Siding Installation in Gresham, OR

Do You Need a Permit to Replace Siding in Gresham?

Usually not. The City of Gresham lists "replacement or repair of siding not required to be fire-resistive" among the projects that need no permit on a single-family home, as long as the work stays off public easements and property-line setbacks and still meets the building and zoning codes. The catch is the wall underneath. If the old siding comes off and the sheathing or framing has to be rebuilt, that is structural work and it does need a permit, which we handle. We look at your address and your wall before we promise anything.

Older Siding Than the West-Side Suburbs

Gresham grew up earlier than the west-side suburbs. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey (2020-2024 five-year survey) puts the median year built at 1981, with 44,005 housing units, and 21,160 of them, about 48.1%, built before 1980. The single biggest building decade was the 1970s, with 10,897 homes. Next to Beaverton at a 1987 median and Hillsboro at 1997, Gresham is the oldest of these four cities.

Age is the whole story with siding. A house built in the 1960s or 1970s has had half a century of rain worked into the joints of its original wood, plywood or hardboard siding. The paint stops holding, the bottom courses go soft, and water starts moving behind boards that still look fine from the curb. The only way to know what it has done to the wall is to pull the siding and look, and on a house this age that look usually decides the job.

Gresham is not all old, either. The newer subdivisions up around Gresham Butte and out toward Pleasant Valley went up with builder-grade siding that is now 20 to 30 years old, right at the age when the caulking and the laps start to let go. Older core or newer hillside, the fix is the same: get the old material off, deal with whatever the water found, and rebuild the wall so it sheds instead of soaks.

From Tear-Out to Final Trim

1. Measure and a written price. We walk every wall and hand you a written price that names the James Hardie product and the trim for your house, with nothing left vague.
2. Tear-out from a shop five minutes away. The old siding comes down to the sheathing and leaves with us, listed on your written estimate; the wall gets a real look and your driveway stays clear.
3. Check where the wind hits. Gorge-driven rain works on the east and north faces first, so that is where soft sheathing usually hides; you see any repair in the open, and its permit is our job.
4. Barrier and flashing, a full moisture barrier and flashing at every opening and roof line, lapped against that east wind.
5. Hang the Hardie. Boards and trim follow the manufacturer's fastening spec exactly, then get caulked and sealed.
6. Walkthrough with the crew that lives nearby, and the limited 5-year workmanship warranty in writing.

Replacing windows too? The flashing and trim around each opening go in once if you do both together. See the product details on our James Hardie siding page, or what a job runs on the siding cost guide.

Get a Free Gresham Siding Quote

Siding Across Gresham

The city recognizes 16 neighborhood associations, and we serve all of them, from Rockwood, Centennial, North Central and Northwest to Powell Valley, Kelly Creek, Hogan Cedars, Gresham Butte and Central City. If your home is in Gresham, we cover it.

We also build fences out here, where each east county city writes its own code: see fence installation in Gresham.