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Whether your Kirkwood project is a full re-clad on a Foursquare or a partial refresh on a mid-century ranch, we would love to walk your elevations. Call (314) 618-8888 or send a few photos and we will send a written quote this week.
Cedar clapboard on a Craftsman bungalow near the Kirkwood Train Station looks right until the paint fails, the trim starts to rot, and woodpeckers open holes along the eaves. That’s the moment most owners of older Kirkwood homes start pricing LP SmartSide siding — engineered wood strand product built to hold the period lap profiles without the annual upkeep. At Top Quality Exteriors, we specialize in matching lap widths, trim reveals, and factory-applied colors to what your block already reads as authentic on both restoration and full re-clad jobs.
LP SmartSide is treated engineered wood (SmartGuard process) that shrugs off Missouri’s freeze-thaw swings, hail bruising, and the humid summers that punish cedar. Boards ship in 16-foot lengths, which means fewer butt joints across a wide Craftsman gable and cleaner sight lines than 12-foot cedar. If your project sits inside one of Kirkwood’s nine local historic districts, we can also spec fiber cement siding in Kirkwood as an alternative and walk you through the Landmarks Commission’s design review.
Kirkwood’s housing stock spans 1850s Victorians in Jefferson-Argonne and East Monroe, Foursquares in Meramec Highlands, and mid-century ranches in Craigwoods and Greentree — a range that quickly punishes any one-profile-fits-all approach. LP SmartSide gives us a full catalog: 4-inch, 6-inch, and 8-inch lap, cedar shake panels, board-and-batten trim, and 16-foot lengths that reduce the visible seams on a wide Craftsman gable. The SmartGuard treatment (zinc borate plus a resin-infused wood strand core) handles the freeze-thaw cycles and humid Missouri summers that swell and split traditional cedar. After the May 26, 2024 hail and 81 mph gusts moved across the metro, we replaced a lot of dented aluminum and cracked hardboard siding on streets just off Kirkwood Road and Manchester Road. When a homeowner wants an even harder-hit alternative, we quote James Hardie siding in Kirkwood side by side so the material choice is honest and specific to the elevation you actually own on your street.
Every re-clad in Kirkwood starts with what your house is telling us — cupped boards, blistered paint, or hail bruising from the 2024 storms. Here is the exact five-step path we walk with historic-core and Craigwoods owners every week.
We walk every elevation to log rot, blistered paint, and hail hits. Sheathing checks come next, especially north-face walls. You get photos and a written scope by email same day.
We pick lap width, shake, and trim to suit your era and any Landmarks review. Color samples come from the ExpertFinish deck for on-wall tests. Nothing gets ordered until you sign.
We strip old siding down to sheathing, replace rot, and reseal each window flange. A weather-resistive wrap goes on before any board. Debris leaves your block by that afternoon.
Boards land in 16-foot runs, joint offsets, and stainless nails per LP spec. Corner posts, window trim, and soffit vents finish the envelope. Two leads run your job to the end.
We walk every elevation, punch-listing caulk, paint touch-ups, and cleanup. Photos of hidden flashing go in your file for later claims. Your 36-month workmanship warranty starts.
Top Quality Exteriors was founded in 2022 and our team brings over seven years of exterior contracting experience across St. Louis metro. We are BBB-accredited with an A+ rating, licensed in Missouri and Illinois, and carry general liability and workers’ compensation coverage on every crew. That paperwork matters in Kirkwood because a full siding re-clad on a landmark or historic-district home may require Landmarks Commission review before any board leaves the truck.
We are a James Hardie Alliance Program Member and an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor, so we speak both fiber-cement and asphalt fluently — but LP SmartSide earns its place on Kirkwood’s older wood-sided homes because the profiles actually match Foursquare details. Every job carries a 36-month workmanship warranty, with lifetime coverage available on select systems. If your walls read better with a synthetic panel, we quote insulated siding in Kirkwood the same day.
An LP SmartSide re-clad in Kirkwood typically runs between $9 and $14 per square foot installed, with most jobs landing between $18,000 and $42,000 depending on square footage, story count, and trim complexity. A 1,800-square-foot 1920s Foursquare in Meramec Highlands with full corner boards, window trim, and shake accents on the gables sits noticeably higher than a 1,400-square-foot mid-century ranch off Manchester Road with straight lap and simple soffits.
Where LP SmartSide pays off is 20 years out — factory finishes hold color, engineered wood absorbs hail bruising better than aluminum, and there is no annual scrape-and-repaint cycle common to old cedar. We break every quote into materials, labor, tear-off, Kirkwood permit fees, and any rot repair so nothing is buried in a lump sum. Hearth and GreenSky financing is available for qualified homeowners, and every wall we install carries our 36-month workmanship warranty.
Every credential we carry is a commitment to quality, safety, and your peace of mind — on every project, in every state we serve.
