LP SmartSide Siding in Spokane

LP SmartSide is wood rebuilt to fix wood's weaknesses. Wood strands are treated with zinc borate and wax — LP's SmartGuard process — bound with resin, pressed into boards under heat, and faced with a resin-saturated overlay that holds paint. What comes out takes a hit better than fiber cement, works easily in freezing weather, and carries a deeper cedar-grain texture than most competing products. It also has one installation detail that decides whether it lasts decades or fails early, and most of this page is about being honest on both counts.

Domex Construction installs LP SmartSide across Spokane and the surrounding hundred miles. We're also a James Hardie Preferred Contractor, so a SmartSide recommendation from us is a judgment between two products we install — not the only board on the truck. Washington license DAVYDCI833NC, fully insured, free estimates.

Where SmartSide Beats Fiber Cement

Impact resistance. Strand-engineered wood flexes where fiber cement chips. Hail, gravel kicked up by a mower, an errant baseball off the garage wall — SmartSide takes strikes that leave fiber cement with crescent-shaped fractures. On open lots along the Rathdrum Prairie or down the Spokane Valley wind corridor, where wind-driven debris and the occasional hail cell are part of ownership, that toughness is the strongest argument for the product.

Cold-weather workability. SmartSide is lighter than fiber cement, cuts with ordinary wood tools, and fastens cleanly in freezing temperatures. That keeps winter re-sides on schedule and lets a two-person crew handle long boards without cracking corners — one reason we quote SmartSide jobs confidently for January starts.

Fewer seams. Lap boards come in 16-foot lengths against fiber cement's 12. On a long Valley ranch wall that's roughly a third fewer butt joints, and joints are the first place any siding shows its age in freeze-thaw country.

Finish options. SmartSide installs primed for field paint, or in LP's ExpertFinish line with factory-applied color — worth considering here, since a factory finish goes on in controlled conditions rather than between Spokane's paint-season weather windows.

Where It Doesn't — and the Cut-Edge Rule

SmartSide is wood-based, so it burns. The treatment doesn't change that, and fiber cement's non-combustibility is the deciding factor for homes backing timber — our James Hardie page covers that side of the choice. SmartSide also depends on its paint film: keep the film intact and the substrate stays protected; let it chalk through and water reaches the strands.

The detail that actually decides longevity is edge sealing. Every field cut exposes untreated strand core, and every one of those cuts must be primed or sealed before the board goes on the wall. Water that enters an unsealed cut edge freezes, expands, and swells the board from the inside — the classic engineered-wood failure, and in our tear-off experience it's nearly always an installation failure rather than a product failure. Spokane's shoulder seasons run freeze-thaw cycles for weeks at a stretch, so a crew that skips sealing cuts is quietly deciding how the siding fails ten years out. Ours don't skip it, and you're welcome to watch.

Our Process

1. On-site estimate — we look at exposure, lot conditions, and fire risk before recommending SmartSide over fiber cement, or the reverse. Free.
2. Written spec — profiles, trim package, ExpertFinish color or paint plan, and rot-contingency terms.
3. Permitting — City of Spokane or Spokane County, handled by us.
4. Tear-off and prep — sheathing repaired, wrapped, and flashed for snow load and freeze-thaw.
5. Install to LP's requirements — sealed cut edges, correct fastening and clearances, then a walkthrough with you.

Material day: siding staged, counted, and inspected before tear-off starts.

FAQs

Service Area & Licensing

We install SmartSide throughout Spokane, Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Mead, Cheney, Airway Heights, and Deer Park, plus Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls under our Idaho license. Washington license DAVYDCI833NC — verifiable through the WA Department of Labor & Industries contractor lookup.