Siding in Kentfield, CA

Mid-century and custom stock on a moving grade

Kentfield's housing runs from postwar mid-century homes with long horizontal lines and deep eaves to one-off custom builds tucked into the trees, and that stock dictates the siding approach. Mid-century elevations were often clad in wide, simple lap or board profiles that look clean but were never detailed to handle decades of mountain-slope damp behind them. Custom homes add complex rooflines, cantilevers, and clerestory bands where water collects at every junction. We hold the original architectural proportion on a re-side rather than flattening it, then rebuild the wall behind that face so the damp these designs trap finally has a path out. Matching the era's reveal and shadow line is part of keeping Kentfield's character intact.

Designing the wall to dry below Mt. Tam

The quiet failure mode on a Kentfield home is not the cladding face — it is moisture that gets behind it and cannot leave. Overnight fog drains down the Tam slopes and pools in the canopy-shaded lots, so north and downhill elevations stay damp well into the morning across the cool season. We treat the assembly as a drainage system: a continuous weather-resistive barrier, a vented rainscreen gap behind the cladding so air moves and the back of the board dries, kickout flashing where roof planes dump onto walls, and generous clearance at grade so siding is not wicking off damp soil and leaf litter. Penetrations and window heads get shingle-lapped flashing rather than caulk-dependent joints. On the slopes, that drying capability is what separates a re-side that lasts from one that rots its sheathing quietly.

Hillside access and staging in the canopy

Re-siding a Kentfield home is often shaped as much by the approach as by the wall. Many lots climb off narrow, twisting roads with short driveways and steep grade changes, set under mature oak and bay canopy that limits where scaffold and a dumpster can land. We frequently stage material in lifts, run scaffold off the downhill elevation, and protect the wooded slope below from falling tear-off debris. The access reality also drives sequencing: we strip and dry-in one elevation at a time rather than opening the whole envelope, because a fog-laden storm rolling off the mountain can soak an exposed wall fast. Non-combustible cladding arrives heavier than the old wood it replaces, which matters on a hand-carried hillside path, so we walk the approach before quoting.

One assembly for moisture and the slope-edge fire question

Kentfield's two real stressors — canopy damp and the moderate wildfire exposure on the Mt. Tam edge — are not in conflict on a re-side. The same non-combustible fiber-cement or mineral cladding that drains and dries through the fog season also answers the measured fire concern on the parcels that sit closest to the mountain's open and wooded fuel. We do not overstate the fire story; much of Kentfield reads as a sheltered, treed residential community rather than a fire-front town. But for the homes nearer the slope, building the drying assembly out of non-combustible board, with hardened eaves and screened vents, lets one wall handle both conditions without compromise. The detailing follows the address, not a one-size story.

Fiber Cement Siding for Kentfield homes

The full fiber cement siding approach — materials, weather-resistive detailing, and the manufacturer standards we install to — is covered on the main service page, then specified for Kentfield's conditions on this one.

Full Fiber Cement Siding details →

Our Kentfield process