How to Use Siding Profiles to Make a Ranch Home Look More Custom

Ranch homes are everywhere throughout the Quad Cities, Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. They are practical, comfortable and familiar—but from a siding sales perspective, they can sometimes present a challenge.

A long, relatively low exterior can look very simple if the siding proposal consists of nothing more than replacing the existing siding with a similar profile in a new color.

That is also where a siding contractor has an opportunity.

By changing siding profiles, exposures, direction, colors and accent areas, contractors can help homeowners transform an ordinary ranch into an exterior that looks much more intentional and custom.

At Suburban Wholesale & Supply, we encourage contractors to think beyond simply asking, "What siding color do you want?" A better conversation is: "What do you want your home to look like when we're finished?"

Why Ranch Homes Are Excellent Candidates for Siding Design

The traditional ranch home typically emphasizes horizontal lines. Long rooflines, attached garages, picture windows and relatively simple elevations can make the house appear even wider.

Horizontal siding naturally reinforces those lines.

That isn't necessarily bad. In fact, horizontal siding can look excellent on a ranch. The important point for contractors is understanding that the profile and exposure become part of the architecture.

The Vinyl Siding Institute notes that vinyl siding is available in numerous profiles, including single, double, triple, Dutch lap and vertical configurations. Those choices give contractors considerably more design flexibility than simply choosing a color.

1. Start With the Existing Architecture

Before recommending siding, stand back and actually look at the house.

Identify the home's strongest architectural features:

• Is there a large front gable?
• Does the garage dominate the front elevation?
• Is there a covered front porch?
• Are there large picture windows?
• Is brick or stone already incorporated into the exterior?
• Does the house have multiple rooflines?
• Is the front elevation extremely long and flat?

These features tell you where changing siding profiles may improve the design.

2. Understand What Siding Exposure Does to the House

One of the easiest siding upgrades to demonstrate at the kitchen table is profile exposure.

A homeowner may initially think that one horizontal vinyl siding panel looks much like another. Put two profiles next to each other, however, and the difference becomes much easier to understand.

A narrower exposure creates more horizontal lines across the elevation. A wider exposure reduces the number of visible courses and can give the exterior a broader, cleaner appearance.

On a ranch home with a large amount of uninterrupted wall area, this difference can be significant.

3. Compare Clapboard and Dutch Lap

Profile shape matters in addition to exposure.

Traditional clapboard profiles provide a straightforward horizontal appearance. Dutch lap profiles introduce a more pronounced shadow line that can add visual depth to the wall.

Neither is automatically better.

The goal is to show the homeowner how each changes the personality of the house.

Gentek's Sequoia Select line, for example, provides contractors with multiple profile choices. Instead of presenting siding as one product in several colors, a salesperson can use these choices to create different exterior designs.

This is where samples become important. Don't simply tell the homeowner about the difference. Put the profiles next to each other and let them see the difference in exposure and shadow lines.

4. Use Board & Batten to Break Up a Long Ranch

One of the most effective ways to change the appearance of a ranch is introducing vertical siding in a strategic location.

Board and batten creates vertical lines, providing contrast against the dominant horizontal lines of the house.

The Vinyl Siding Institute identifies board and batten as a vertical siding profile that can be used both for accent applications and whole-house installations.

On a ranch, good potential accent locations can include:

• Front-facing gables
• Garage gables
• Porch areas
• Sections surrounding an entry door
• Bump-outs
• Architecturally separated wall sections

The goal isn't to randomly install vertical siding. The profile change should have an architectural reason.

5. Don't Overdesign the House

More options do not automatically create a better exterior.

Contractors sometimes see horizontal siding, board and batten, shakes, stone, contrasting corners and multiple colors available and try to incorporate everything into one elevation.

On a relatively simple ranch, that can quickly become visually busy.

A better approach is often one primary siding profile, one secondary profile and a deliberate trim package.

6. Use the Front Gable as the Natural Accent

If a ranch has a front-facing gable, that may be the easiest place to introduce a second siding profile.

