2022 Cedar Siding Cost | Pricing Per Square Foot

If you want to improve the appearance and curb appeal of your home, one of the best projects you can do is to replace the siding on your home. Believe it or not, installing new wood siding on a house can result in a 77% rate of return on investment (ROI). Premium sidings such as brick, stone, and cedar can increase the ROI even more.

Wood siding is among the most popular types of sidings in North America, with cedar being one of the most common choices. This stunning natural wood is easy to install, incredibly versatile, and comes in a range of grades, textures, and variations. With so many types and variants of cedar siding out there, there is a wide range of costs associated with installing cedar siding.

Generally speaking, the cost of cedar siding can be categorized based on square footage, type of cedar, siding style, and wood grade. Although, the complexity of your home’s layout can also impact installation cost, as well as the removal and disposal of your old siding.

The average cost of cedar siding is $12,000 for materials and labor. Homeowners spend an average of $1.50 per square foot on cedar siding, but hand-split shakes cost $30 per square foot. It costs $5,600 to install 600 linear feet of cedar siding, and professionals charge $36 per hour for labor.

Continue reading for our comprehensive guide on cedar siding cost, so you can have a broader understanding of how to properly budget for this home improvement project.

In simplest terms, the cost of cedar siding can be broken down based on the type of cedar, siding style, wood grade, and square footage. Though, depending on your contractor, they may use linear feet or a ‘square’ as the measurement to evaluate the cost of your cedar siding project.

Additional costs, such as the removal and disposal of your old siding, may also have an impact on the cost of your cedar siding installation. The following table outlines a brief overview of the average costs to install cedar siding.

As previously mentioned, cedar siding comes in a variety of types, styles, sizes, and grades. For this reason, there is a very wide range of costs associated with this particular wood siding. For instance, knotty-grade cedar siding that has a rough finish will cost about $2.50 per square foot, while premium clear-grade cedar siding that has a smooth finish in shiplap siding or hand-split shakes can cost about $30 per square foot.

Your location and the location where the cedar was harvested also impacts costs. For instance, if you opt for western red cedar and you live on the East Coast, because of transportation costs, your costs will be over twice the amount of what they would be if you lived on the West Coast. To get the best price for your cedar siding, try to choose cedar that is local to your area.

Instead of measuring by square foot, you may hear your contractor mention ‘a square’ of siding. This is a professional term that describes 100 square feet of your exterior, or a 10 foot by 10 foot segment of siding. With that in mind, cedar siding costs an average of $250 to $3,000 per square.

To determine how many squares of siding your home needs, you’ll need to know its square footage. You can find your home’s square footage by measuring both the length and height of each side, subtracting any door or window openings from your totals. Once you have your square footage, you will divide this number by 100 to yield the number of squares of cedar siding your contractor needs for the project.

You may also be asked to use linear feet as a measurement to evaluate your cedar siding project. This is simply just another measurement that describes the length of siding in feet. You can start off by measuring the length of siding in inches and then divide the final number by 12. This will give you the cedar siding your project needs in linear feet. The following table displays the average linear feet on the exterior of an average home and the cost of materials required for installing cedar siding.

Depending on the treatment and grade, northern white cedar siding costs an average of $2.50 to $20 per square foot. White cedar is mostly available as a shingle, but some manufacturers also make hand-split shakes. When compared to other types of cedar, white cedar is lighter and, if left untreated, it usually has knot marks and brown grain.

Whereas, premium-grade and treated white cedar may be bleached to give it a more uniform color, with no knots and fewer marks on the surface. The size of the white cedar shingles and shakes will vary, with five to eight-inch reveals being the most common.

Depending on the treatment, style, and grade, western red cedar siding costs $2.50 to $30 per square foot. In most cases, when you’re shopping around for cedar, western red cedar is the type that you’ll come across. It is the most common type of cedar siding, available in nearly every size and shape you can think of.

Western red cedar also comes in multiple grades – from incredibly rough and knotty to clear and smooth. All red cedar has a characteristic red color with brown grain. Like all other types of cedar, wester red is resistant to pests, fungus, and rot.

Alaskan yellow cedar ranges from $5 to $12 on average. In the industry, you’ll usually find this type of cedar going by another name – cypress. Cypress is one of the hardest, densest, and most durable type of siding materials. It is known to last well over a century and is commonly reclaimed from old buildings and repurposed.

Because of its strength and hardness, Alaskan yellow cedar tends to be somewhat difficult to install. The material itself typically costs more to mill, produce, and install than most other types.

Contrary to the name, Spanish cedar siding does not come from Spain. Instead, it comes Central and South America. It is very popular for use in millwork and cigar humidors, but is also used as a siding material. The cost of Spanish cedar siding is about $6 to $15 per square foot.

When compared to other types of cedars, Spanish cedar is pretty limited in terms of options and styles. It also tends to be more expensive and offers fewer grade options for siding. Most of the higher grade Spanish cedar is reserved for millwork and other interior applications.

This type of cedar siding is a soft-cedar based plywood that is sold in sheets. It may be rough, grooved, or smooth in texture and can be used for covering barns and outbuildings or creating small sections of texture on a building.

Since it is plywood, cedar sheet siding has glues and other fillers that influence its behavior long-term. As such, it is typically seen as a low-grade material that features grains, knots, and irregularities. Cedar sheet siding costs about $2.50 to $3 per square foot on average.

Depending on the treatment, grade, and color that you choose, cedar shingles will cost between $2.50 and $20 per square foot. Shingles are rectangular siding pieces that are designed to be installed overlapping one another. The portion of the siding that is visible, called the reveal, is between five and eight inches high – depending on how much the shingles overlap.

There are many different options when it comes to cedar shingles, from rough, unfinished, and untreated with tons of texture and knots to stained, premium grade, and matched.