Francesco Zinghinì
Author and curator of SidingCalcs.
Author and curator · SidingCalcs
Francesco Zinghinì is the author and curator of SidingCalcs. This is a truthful role: I am not a licensed siding contractor, an installer or any trade professional, and I do not claim any such credential.
My relevant, verifiable competence is building deterministic online calculators (open-source Python projects) and electronic-engineering training (Systems Theory, Sapienza University of Rome) — which gives genuine rigor on the wall/gable-area geometry and cost arithmetic. Siding quantity is plane geometry (siding area = wall perimeter × height + gables (½ × base × height) − openings; squares = area ÷ 100; boxes = area ÷ coverage) and siding cost is a quantity × unit-price sum (cost = area × $/sq ft or squares × $/square + labor + add-ons) — verified numerically on known examples. Every formula on this site shows its basis, every convention is cited under Sources, and every calculator is numerically self-checked against known values (see Methodology).
Everything here follows one rule: the tools must stay correct with no ongoing maintenance. That is why every cost tool works only on the walls you measure and the prices you enter from your own quotes and bills — the site keeps no material or labor price list, no regional cost database and no live rates that would silently go stale. The only baked-in numbers are stable identities (area = L × H, gable = ½ × base × height, 1 square = 100 sq ft) and clearly labeled published typicals (coverage & exposure per square by material, waste factor, door/window/garage deductions, cost bands, lifespan) you can adjust to your own project.
Siding a home is a real spend, so every cost tool is framed as a planning estimate, not a bid; every quantity tool reminds you to measure your actual walls and gables and follow the manufacturer’s exposure and installation instructions and allow extra for waste, trim and complex layouts; and the coverage / exposure / material / lifespan references note their values are labeled typicals, not a certified spec — follow the manufacturer’s data, and the EPA RRP rule with a certified firm for pre-1978 lead paint on old siding. The aim is a neutral, free, no-signup reference you can use to sanity-check a contractor’s numbers — nothing that pretends to replace a professional siding contractor, a certified lead-safe firm or local code.
Elsewhere
Reach me through the contact page.