Exterior Home Building Materials: What To Know

Choosing Your Home’s Exterior Materials

When choosing building materials, you may be more excited about your options for interior elements like floors, cabinets and plumbing fixtures than exterior building materials. But don’t just settle for the builder’s preference or what is the least expensive. Carefully consider how different materials will impact the overall look of your new home.

When determining which exterior home building materials to choose, the main factors to consider are:

• Location;
• Cost;
• Maintenance;
• Sustainability.

According to an October 2021 report by the National Association of Home Builders that cites data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction, the most common exterior wall materials used in new U.S. homes are:

• Stucco: 27 percent;
• Vinyl siding: 25 percent;
• Fiber cement siding: 21 percent;
• Brick or brick veneer: 20 percent;
• Wood or wood products: five percent;
• Stone or rock: one percent.

Here is a rundown of the most prevailing exterior material options (and maybe a surprise or two) on the market.