Replacing the siding on a typical house costs about $14,500 on average, with most jobs between $8,500 and $20,000, according to Fixr’s January 2026 cost data, which bases that on a 2,000 sq ft home. Per square foot, Fixr’s overall range is $3 to $15 installed, and the material you pick is the biggest lever. Below we compare vinyl, fiber cement, wood, and metal on price per square foot, price per square, whole-house totals, lifespan, and upkeep, then show how to measure your own walls so a quote is checkable.
Siding Cost by Material
All figures below are installed prices from Fixr’s 2026 pages unless noted. A “square” is 100 square feet of wall, so we multiplied the per-square-foot numbers by 100 for the per-square column (our arithmetic).
| Material | Per sq ft installed | Per square (our arithmetic) | Fixr average whole house | Lifespan (Fixr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vinyl | $3-$12 | $300-$1,200 | $12,000 | 30-40 years |
| Fiber cement | $5-$14 | $500-$1,400 | $15,000 | 50+ years |
| Wood | $4-$14 | $400-$1,400 | $14,500 | 30-50+ years |
| Metal (steel, aluminum) | $4-$16 | $400-$1,600 | $17,000 | 40-70 years |
Fixr’s home-size basis differs by page: its vinyl average assumes a 2,000 sq ft home and its wood average a 1,500 sq ft home, so the averages are not perfectly comparable. Its pages also disagree slightly in places. The overview lists wood at $2 to $15 per sq ft and aluminum at $3 to $10, while the wood and metal pages give $4 to $14 and a wider aluminum span. Use these as ranges, not as a price list.
Vinyl
Vinyl is the cheapest option. Fixr gives a $6,000 to $24,000 whole-house range for a 2,000 sq ft home, a 30 to 40 year lifespan (20 in harsh climates), and labor at 30% to 50% of the bill. Insulated vinyl costs more: $7 to $12 per sq ft against $2 to $6 for builder-grade, per Fixr.
Fiber cement
Fixr lists $5 to $14 per sq ft and a $15,000 average, with a range of $8,000 to $26,600. Fixr puts labor at 40% to 60% of the job, a bigger share than for vinyl. It says lifespans reach 50 years or more and that painting is needed every 10 to 15 years.
Wood
Fixr gives $4 to $14 per sq ft installed, with species driving the spread: pine at $3 to $6 and cedar at $5 to $16. Its wood page says to expect repainting or restaining every 5 to 10 years plus annual inspections. That upkeep is the main reason wood costs more over its life than its sticker price suggests.
Metal
Fixr’s metal siding page lists galvalume steel at $4 to $12, coated steel at $7 to $16, and a $17,000 national average (range $9,000 to $28,000). Lifespans are 40 to 50 years for aluminum and 40 to 70 for steel. Zinc and copper sit far above that at $20 to $50 per sq ft.
What Your House Costs: Whole-House Estimates
Fixr’s own table converts house size to siding area. A 1,000 sq ft home needs 1,200 to 1,300 sq ft of siding, a 2,000 sq ft home 1,800 to 2,000, and a 3,000 sq ft home 2,300 to 2,500. Multiplying those areas by each material’s range gives our estimates below.
| Home size | Siding area (Fixr) | Vinyl ($3-$12) | Fiber cement ($5-$14) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft | 1,200-1,300 | $3,600-$15,600 | $6,000-$18,200 |
| 2,000 sq ft | 1,800-2,000 | $5,400-$24,000 | $9,000-$28,000 |
| 3,000 sq ft | 2,300-2,500 | $6,900-$30,000 | $11,500-$35,000 |
Those spans are wide on purpose. A quote near the low end usually means builder-grade product on a simple rectangle, and one near the high end means premium product, a busy roofline, or heavy repair behind the walls.
Costs That Are Not in the Per-Square-Foot Price
Fixr lists these extras:
- Removing old siding: $1,000 to $2,500.
- Permits and inspections: $150 to $1,500.
- Labor on top of materials: $1 to $4 per sq ft in its overview, and $2 to $8 for fiber cement specifically.
Rot, water damage, and failed sheathing behind old siding are the usual surprise. Fixr gives no standard price for that repair, so ask any contractor to quote it as a per-sheet or per-linear-foot unit rate before work starts, the same way a good roofer prices decking.
How to Measure Your Own Walls
A quote is easier to challenge once you know your area. Multiply the house perimeter by the wall height for each story, then subtract the windows and doors. As an example, a two-story house that is 40 by 30 feet has a 140-foot perimeter. At 9 feet per story, that is 1,260 sq ft per floor, or 2,520 sq ft for two floors, before subtracting openings. Gable ends add area on top. This example is our arithmetic, not a typical house.
Convert to squares by dividing by 100. Then check that the contractor’s price per square multiplied by your squares matches the total, with removal, trim, and permits listed separately.
Resale Value
Remodeling magazine’s Cost vs. Value report is the standard reference, but its website blocked our fetch, so we are relying on third-party summaries. Those summaries report fiber cement siding recovering about 88% of its cost at resale in the 2026 report and 88.5% in 2025, against 80.2% for vinyl in 2025. Treat these as unverified secondary reports. Even if they are right, it means roughly 12 to 20 cents of every dollar is not recovered, so siding is mostly a protection and curb-appeal project, not a profit one.
Ways to Lower the Bill
- Price vinyl and fiber cement side by side. The gap is smaller than the sticker suggests once you count labor and lifespan.
- Bundle exterior work. If windows or the roof are also due, one scaffold and one trim crew can serve several jobs. See window replacement cost, roof replacement cost, and gutter replacement cost for the neighboring projects.
- Replace only the failed walls if the rest is sound, though matching old and new product can be hard.
- Get three itemized quotes and run them against our contractor quote red flags list.
- Budget upkeep. Our annual home maintenance budget shows where painting and inspection costs belong.
Bottom Line
Vinyl is the budget pick at $3 to $12 per sq ft, fiber cement is the durable mid-to-upper option at $5 to $14, wood costs similar money up front but needs repainting every 5 to 10 years, and metal runs $4 to $16. For a 2,000 sq ft home, plan on roughly $12,000 to $17,000 at Fixr’s averages, plus $1,000 to $2,500 if removal is not included. Measure your walls, insist on itemized bids, and compare lifespan as well as price.
FAQ
How much does it cost to replace siding on a 2,000 sq ft house?
Fixr’s national average is $14,500, with a typical range of $8,500 to $20,000. By material, Fixr’s averages are $12,000 for vinyl, $15,000 for fiber cement, and $17,000 for metal. Add old-siding removal of $1,000 to $2,500 if it is not in the bid.
Is fiber cement worth the extra cost over vinyl?
It lasts longer: Fixr says 50 or more years against 30 to 40 for vinyl. It also needs repainting every 10 to 15 years, which vinyl does not. If you plan to stay for decades, fiber cement can make sense; for a shorter stay, vinyl is cheaper.
How much does siding cost per square?
A square is 100 square feet. Using Fixr’s per-sq-ft ranges, vinyl is $300 to $1,200 per square, fiber cement $500 to $1,400, wood $400 to $1,400, and metal $400 to $1,600 (our arithmetic).
Can I put new siding over old siding?
We found no reliable source we could verify on this, so ask your contractor and your local building department. Covering old siding also hides any rot or moisture damage underneath, which is a risk worth raising with every bidder.