Siding calculator: squares, vinyl cost and install labor
Siding is bought and bid by the square, and one square covers 100 square feet of wall. Vinyl lap siding costs $145 to $225 per square at the supplier in 2026, and tear-off plus install labor adds $390 to $620 per square. Enter your wall area and this siding calculator converts it to squares, adds 10 percent waste, and prices trim, wrap and labor on top. At 2,000 square feet of wall the national-average total is $12,116 to $19,559.
Worked example: 2,000 sq ft wall area
That takes 20 squares (Wall area to cover). National-average costs:
| Line | Quantity | Cost range |
|---|---|---|
| Vinyl lap siding | 22 squares | $3,190 to $4,950 |
| Trim, house wrap and flashing | 2,000 sq ft | $1,000 to $2,000 |
| Tear-off and disposal | 20 squares | $1,000 to $2,000 |
| Siding install labor | 20 squares | $6,800 to $10,400 |
| Siding nails and exterior caulk | 3% | $126 to $209 |
| Estimated total | $12,116 to $19,559 |
Enter the net wall area to be sided in square feet, gables in and garage doors out. The interactive calculator on this page recomputes these numbers for your dimensions and adjusts for any US state.
How to measure for siding work
Walk the perimeter, then multiply by wall height
Measure each wall's length and the height from the bottom course to the soffit. A 40 by 30 ranch with 9 foot walls has 140 feet of perimeter and 1,260 square feet of rectangular wall.
Add the gables as triangles
A gable is half its width times its rise. A 30 foot gable on a 6/12 pitch rises 7.5 feet, so each one adds 112.5 square feet and the pair adds 225.
Take out only the big openings
Subtract garage doors, slider walls and anything over about 30 square feet. Leave ordinary windows in, because the panel cut around them is mostly waste anyway. The ranch above loses a 16 by 7 garage door, 112 square feet, and lands at 1,373 square feet, or 13.7 squares.
Take off trim in linear feet
Soffit, fascia and window surrounds are priced by the foot, not the square. Fascia wrap runs $2.30 to $3.60 a foot in aluminum coil stock, so tape the eaves and rakes while the ladder is already up.
What this calculator assumes
- Ranges are 2026 national averages for vinyl lap siding replacing one layer of old siding.
- Siding is ordered with 10 percent waste and rounded up to whole squares. Trim, wrap and labor are figured on the net wall area.
- Trim, house wrap and flashing at $0.50 to $1.00 per square foot of wall covers a standard package of J-channel, corners and starter, not custom window surrounds.
- The 3 percent allowance covers siding nails and exterior caulk.
- Sheathing repair, soffit and fascia, pulling and resetting gutters, and permits sit outside the total.
- Fiber cement, engineered wood and cedar change two lines at once: the material per square and how fast the crew hangs it.
Cost factors in siding work
Material choice
Vinyl at $145 to $225 per square is the baseline here. Fiber cement lap runs $225 to $350 per square in material, engineered wood $190 to $295, and cedar bevel $425 to $650, and each step up also slows the crew.
Stories and staging
A one-story ranch sides off ladders. Two-story walls, walkout basements and tall gables mean pump jacks or a lift, and every course up there goes on slower than the ones you can reach from the ground.
What is under the old siding
Rotten sheathing, missing wrap and failed window flashing only show once the old siding is off. Quote sheathing repair as a unit price per 4x8 sheet so the surprise already has a number on it when the crew finds it.
Cut-up elevations
Bump-outs, bay windows and extra gables each add corners, J-channel and cut waste. A plain box sides at 10 percent waste, while a house with dormers and a turret can need 15.
Cold-weather installs
Vinyl grows and shrinks with temperature. The usual 1/4 inch gap at channels and corners opens to 3/8 inch when the panels go up below about 40 degrees, and cold, stiff panels slow the crew.
Frequently asked questions
How many squares of siding does a 2,000 square foot wall take?
20 squares of wall, since one square is 100 square feet. Order 22 with 10 percent waste for lap siding on plain walls, or 23 at 15 percent when the house has a lot of gables, bump-outs and dormers. Many vinyl lines box two squares to a carton, so an odd count gets rounded up again at the counter.
What does vinyl siding cost per square in 2026?
The panels run $145 to $225 per square at the supplier, which is $1.45 to $2.25 a square foot. Add trim, house wrap, tear-off and install labor and a 2,000 square foot wall comes to about $606 to $978 per square, or $6.06 to $9.78 a square foot, as a national average.
How do I figure siding for a two-story house?
Use wall area, never living area. A two-story house on a 32 by 32 footprint has 128 feet of perimeter, and at 18 feet of wall height that is 2,304 square feet before gables and openings. With 10 percent waste and rounding up, that is 26 squares to order.
Can new siding go over the old siding?
Vinyl sometimes can, over flat existing siding with foam or furring, which saves the tear-off line: $1,000 to $2,000 on a 2,000 square foot wall. It also hides rot and adds depth at every window, which complicates the J-channel and trim. Fiber cement and engineered wood want a flat, sound wall, so plan on removal for those.
What does Staxen cost a siding contractor?
Staxen is $59 per month per AI employee, or $149 per month for all three, and the first 7 days are free in the app. Walk the elevations, say the wall footage and trim runs out loud, and Eddie the Estimator builds the line-item estimate. The homeowner signs and pays the deposit from a texted link.