Boone grew up around the Chicago and North Western rail line, and that history is written into its houses. The older residential streets near downtown and the Story Street core hold a lot of homes from the late 1800s and early 1900s — frame houses originally clad in wood clapboard, many with the tall, narrow proportions of that era and porches added or enclosed over the years. A good number have been re-sided at least once, so under the current surface you may find the original boards, or a mid-century layer of steel or aluminum that is now chalking and dented.
Farther out from the center you get postwar ranches and split-levels, and newer builds on the edges of town that mostly went up in vinyl. The right siding conversation is different for each, so it helps to know which one you're standing in front of.
Boone sits on open, rolling ground near the Des Moines River valley and catches the full run of Iowa weather — summer hail and straight-line wind followed by winters that swing back and forth across freezing. On siding that shows up as faded or cracked panels on the south and west walls, and as moisture working into any seam on the weather side that isn't sealed.
On many of Boone's pre-1920 houses, the wood siding was nailed straight to the studs with little or no sheathing or insulation behind it. If you're already pulling the old siding, that's the one moment to add house wrap or foam and air-seal the wall — something you can't easily do once new panels are on. It's also worth checking the bottom courses and around porches first, because that's where decades of ground splash and thick paint buildup tend to hide soft, rotted wood.
Siding in Boone
We handle full siding replacement, fiber cement (James Hardie), vinyl, and hail/storm-damage repair here — one dedicated siding crew, a fixed written price, and a free estimate.