anyone from a small group of maybe two or three people to large crews of a dozen people installing the larger projects.”
Plus, the packaging of the pre-finished, ready-to-install siding system is designed to store easily for longer periods of time, so on larger projects the product remains in good condition until it’s put into place.
This project uses Diamond Kote’s 8” RigidStack in white, with onyx trim and corners. Photos courtesy of Diamond Kote
How is Pre-Engineered Siding Sustainable?
In addition to the sustainable strengths of performing for decades with very little maintenance, containing no HAPs and few VOCs, and being made from the regenerative resource that is wood, Diamond Kote offers the remarkable benefit of producing little waste in production. “With LP Smartside’s pre-engineering, especially in a wood-based type product, the increased consistency makes for less waste because you don’t have to cull anything out. You have a much lower waste factor just in the raw material, which is much more efficient than real wood siding usage,” Strey says. Diamond Kote’s own efficient finishing process wastes less paint and generates more consistency in the product.
How Does It Fit Into Overall Aesthetics?
In terms of building design, pre-engineered siding is adaptable and versatile enough to suit just about any architectural style or aesthetic. With its adaptability in both horizontal and vertical sidings and many different shakes and shapes, pre-finished siding can be used on projects of many architectural styles: from Victorian townhouses to Craftsman-style homes. Diamond Kote offers both woodgrain and smooth texture products, all pre-finished to fit both traditional and modern designs. “We can even create custom shapes. For older historic restorations or re-creations of those historic buildings, we can match profiles like diamond shapes or fish scales and things like that as well,” Strey says.
Diamond Kote keeps its color offerings up to industry standards by working with color trend experts and designers in the industry as well as with extensive internal research. These efforts allow Diamond Kote to offer 23 standard solid colors, six DuoBlend colors, and custom color matches for smooth and woodgrain substrates. “We’re constantly evaluating to make sure we’re meeting the industry’s requirements,” Strey says. “One of the important factors of being a pre-finisher is that everything is designed to be color matched to our color palette, which makes it easy for the ordering process. And it also provides excellent aesthetics when the project is complete.”
