Challenge

The Tudor style home has become pretty recognizable across Pennsylvania and Northern New Jersey in cities and small towns but how exactly can you update your siding, windows, and roofing to maintain an authentic look, but also boost your energy efficiency and durability?

Before we dive in, let’s brush up on some of the Tudor home characteristics we can see across the board. We can expect to see earthy colors like brown, cream, white, all matched with brick, stone, stucco, and slate exteriors. You’ll also notice windows paired in groups of twos, threes, and fours.

Choosing Replacement Siding for Your Tudor Home

Most classic examples of Tudor homes feature “noble” materials. This includes brick, stone, stucco, mixed in with wood trim that’s typically darker than the field color.

It’s really common to see mixtures of styles. So the bottom half of a home could be brick, while the top half in a cream-colored stucco with a dark brown wood trim. However, I’ve seen a lot of Tudor revivals that play with different color combinations and pull them off incredibly well. It’s recommended sticking to just two or three colors, not including the door.

Regarding the wood detail, I’d recommend using James Hardie fiber cement siding in place of real wood though. Wood is susceptible to rotting, requires much more maintenance, and expands and contracts in the winter and summer. If you opt for fiber cement, you won’t experience any of these issues, plus, it can mimic the style and color of wood that you’d want to piece your Tudor style home together with.

Choosing Replacement Windows for Your Tudor Home

The common window style for Tudor homes is typically a tall, narrow casement window with several panes and is clustered in groups of twos, threes, and fours. Some homes feature double-hung windows, but casement windows are more common by far.

Another element that’s not uncommon is lattice windows. Some homes feature windows with several small panes in square or diamond shapes separated by wood, vinyl, metal, etc. This adds an authentic touch to your Tudor home.

The one thing to keep in mind is that casement windows aren’t typically depicted as energy efficient. Luckily, there are some easy ways to combat this. Marvin windows have a higher quality seal and are better with maintaining energy efficiency. So you’ll have high-performance windows and a choice in color and design to work with your Tudor home.

Choosing a Replacement Roof for Your Tudor Home

Each house has it’s differences, but most Tudor homes have a high steeped roof pitch with side gables and dormer windows included. You’ll probably see Tudor home’s using shingles, tiles, and some with metal roofs. So in this area, you have a lot of choices with room for creativity.

Personally, I’d go with metal or steel slate. Both are built to last a lifetime, very low maintenance, and energy efficient. Standing seam metal roofing can add a unique, modern twist to your traditional looking home. But if you’re looking to stick with a traditional image, I’d go with metal shingles or metal slate roofing. You’d really be giving yourself a superior roof.

Because there are so many valleys and intersecting roof lines, there’s a lot of room for water infiltration down the line so typically, you’d need to check for leaks periodically. This is where it’s really important to hire a professional agency that won’t cut corners, especially with flashing. At Global Home Improvement, we pride ourselves on our quality roof installations and put in the extra work flashing to avoid any potential water-based issues.

Solution

Based on all of this information, you have a lot to choose from and with all options, you can still maintain an authentic-looking Tudor home.

If you’re wondering it would cost to get started, click here for a free estimate.