By the Templateez Team · Licensed Attorney · June 2026

Siding Intake Forms: What Contractors Need to Capture Before the First Square Is Installed

A siding project that starts with a vague description and a rough square-footage guess is a siding project that ends with a change order, a margin hit, or both. Homeowners rarely know their existing siding material with precision. They confuse fiber cement with engineered wood. They think their home is "about 2,000 square feet" without accounting for gable ends, soffits, or the 14 windows that need cutout deductions. And they have no idea that the sheathing underneath may be rotted through until your crew tears off the first course and discovers OSB that crumbles at the touch.

The intake form is where you prevent all of that. A thorough siding intake form captures the project scope, documents the existing conditions, locks in material and profile selections, and surfaces the demolition variables that turn a profitable job into an unprofitable one. Here is what it should cover.

Project type: define the scope before you measure anything

Siding projects vary enormously in scope, and each type carries different labor requirements, material quantities, and client expectations. Your intake should present clear project categories:

• Full siding replacement — tear off everything down to sheathing, inspect and repair the substrate, install new housewrap and siding on every elevation. This is the most common residential project and the most complex to estimate because it exposes every hidden condition behind the existing cladding.
• Partial siding repair — replacing damaged sections on one or more walls. The challenge here is matching — color, profile, and exposure need to blend with the existing undamaged siding, which may have faded or been discontinued by the manufacturer.
• New siding on addition — covering a newly framed structure. Simpler than replacement because there is no demolition, but matching the existing home's siding is critical if the addition ties in visually.
• Re-side (siding over existing) — installing new siding directly over the old without tear-off. This saves on demolition cost but requires furring strips for a flat plane and cannot be done if the existing siding has moisture damage, rot, or insect infestation underneath. Your intake needs to flag whether an overlay is structurally appropriate or whether a full tear-off is the only responsible recommendation.
• Soffit and fascia only — replacing or covering the underside of eaves and the vertical trim board behind the gutter. Often done in aluminum or vinyl to eliminate the need for painting. This is a distinct scope from wall siding and should be quoted separately.
• Trim wrap and accent siding — aluminum coil-stock wrapping of existing wood trim around windows, doors, and corners, or adding accent materials like board-and-batten or shake to gable peaks while the main field remains unchanged.

Existing siding assessment: what is on the wall now

Before you can scope the removal, you need to know exactly what you are removing. More importantly, you need to document what you find so that change orders for hidden damage are defensible, not adversarial. Your intake should capture a full assessment of the current cladding:

Current material. Vinyl, wood clapboard, aluminum, fiber cement, stucco, brick, stone veneer — each has different removal requirements. Vinyl comes off quickly with a zip tool and is lightweight to haul. Wood clapboard requires pry bars and generates heavy debris. Stucco removal is a demolition job that produces dust, requires scoring, and may reveal wire lath that needs cutting. Identifying the material before the crew arrives determines what tools they bring and how they price the tear-off.

Age and condition. Document visible defects systematically:

• Warping and buckling — vinyl siding that has warped from heat exposure or improper nailing. Buckling panels indicate the siding was face-nailed too tightly and could not expand.
• Cracking — impact cracks from hail, baseballs, or weed trimmers. Fiber cement cracks differently than vinyl — fiber cement fractures cleanly while vinyl shatters and splinters in cold weather.
• Rot — wood siding showing soft spots, peeling paint over swollen boards, or visible fungal growth. Rot rarely stops at the siding — it typically extends into the sheathing and sometimes the framing.
• Moisture damage — staining, efflorescence on masonry, mold growth, or interior water damage that traces back to the exterior wall. Moisture behind siding is the single most expensive hidden condition because it can mean sheathing replacement, mold remediation, and flashing rework.
• Fading and chalking — relevant for partial repairs where new siding needs to color-match existing panels. Severe chalking on vinyl indicates UV degradation beyond cosmetic concern.

Damage extent. Is the damage localized — one wall, one elevation, one section around a window — or widespread across multiple faces of the building? This drives the repair-versus-replace recommendation and determines whether a partial job is practical or whether full replacement is the only cost-effective path.

