BobVila.com

Bob meets Lance Olson of Louisiana Pacific as LP's Smartside lap siding is installed on a Mashpee house. SmartSide is a treated engineered wood siding made of medium density oriented strand board (MDO) with a textured face that is embossed during manufacture. It's rough, cedar-look texture is intended to mirror recent cladding trends as homebuilders have started to turn boards rough side out to give texture to the facade and also provide a better surface for paint. SmartSide is very affordable and cost effective at about one-half the cost of traditional wood siding. It is engineered for its look and durability, is treated with zinc borate to resist fungal growth and termites, and resin bonded for stability. The manufacturing essentially takes the wood, removes its defects such as knots and splits, then reassembles it as a stronger, more stable product. It is a uniform thickness throughout and comes in 16-foot lengths for quick installation. SmartSide comes with a seven-year total warranty and a 30-year transferable warranty for material and labor. It comes pre-primed from the factory for additional labor savings and has a full line of trim to complete the installation. This New England home is using classic trim designs for corners and windows, with a frieze that extends from the roof line to the window, and window casing on the sides that meet the frieze at the top.

Tom Sullivan of Bellawood is in one of the four Mashpee affordable homes where they have donated hardwood flooring for the living room, dining room, and kitchen of each house. This 3 1/4 inch natural Maple flooring has color variations, tight knots, and more visual wood character than a select grade. Like the select and rustic grades, this Maple flooring is 12 percent harder than a Red Oak floor and will last a lifetime. Sullivan shows Bob a prefinished, micro-beveled plank that comes ready to install with a variety of lengths ranging from one to six feet. Bellawood provides a 50-year finish warranty on its flooring, which has eight coats of an aluminum-oxide based semigloss finish. Bob notes how the crew has positioned the pieces in advance to avoid lining up seams and to ensure an aesthetically pleasing layout. Sullivan points out that they have put rosin paper over the plywood subfloor and under the hardwood installation to combat squeaking.