Siding for a Two Story 2,000 Square Foot House
Siding needed
26.5 squares
130 ft perimeter, 18 ft walls, two 26 ft gables at 6/12, 16 windows, 2 doors, 12% waste.
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How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Wall perimeter130 ft
- Wall height to the eave18 ft
- Gable ends2 each
- Gable width26 ft
- Roof pitch, rise per 12 in6 /12
- Windows16 each
- Doors2 each
- Outside corners4 each
- Waste allowance12 %
Siding needed26.5 squares
| Wall area | 2,340 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Gable area | 169 sq ft2 gables at 6/12 |
| Openings deducted at half | 141 sq ftof 282 sq ft total |
| Net area | 2,368 sq ft |
| With 12% waste | 2,652 sq ft |
| Squares | 26.5 |
| Vinyl cartons at 2 squares | 14 |
| Starter strip | 130 ft |
| J channel | 292 ftaround windows and doors |
The material list this produces
| Siding, cartons at 2 squares | 14 |
|---|---|
| Starter strip, ft | 130 |
| J channel, ft | 292 |
| Outside corner posts, 10 ft | 8 |
| Undersill trim, ft | 130 |
| House wrap, sq ft | 2,509 |
| Siding nails, lb | 7 |
Roof pitch compared
Pitch only moves the gable triangles, but it moves them fast. Going from 4/12 to 12/12 triples the gable area on the same house, which is about three extra squares of siding on a 30 foot wide elevation and closer to six on a 40 foot one.
| Roof pitch | Siding needed | Gable area |
|---|---|---|
| 4/12 | 25.9 squares | 113 sq ft |
| 6/12 | 26.5 squares | 169 sq ft |
| 8/12 | 27.2 squares | 225 sq ft |
| 10/12 | 27.8 squares | 282 sq ft |
| 12/12 | 28.4 squares | 338 sq ft |
What else matters here
Twenty six and a half squares against twenty for the same floor area on one level. People expect these to come out even, on the reasoning that stacking the house halves the footprint and doubles the wall height. Halving the floor area does not halve the perimeter, it divides it by about 1.4, so the wall area goes up by roughly the same factor: 2,340 square feet here against 1,620 on the ranch.
The gables get smaller too, 169 square feet here against 289 on the single story version, because the gable sits on a 26 foot wall instead of a 34 foot one.
The real difference on a two story is labor, not material. Eighteen feet of wall is above comfortable ladder work, so the job needs staging or a lift, and the crew moves it several times. That line moves before the siding line does.
What this calculator assumes
- A gable is a triangle, so its area is the width squared times the pitch divided by 48. Two gables on a 30 foot wide house at 6/12 add about 225 square feet, which is more than two squares of siding that people routinely forget.
- Openings are deducted at half, not in full. You still cut siding around a window and the offcut is usually scrap, so the trade rule is to take off half the opening and leave anything under 10 square feet in.
- 12 percent waste is normal for vinyl on a straightforward house. Lap siding, a cut up elevation or a staggered shake course runs higher.
- A carton of vinyl siding covers two squares, 200 square feet. Fiber cement and wood lap are sold by the piece, so use the square figure and convert at your supplier's coverage.
Questions people ask
Does a two story house need more siding than a ranch?
For the same floor area, yes, usually noticeably more. The footprint is halved but the wall height is doubled, and the gables shrink while the wall area does not. This example runs 26.5 squares against 20 for the same square footage on one level.
How high can you side from a ladder?
Practically, to about the top of a single story. Past roughly twenty feet of wall you are into staging or a lift, and that is a labor line rather than a material line.
How many squares are in a box of vinyl siding?
Two. A standard carton covers 200 square feet, which is why siding is quoted in squares rather than square feet. Fiber cement and wood lap are sold by the piece, so take the square figure here and convert at whatever coverage your supplier lists.
The siding calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.