Underlying sheathing. Document what is behind the siding if known or visible — OSB, plywood, foam board, or in older homes, sometimes nothing but diagonal board sheathing or bare studs with felt paper. Note the condition. Soft, spongy OSB needs replacement at roughly $25-$45 per sheet installed, and this cost must be in the estimate or addressed as a defined change-order protocol.

Housewrap and weather barrier. Is there a weather-resistive barrier in place? Is it intact? Homes built before the mid-1990s often have tar paper (felt) rather than modern housewrap, and homes built before the 1970s may have no weather barrier at all. This determines whether housewrap installation is a line item in your estimate or an assumed inclusion.

Insect damage. Carpenter ants, termites, and even woodpeckers leave evidence that your intake should document. Carpenter ant frass (sawdust piles) near the foundation, termite mud tubes on the sill plate, and woodpecker holes in cedar siding all indicate damage that extends beyond what is visible. If insect damage is present, the client may need a pest inspection and treatment before siding work begins — and that sequencing needs to be in the project plan, not discovered mid-demolition.

Material selection: cost, durability, and maintenance trade-offs

Material selection is the single largest decision in a siding project, and it drives the entire estimate. Your intake form should present the options with enough detail that the client makes an informed choice before you measure and price:

• Vinyl — the most popular residential siding material in the United States, and the lowest cost per square. Available in color-through (pigment throughout the panel, no painting needed) and painted finishes. Typical thickness ranges from .035" economy to .046"+ premium gauge. Lifetime manufacturer warranty is standard, though "lifetime" in siding means the life of the product on that specific home with that specific owner.
• Fiber cement — James Hardie and LP SmartSide are the dominant brands. Exceptional durability, Class 1A fire rating, impervious to insects, and dimensionally stable. Heavier than vinyl — a 12-foot plank weighs roughly 20 pounds — which increases labor cost. Standard thickness is 5/16". Factory-primed or factory-painted finishes. 30-year limited warranty from most manufacturers. The premium choice for homeowners who want longevity and fire resistance.
• Engineered wood — LP SmartSide and Boral TruExterior are the primary options. Treated wood strand substrate with a resin overlay. Lighter than fiber cement, easier to cut, and available in longer lengths. Susceptible to moisture if cut ends are not properly sealed. Good middle ground between vinyl and fiber cement on both cost and performance.
• Natural wood — cedar, redwood, and pine. Beautiful natural appearance, but high maintenance. Requires painting or staining every 3-7 years, and wood siding that is not maintained will rot, split, and cup. Cedar and redwood have natural insect and moisture resistance; pine does not. Best suited for clients who value the aesthetic and are committed to the maintenance schedule.
• Metal — steel and aluminum panel systems. Commercial and modern residential applications. Durable, fire-resistant, and virtually maintenance-free, but dents are difficult to repair and cost per square is higher than vinyl or fiber cement. Thermal expansion and contraction require specific fastening patterns.
• Stone veneer — manufactured (cast concrete) or natural thin-cut stone. Typically used as an accent on lower elevations, entryways, or chimneys rather than full-wall coverage. Heavy, labor-intensive to install, and requires a scratch coat or mechanical fastening system depending on the product.
• Insulated siding — vinyl or fiber cement panels with built-in rigid foam backing. Adds R-value (typically R-2 to R-5 depending on thickness), improves impact resistance, and reduces the hollow sound that standard vinyl produces. The foam backing also bridges minor substrate irregularities, producing a flatter finished wall.