Consider horizontal siding across the primary walls with board and batten in the gable.

That simple change gives the homeowner something visually different without making the exterior feel overly complicated.

It also creates an obvious upgrade contractors can show as part of a good-better-best proposal.

7. Don't Forget the Garage

On many ranch homes, the garage represents a substantial percentage of the front elevation.

Contractors should therefore look at the garage as part of the siding design rather than treating it as leftover wall space.

Depending on the architecture, you might use:

• Board and batten above the garage door
• A contrasting siding color in the garage gable
• Wider trim around the garage door
• Coordinated soffit, fascia and rainware
• An accent profile that visually connects the garage with the front entry

8. Use Trim to Make the Profile Changes Look Intentional

Siding profiles are only one part of exterior design.

Window trim, door trim, outside corners, soffit, fascia and other accessories can determine whether the completed exterior looks basic or finished.

When you're presenting a profile upgrade, discuss the trim package at the same time.

This is another reason contractors should avoid quoting every siding project as a single take-it-or-leave-it package. Give homeowners choices and explain what those choices accomplish.

9. Profile and Color Should Be Designed Together

Changing profiles does not necessarily mean changing colors.

A ranch can look very sophisticated with horizontal siding and board and batten in the same color. The different direction and shadow lines provide contrast without introducing another color.

Another approach is using a subtle coordinating accent color.

The important part is designing the profile and color package together rather than making those decisions independently.

10. Show the Homeowner Instead of Asking Them to Imagine It

One of the biggest mistakes in siding sales is expecting homeowners to visualize a major exterior transformation from a small color chip.

They often can't.

Use larger samples, corner displays, photographs and visualization technology whenever possible.

Gentek offers an exterior visualization tool that allows users to experiment with siding products, profiles, colors, trim, roofing and other exterior selections on sample homes or an uploaded photograph.

For contractors, this can turn a conversation about replacing siding into a conversation about redesigning the exterior.

Turn Profile Choices Into Good-Better-Best Options

This is where siding design becomes a sales tool.

Instead of presenting one proposal, consider showing the homeowner three concepts:

Now the homeowner isn't deciding whether your siding price is too high.

They're deciding which version of their house they want to purchase.

The Kitchen-Table Sales Lesson

Contractors should remember one important principle:

Don't sell siding by the square. Sell the finished house.

Homeowners may not walk into an appointment asking for a particular siding exposure or board-and-batten accent. That's why the contractor needs to understand the available products well enough to introduce those possibilities.

Ask questions such as:

• Do you want the house to look substantially different when we're finished?
• Are there areas of the home you would like to emphasize?
• Do you like the board-and-batten look?
• Would you like to see a wider siding profile?
• Would you consider an accent color?
• Would you like us to show you a few different exterior designs?

Those questions move the appointment away from commodity pricing and toward design, value and expertise.

Suburban Wholesale & Supply Can Help Contractors Build the Package

Contractors throughout Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, Rock Island and the surrounding Quad Cities can use Suburban Wholesale & Supply as more than a place to pick up siding.

Stop in and compare siding profiles, colors, accessories and samples. Talk through the project with our team and build a material package that gives your customer meaningful choices.

Whether you're selling Gentek vinyl siding, board and batten, insulated siding options or other exterior upgrades, the objective is the same:

Give the homeowner options—and know how to explain why those options matter.

A basic ranch does not have to remain a basic ranch. With the right combination of siding profiles, exposure, direction, trim and color, even a straightforward exterior can become a much more distinctive home.

Continue the Suburban Wholesale Siding Sales Academy

This article is part of the Suburban Wholesale & Supply Siding Sales Academy, created to help siding contractors improve product knowledge, presentation skills, estimating, demonstrations and sales.

Visit Suburban Wholesale & Supply in the Quad Cities to see siding profiles and samples in person, talk with our experienced team and find new ways to build value into your next siding proposal.