Siding in Felton, CA

Extreme post-CZU forest exposure

Felton's redwood-forest homes and rural acreage carry extreme exposure with documented catastrophic recent history. We strip combustible wood, re-clad in Class A non-combustible material, and aggressively harden eaves, soffits, vents, decks, and every ground transition.

Redwood-canopy and river damp

Deep shade and the San Lorenzo River keep Felton walls damp and slow to dry; the hardened assembly is built over a robust drying-capable plane so fire protection and moisture management coexist in one envelope.

WUI siding assemblies for Chapter 7A compliance

Because Felton lies inside a state-mapped Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, a re-side here is governed by California's Wildland-Urban Interface building code, Chapter 7A. That standard reshapes the entire siding spec. Combustible wood lap and shingle cladding, traditional on so many San Lorenzo Valley cabins, gives way to ignition-resistant materials: fiber cement, mineral-fiber board, or listed noncombustible panels that have passed the SFM 12-7A-1 exterior wall flame test. The detailing matters as much as the panel. We close the bottom course with metal flashing and noncombustible trim so wind-driven embers cannot lodge behind the cladding, and we pair the new wall with ember-resistant venting where soffits and crawlspaces meet the siding plane. On a forested Felton lot, the cladding is only one layer of the defensible perimeter, so we coordinate the wall assembly with the eave, deck ledger, and any rebuild-permit conditions left over from the CZU recovery. The goal is a wall that resists ignition during the long single-road evacuation window off Highway 9, not merely one that looks restored.

Working steep San Lorenzo Valley lots and tight Highway 9 access

Felton's rural acreage parcels rarely give a crew an easy, flat staging area. Homes are tucked down driveways off Graham Hill Road and the Highway 9 corridor, perched on grades that fall toward the San Lorenzo River or climb into the redwoods toward Boulder Creek. That terrain drives real logistics for a siding job. Material has to be broken into smaller loads because a full lumber delivery truck often cannot turn around on a narrow forest drive, and scaffolding has to be built on sloped, root-bound ground rather than open lawn. The dense canopy also keeps walls shaded and slow to dry, so we sequence tear-off and re-wrap to avoid leaving sheathing open through a damp forest night. Tree protection is part of the plan too; second-growth redwoods sit close to many walls, and we stage around root zones rather than compacting them. We also confirm whether a parcel falls under county defensible-space clearance review before scheduling, since that can change how much vegetation must be cut back from the work area first.

Fiber Cement Siding for Felton 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 Felton's conditions on this one.

Full Fiber Cement Siding details →

Our Felton process