Profile, color, and trim specifications

Once the material is selected, the aesthetic details need to be locked in before you order. Changes after material is on-site are expensive and delay the project:

• Profile — Dutch lap (beveled shadow line), traditional clapboard (flat overlap), board-and-batten (vertical with battens covering seams), shake and shingle (staggered-edge panels), or vertical panel. Each profile creates a different visual effect, and the profile choice affects material waste calculations because shake panels, for example, have different exposure dimensions than clapboard.
• Color selection — manufacturer color chart with the specific color name and code. If the client wants a custom color match, document the reference (Benjamin Moore 2163-10, Sherwin-Williams SW 7069, or a physical sample). Color selection should include body, trim, and accent colors as a coordinated palette.
• Thickness and gauge — for vinyl, document the panel thickness (.035", .040", .042", .044", .046"+). Thicker panels resist impact better, hang straighter, and look more like wood, but cost more per square. For fiber cement, 5/16" is standard; document if the client has selected a primed or pre-finished product.
• Trim style — outside and inside corner posts, J-channel around windows and doors, starter strip profile, undersill trim, soffit panels (solid or vented), and fascia cover. Trim choices affect both the finished appearance and the material order. Missing a trim component means a second material order and a crew that cannot finish an elevation.
• Ventilation — soffit vent integration (vented soffit panels vs. individual soffit vents), ridge vent compatibility, and whether the attic ventilation system needs modification as part of the siding project. Proper soffit ventilation is not optional — it prevents ice dams, reduces attic moisture, and extends roof life.

Measurements: the numbers that drive the estimate

Siding is priced and ordered by the square — 100 square feet of wall area. Getting the measurement wrong in either direction is costly. Under-order and the crew stops work while waiting for a material delivery. Over-order and you eat the restocking fee or store surplus material you may never use. Your intake should capture:

• Total square footage of walls — each elevation measured separately, with gross area calculated before deductions.
• Number of stories — directly affects scaffolding and ladder requirements, labor rate per square, and safety planning. A three-story colonial costs significantly more per square than a single-story ranch, even with identical total square footage.
• Windows and doors — count, dimensions, and location. These are cutout deductions from the gross wall area, and they also determine the amount of J-channel, flashing, and trim needed. A house with 22 windows requires substantially more trim labor than one with 8.
• Gable ends — the triangular wall sections above the eave line. These require angled cuts on every course, which increases waste factor and labor time. Document the pitch (e.g., 8/12) and the gable width.
• Soffits — linear feet of soffit area on each elevation. Soffit depth (the horizontal distance from the wall to the fascia) determines the panel width needed.
• Fascia — linear feet of fascia board, noting the board width (typically 6" or 8") and whether the existing fascia is wood that will be wrapped in aluminum coil stock or replaced entirely.

If you are managing exterior projects beyond siding, measurement protocols overlap with what painting contractors capture for exterior prep and square-footage-based pricing. The difference is that siding contractors need cutout deductions and material waste factors, while painters need surface-condition grading per elevation.

Prep and demolition: the hidden cost center

Demolition and prep account for more cost overruns in siding projects than any other phase. Your intake form needs to surface these variables before the estimate is finalized, not after the crew has torn off the first wall and found problems:

• Existing siding removal vs. overlay — a full tear-off adds $1.00-$2.50 per square foot for labor and disposal. An overlay eliminates that cost but limits material options (you cannot overlay with fiber cement over vinyl, for example) and may void certain manufacturer warranties.
• Sheathing repair — establish a per-sheet price for OSB or plywood replacement in the contract so that when the crew discovers damaged sheathing — and they will — the change-order process is a quantity calculation, not a negotiation.
• Housewrap replacement — Tyvek HomeWrap, felt paper, or equivalent weather-resistive barrier. Priced per square. On a full replacement, new housewrap is standard. On a re-side, the existing barrier may be adequate if intact.
• Furring strips — rain screen installation. Required for re-side projects and recommended in high-moisture climates. Creates an air gap between the siding and the sheathing that allows moisture to drain and dry. Adds material and labor cost but dramatically improves long-term wall performance.
• Window and door flashing — is the existing flashing intact and properly integrated with the housewrap, or does it need replacement? Improperly flashed windows are the number-one source of water intrusion behind siding. If flashing needs rework, it should be in the original estimate, not discovered as a surprise mid-project.
• Lead paint — any home built before 1978 may have lead-based paint on existing wood siding. EPA RRP (Renovation, Repair, and Painting) rules require certified renovators, specific containment procedures, and proper disposal. This is a regulatory requirement with significant fines for non-compliance, and the additional cost of RRP-compliant tear-off must be in the estimate if the home qualifies.
• Rot repair behind siding — often not discoverable until the existing siding is removed. Your intake should establish the change-order protocol for rot repair — per-linear-foot pricing for framing repair, per-sheet pricing for sheathing replacement — so the client understands in advance that hidden conditions may increase the project cost within defined parameters.

