Image of tan vinyl siding in the sun.

For all of its great benefits vinyl siding can encounter one particularly odd, and quite disfiguring, issue. Having troubles with melted siding, or not quite sure what it is you’re looking at? Trust the home service team at Shanco to provide you with all you need to know about melted siding, and when you should consider replacing vinyl siding! 

For superior home services including siding replacement in the Washington DC metro, NOVA, or Richmond, contact the certified professionals at Shanco! 

What Does Melted Siding Look Like? 

This one’s easy enough, since if you’ve ever seen melted plastic, you’ll know what melted siding looks like. Although vinyl siding is a blend of materials created for added durability and aesthetics, it is still plastic at its core, and thus behaves much like plastic under heat stress. If your siding is bulging irregularly, bubbling, or getting quite wavy and runny looking in an isolated spot, the odds are very good that what you’re looking at is a melted section of siding. 

Is Melted Vinyl Siding Common? 

Not at all. Barring home fires or a fireworks display gone wrong there are only a very few things that can cause siding to melt. And even these require a lot of things to go right (or horribly wrong, we guess) for the issue to manifest. 

This is because even the lowest quality vinyl siding must hit temperatures of over 150 degrees Fahrenheit to begin melting. Which is of course quite hot! The only time this ever really happens is when there are certain window types nearby—ones that are specifically built to reflect sunlight and solar heat. These types of energy-efficient windows include: 

  • Double and triple pane windows 

  • Double-paned low-E windows  

  • Treated windows 

  • Windows installed with a sun reflective coating 

This issue is even less likely when your siding is of a higher quality or grade, as top-end vinyl siding is treated and constructed specifically to get rid of this potential weakness altogether. If you’ve got top-tier home siding and you’ve still got melting going on then something is seriously wrong. Either with the siding product itself, or with your windows. 

Do I Need Siding Replacement if I Have Melted Siding? 

Unfortunately, you do need a replacement in this case. But the good news is that your siding replacement doesn’t need to be a full replacement. Replacing your siding in sections is another of the great advantages of vinyl siding, meaning the service in the hands of a pro can take as little as a handful of hours, and can actually be quite friendly cost wise. 

You will want to find out what caused the issue in the first place, of course. If the culprit is a nearby window, then a solution will need to be found first, though there are many ways to go about this (block the rays with shrubs or trees, install window screens, install an awning, etc.). 

Siding Replacement in Maryland with Shanco 

Struggling against melted siding, or having another common siding problem? Don’t stress out! Our siding experts are certified and licensed, and we have access to the best vinyl products in the business. Our siding repair or replacement is guaranteed to be the perfect solution to suit your needs, so contact us now to get started!