What Is LP Siding?

SmartSide

• LP's signature siding product is "SmartSide," a wood-based composite that the company says resists warping, rot and damage from termites and other insects. Because it's made from wood, installers can work with it just as they would solid wood, according to the company. The material doesn't require special tools for cutting, unlike fiber cement hardboard, and accepts nails and screws just like regular wood. The SmartSide product line includes siding that mimics traditional wood clapboards, as well as cedar-shake-style shingles. The company also makes SmartSide products for trim, fascias and soffits.

Manufacturing

• The raw material for SmartSide is freshly cut logs, which LP chops up into thin wood slivers or "wafers." The product gets its strength from the way these slivers are "woven" together, according to the company. The slivers are mixed with a chemical binder and a preservative, covered with a resin-impregnated paper, then compressed under intense heat and high pressure. The paper side gets a coat of primer so that the product is ready for painting.

Innerseal

• When people in the building trade use the term "LP siding," they're sometimes referring to a previous LP product, Innerseal siding, that touched off a lengthy and expensive legal battle. Manufactured from 1985 to 1995 and installed on about 800,000 homes, Innerseal siding began to fail prematurely, particularly on homes in humid regions. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, the product warped, rotted and attracted fungus. That led to what the Journal article called one of the biggest consumer class-action lawsuits ever filed.

Class Action

• LP settled the class action in 1996, ultimately agreeing to pay $500 million to owners of homes sided with Innerseal. For homeowners to receive payment, their siding must have been installed before 1996, and they had to have filed claims by the end of 2002. The class-action case has now been closed; going forward, any homeowners with failing Innerseal siding must file a regular warranty claim -- assuming their siding is still within the product's original 25-year warranty.