CertainTeed Cedar Impressions Siding

When it comes to revamping the exterior of your home, the choice of siding is a decision that shouldn't be taken lightly. It's not just about protection; it's about elevating the aesthetics of your home to a whole new level. CertainTeed Cedar Impressions siding, a true embodiment of innovation and style, is designed to do just that.

Elegance Meets Durability

CertainTeed Cedar Impressions siding is a masterpiece that seamlessly combines elegance and durability. Crafted with meticulous attention to detail, this premium siding material adds an air of sophistication to your home while standing strong against the elements.

Enduring Beauty

One of the standout features of CertainTeed Cedar Impressions is its exceptional resistance to weathering. Whether facing extreme heat, heavy rain, or winter snow, this siding maintains its appearance year after year, eliminating concerns about fading or peeling.

A Sustainable Choice

The product embraces sustainability by incorporating a significant portion of recycled materials, reducing environmental impact through responsible sourcing practices.

Versatile Design Options

The siding offers varied design choices ranging from classic to contemporary styles to complement different home architectures.

Low Maintenance, High Reward

This product requires minimal upkeep, typically just occasional rinsing with a garden hose, preserving its appearance with minimal effort.

Durability That Lasts

The siding resists rot, insects, and warping, providing long-term exterior protection for homeowners.

Why Cedar Impressions Makes Sense for Maryland Homes

Real cedar siding has an undeniable appeal. The grain, the texture, the way it weathers to a soft silver-gray if left natural, or holds a rich painted tone if finished, are qualities homeowners have admired for generations. The problem is that genuine cedar in Maryland requires serious ongoing maintenance. Our humid summers encourage mold, mildew, and wood rot at the joints and along the bottom courses. Freeze-thaw cycles from December through February work moisture into any paint film or stain, causing peeling and cracking that has to be addressed every few years or the wood underneath begins to deteriorate.

CertainTeed Cedar Impressions polymer shakes and shingles were engineered specifically to deliver the visual character of genuine cedar without any of those maintenance liabilities. Each panel is molded from actual cedar, capturing the irregular grain lines and shadow lines of real split shingles. From the street, the difference between Cedar Impressions and actual cedar is essentially invisible. Up close, the consistency of the polymer surface is the main tell, and for most homeowners that is an acceptable trade for decades of freedom from painting, staining, and rot repair.

In Howard County and the surrounding communities we serve, many homes are colonials or craftsman-style houses where a cedar shake accent on the upper story, gables, or dormer faces is a traditional design element. Cedar Impressions fits naturally into these applications. It allows homeowners to achieve the classic look of a cedar-accented exterior without committing to the maintenance cycle that real cedar requires in central Maryland's climate.

How Cedar Impressions Handles Maryland Weather

Maryland sits in a climate zone that tests exterior materials in every season. Understanding how Cedar Impressions performs through each one helps you set realistic expectations and make a confident purchase decision.

Summer brings high humidity and intense UV. Polymer siding's colorfast pigments are formulated to resist the UV degradation that causes cheaper vinyl siding to fade or chalk over time. CertainTeed uses multi-layer co-extrusion technology in Cedar Impressions that locks color throughout the material rather than just on a surface coating, so even light scratches from storm debris do not reveal a different-colored substrate.

Fall brings leaves, moisture, and the first freezes. Cedar Impressions installs with an overlap system that sheds water naturally, and because the material does not absorb moisture the way wood does, there is no swelling or seasonal movement to worry about. Nails and fasteners stay tight, and the panels do not shift out of alignment over the years the way real wood can.

Winter freeze-thaw is arguably the toughest test for any exterior material. CertainTeed formulates Cedar Impressions to remain impact-resistant even in very cold temperatures, a specification known as low-temperature impact resistance. Standard vinyl siding can become brittle below about 20 degrees Fahrenheit and crack when struck by ice or debris. Cedar Impressions is designed to hold up through the temperature extremes we see regularly in Carroll, Frederick, and Harford counties during a hard Maryland winter.

Spring rounds out the cycle with rain, pollen, and mold pressure. Because Cedar Impressions does not have the porous surface of real wood, mold and mildew cannot root into the material. Surface growth, if it occurs, rinses away with a garden hose and, for heavier buildup, a light scrub with a soft brush and mild detergent.

Profile Styles and Design Flexibility

CertainTeed offers Cedar Impressions in several profiles to match different architectural intentions. The staggered shingle profile most closely replicates the random-width, hand-split look of genuine cedar shakes. The double 7-inch course profile mimics traditional hand-cut shingles with a more uniform, formal appearance. Both are available in a wide range of colors, from traditional cedar tones and classic whites through deeper contemporary shades.

One of the most effective ways to use Cedar Impressions is as an accent material paired with horizontal lap siding on the main body of the house. This combination, with lap siding on the first floor and shake-profile Cedar Impressions on upper gables or a story-and-a-half bump-out, reads as classic American residential architecture. It breaks up large wall planes, adds visual interest at the roofline, and gives a home layered exterior character that flat siding alone cannot achieve.

If you are considering a full exterior update, coordinating your Cedar Impressions selection with your window trim color, soffit, fascia, and corner board choices from the start produces a much more polished result than making those decisions one at a time. Our team at Classic Remodeling works through this kind of whole-exterior coordination regularly and can help you avoid the common mistake of choosing siding and trim colors in isolation that look slightly off together once they are all installed at the same time.

Pairing Cedar Impressions with a Broader Exterior Project

Siding replacement is often a natural opportunity to address other exterior systems at the same time. When the old siding comes off, any damaged sheathing, deteriorated house wrap, or improperly flashed window and door openings become visible and accessible. Addressing those issues during a siding project costs far less than coming back to them later, and it means your new Cedar Impressions installation starts with a sound substrate that will protect the material's performance for its full warranted life.

Many homeowners in Howard County and Anne Arundel County also find that a siding project is a natural time to update windows, since the trim and flashing around window openings are being disturbed anyway. New replacement windows installed during a siding project can be integrated and flashed in a way that is simply cleaner and more weathertight than when windows are replaced independently. Visit our siding services page for more on what our installation process involves, or check our windows and doors page if you are thinking about combining both projects.

Talk to Classic Remodeling About Cedar Impressions

Classic Remodeling has installed CertainTeed products for Maryland homeowners since 1997, and we are happy to show you samples, discuss profiles and color options for your specific home, and provide a free written estimate with no obligation. Request your estimate online or call (888) 371-1720 to schedule a consultation at your home.