This weekend I finally got around to pulling some of the ivy off the north side of the house—and yikes.

I knew our siding was old, but I didn’t realize how bad it had gotten until I saw it without the vines masking the damage. Warped panels. Faded color. Even a small gap near the bottom where something (a chipmunk?) has clearly made a home. Suddenly that “someday” siding project turned into a this year kind of thing.

I don’t know why I’ve put it off for so long. I think I’ve always assumed that replacing siding was this massive, expensive, chaotic ordeal. Something you do when you have to. But now that I’ve seen the bones exposed—and with energy bills creeping up year after year—it feels less like a burden and more like an opportunity.

So, of course, I started down the rabbit hole of research.

I stumbled across a local contractor called Vantage Decks and Siding, and they had this page on siding installation in Brewer that broke things down in a way that felt really manageable. Not salesy, just practical.

They talked about the kinds of materials they use—vinyl siding, fiber cement, even insulated siding for better energy performance. That last one made my ears perk up. Our house is drafty. It’s not an old farmhouse or anything, but it was built in the '80s and definitely wasn’t insulated with a Maine winter in mind.

I didn’t even realize that siding itself could help with energy efficiency. I always thought that was all about windows and attic insulation. But apparently there are siding systems that can actually help keep the heat in (and the bills down). That alone might be worth it.

They also talked about low-maintenance options, which is basically music to my ears. I don’t want to be repainting or re-sealing things every few years. I want to put it up and forget about it—for at least a decade or two.

And this is going to sound silly, but I never realized how much look matters either. I mean, obviously you want your home to look nice, but I hadn’t thought about style—the textures, the colors, even how the trim is finished. Vantage’s page had me imagining going from our dull, beige siding to something a little moodier. Maybe slate gray with white trim. Something crisp, clean, and modern.

There’s something kind of emotional about thinking of your home in a new light. It’s not just about covering up damage or sealing out the cold—it’s about reinventing the house you live in. Letting it evolve with you.

I’m not saying we’re ready to sign a contract tomorrow. But I’m starting to get a better sense of what we want—and who we might trust to help us get there. Vantage seems to get it. They know Brewer (which isn’t far from us in Hampden), and they seem like they actually listen—from the way they described their process and the level of detail they go into.

So now I’m walking around the house with color swatches on my phone, taking photos of shadows hitting the siding at different times of day. (My partner thinks I’ve lost it.) But something about it feels exciting. Like we’re giving the house a second life.

Not sure we’re ready to pull the trigger yet. But we’re definitely on the edge of the diving board.