The demolition and prep phase of a siding project shares structural concerns with what general remodeling contractors encounter when opening up walls. The difference is that siding work exposes the entire building envelope at once, making the stakes higher and the discovery window compressed into the first day of tear-off.

Pricing: per-square structure with defined add-ons

Siding is one of the few trades where the pricing unit — the square — is universally understood by both contractors and informed homeowners. Your intake form should establish the pricing framework clearly:

• Material cost per square by type — vinyl ($90-$250/square), fiber cement ($250-$500/square), engineered wood ($200-$400/square), natural wood ($300-$700/square). These ranges vary by region, gauge, finish, and manufacturer.
• Labor per square — installation labor varies by material (fiber cement takes longer to install than vinyl), building height, architectural complexity, and regional labor rates.
• Tear-off and disposal per square — a separate line item that depends on the existing material. Vinyl tear-off is fast and light. Wood or stucco tear-off generates heavy debris that fills dumpsters quickly.
• Sheathing repair per sheet — a defined unit price for 4x8 OSB or plywood replacement, including labor, so change orders are a simple multiplication.
• Housewrap per square — material and labor for weather barrier installation.
• Trim per linear foot — corner posts, J-channel, window and door trim. Priced per linear foot by trim type.
• Soffit and fascia per linear foot — separate from wall siding pricing because the material, labor method, and access requirements are different.
• Financing — full re-side projects commonly range from $8,000 to $40,000+ depending on home size and material. Many siding contractors offer financing through third-party lenders. If you offer financing, your intake should capture whether the client is interested so the financing application can run in parallel with the project planning.

Warranty: manufacturer, labor, and what voids coverage

Warranty is the final section of your intake form, and it is the one that matters most when something goes wrong two years after installation. Document every warranty layer clearly:

• Manufacturer material warranty — vinyl siding typically carries a "lifetime" limited warranty (prorated after a certain number of years). Fiber cement offers 30-year limited warranties. Engineered wood varies by manufacturer. Natural wood generally has no manufacturer warranty beyond defect-free material at delivery. Document the specific manufacturer and warranty term for the selected product.
• Paint and color warranty — separate from the material warranty. Factory-finished fiber cement may carry a 15-year color warranty. Vinyl color-through has no separate paint warranty because the color is integral. Field-painted products carry whatever warranty the paint manufacturer provides, not the siding manufacturer.
• Labor warranty — your company's own warranty on workmanship. Industry standard ranges from 1 to 10 years. This covers installation defects — panels that were not properly lapped, nails driven too tight preventing thermal movement, J-channel not properly integrated with flashing.
• Transferable — does the warranty transfer to a new owner if the home is sold? Manufacturer warranties are typically transferable with registration. Labor warranties may or may not be. Document this clearly because it affects the home's resale value and is a question real estate agents will ask.
• What voids the warranty — improper maintenance (allowing sprinklers to hit vinyl siding continuously, which can cause warp), pressure washing at excessive PSI, unapproved modifications (mounting satellite dishes or fixtures through siding without proper flashing), and painting vinyl siding a darker color than the original (which absorbs more heat and causes warping). These exclusions need to be communicated at intake so the client understands their maintenance obligations from day one.

Why structured intake wins the job

A siding project is a significant investment for any homeowner. When three contractors show up to bid, the one who arrives with a structured intake process — systematically documenting the existing conditions, walking through material options with specific product names and warranty terms, and presenting a pricing structure with defined change-order protocols — is the one who demonstrates that they have done this before and will do it right. The other two are guessing at square footage and promising to "work something up."

A thorough intake form does not just protect your margin. It builds the trust that wins the contract. If you are building documentation across multiple exterior trades, the Trade Services Bundle includes siding alongside 51 other service categories, each with trade-specific intake fields.