Bumping this in case anyone has any advice?

@musicgalnd - thanks for your comment! I saw that the brick was painted but wasn’t sure if the siding was painted too (she doesn’t specify). There’s siding on the far right photo … great tip on getting dove white sample to compare to. I know you can do custom color on LP but I’m guessing that’s $$$$ and I know you can paint it but my husband isn’t a huge fan of that and the maintenance we’d add onto the house (and I agree). We’re located in upper Midwest so humid happens in summer but not year round. Our builder recommends LP smart side which is why we are looking at this first.

We're in upper Midwest too and our builder also recommended LP Smartside with the Diamond Kote finish, but the chipping does suck. Seamless steel seems like it may have been more maintenance free, until the hailstorms hit, of course :)

I would guess McGees painted their lap siding White Dove to match the brick, but would bet they didn't have any budget constraints and probably had it custom painted!

I think where your house is sited may also make a difference, if you're in a subdvision or in the middle of town/city, you may have less dirt stirred up by farm equipment, etc and maybe the white wouldn't get as dirty? The mildew will probably still happen, but we've only noticed it on the north sides of the house and cabin. If my front door faced north, I would try to do something other than white siding on that side, at least around the front door.

Here's a few pics of the chipping. Not sure how it's supposed to have a 30 year warranty on the Diamond Kote finish when it chips like this every year? Make sure you request lots of free touch up paint!

Wow! That’s super frustrating. Everything I read on their website/about the product claims how damage proof it is. Interesting and definitely something to discuss further with our builder. And we will FOR SURE request the extra paint now. Thanks again!

Your house is beautiful by the way!

I hope you have better luck with the LP and don't have any chipping! I was pointing it out to our builder when we hired him back last year for another project. He said "Having to touch up paint may suck, but there's still nothing better than LP on the market right now". So I guess it is what it is?

Thanks for the compliment, we had quite a time with the reno on our 1948 farmhouse (before and after pics below). The yard was hit by a tornado a month after we bought it, our first builder was diagnosed with brain cancer the day we were supposed to pour footings (benign, he is well now), and the only plumber who was available actually had a medical card allowing him to be drunk while on the job... you can't make this stuff up! I hope your build goes more smoothly!!!

Oh my gosh! You can’t make that stuff up is right. That’s insane. Hopefully it was all worth it?! It’s beautiful from the outside!!

It's like having a baby...after a few years you don't even remember the pain of it and might even consider doing it again, haha!

Hahaha!!! Our son is 3 and I feel that statement in my soul! 😂😂

Hi A L0108... we're checking into siding options and found your thread related to Diamond Kote. Would you be willing to tell us about the process of purchasing, installing, maintaining the siding. I'm seeing comments about chipping and other quality issues regarding Diamond Kote. Your comments about the product would be helpful. Thanks.

@nvestysly - hi! I’m not sure as we’re in the process of selecting as well. @musicgalnd has been so helpful though and had some great experience.

@nvestysly - we purchased from a local lumberyard and our contractor installed it per the instructions. We were hoping it wouldn't need any maintenance, but guess we should have known Diamond Kote was providing touch up paint for a reason? Every spring, I use the touch paint to fix the chips that have appeared on the bottom of lapped siding pieces and corner trim pieces (see pics in previous comments).

We considered seamless steel siding, but live in an area that gets severe thunderstorms and hail, so figured the LP would hold up better. Overall it's been installed almost 10 years and the main problem we've had with it is the chipping issue.

It seems no one has answered the color question. I am in the same predicament.

It seems many colors can be found on the internet for LP Smartside that aren't available to order. Linen is one example. The color samples versus photos of homes are so different. Does LP Smartside make a decent off-white, cream color?

@Julie Kuntz - it's frustrating isn't it?! I found the closest sample to what I was ultimately hoping for was Desert Stone. However, we ended up getting custom coloring done on our LP Siding. I don't think it was "much" more expensive (it was actually written into our contract as standard on accident hence the above questions). We then were able to match the siding to any standard paint sample color. I'd recommend checking to see what the cost difference would be to change to a custom color. Otherwise, the Desert Stone seemed to be the closest to an off-white color.

Thanks so much for the reply.

May I ask if you chose a standard paint color? If so, what did you choose?

Here’s a photo of the custom WHITE DUCK (large sample) with the standard desert stone on top. They’re sitting on a white piece of paper to show the color difference from a LRV of 100… don’t mind my toddlers color place mat in the background 🙃

It looks less yellow in real life/outside

Here it is with natural light

Thank you so very much. And so smart to put on a piece of white paper.

The desert stone looks to dark. I am liking the creaminess of the White Duck. Did you use white trim? Black windows by chance?

Did you use a "preferred" LP Smartside paint company or a local contractor?

We did white windows and a linen trim so that it was pretty cohesive. We’ll also have stone veneer. We actually ordered the siding in a custom color through a smart side vendor. They ordered samples (I’m not sure if they order from LP or paint in shop?) and then sent to me. This was coordinated by our builder so I’m not 100% sure how they coordinated the actual color sample.

Here’s what inspo was for the exterior coloring

The above is all white dove. However WD looked too stark white in our lot so went slightly creamier.

Thank you. This has been so very helpful. I have found some inspiration photos in white duck. Love them. Enjoy your home.

Thank you! Good luck to you as well!

Hello. We are using LP Smartside. Diamond Kote is painting ours a custom color. I didn't like their standard white (too bright!) and chose White Dove for our siding. We ordered it the end of November and are expecting it any day now. I did not find it cost prohibitive to do the custom color.

BTW, you can do any color you want. Our local lumbar yard sent my paint chip to Diamond Kote, they made a sample (approx 5x8") and sent it back to me. I now carry that sample with me almost everywhere - it sort've lives in my purse :)

Can you send a picture of your home exterior finished?? I am in your boat right now, with wanting an off white home!!

Hi @Ashley Bilton - of course! We are so happy with our decision to do an off-white home. Let me know if you have any questions!

We are also struggling with the diamond kote’s white being so stark white as well. The new color Glacier fog is suppose to be a soft white but sure seems more beige vs an actual white (and with it being a new color there aren’t any sample house pictures with it).

Amy, do you have any pictures on how your home turned out? Curious on how the off white custom diamond kote turned out? We also heard that doing a custom color may void the 30 year fade warranty?