In the selection process of buying a new home, choosing the exterior materials of the home is typically where the least amount of time is spent. After all, those will likely be the most expensive to upgrade, and buyers largely have very little control on what materials they can use.

But the recent freak hailstorm in Calgary serves as a reminder that maybe some more thought ought to be given in selecting your home’s siding, roofing, windows, fascia, and other exterior materials and accents.

The tennis-ball-sized hail that pounded northeast Calgary in June caused more than $1 billion in property damages. Homes with vinyl siding were practically shredded, windows were smashed in, roofing punctured. A hailstorm of such force is a rare enough occurrence, but it does give one pause if choosing different exterior materials might have made a difference.

Experts tell us it does, but it can tend to get costly. Also, the community you choose to build in has a lot to say about what buyers can use for their exteriors. Land developers seeking to adhere to an aesthetic in the community they are developing can set architectural controls that tells builders what exterior materials can and cannot be used for homes. Some communities, for example, use exclusively James Hardie cement fibre board sidings for all the homes, others allow vinyl and stucco.

Cedarglen Homes’ Parks of Harvest Hills and Mattamy Homes’ Yorkville are examples of communities that use James Hardie fibre board exclusively for their siding.

Cedarglen area manager for Parks of Harvest Hills, Mike Dwyer, says using this fibre cement material exclusively for siding has allowed them to maintain a pleasant, uniform look throughout the community.

“Using the Hardie board siding gives the community a nicer look, they don’t fade and are longer lasting. They are hail-resistant and fire-resistant too, and they can result in a significant reduction in home insurance,” Dwyer tells New Home + Condo Guide.

The architectural controls set by the developer of the community does tend to limit the choices – but the homebuilder one chooses can also make a difference. Some builders have the ability to use a higher quality of vinyl plank or roofing material for example than others.

The thought of upgrading siding or roofing material may be a tough pill to swallow for most, as that can significantly raise the price of the home. But as the hail event in Calgary shows, it can be a matter of when you want to spend the money, instead of when you have to spend it.

“This is the second time in four years our home has been damaged by hail, this last one in June was more significant,” says Jeramel Qunicina, a Calgary mortgage broker who lives in the northeast community of Saddleridge, one of the hardest hit areas by the storm.

“The storm was so intense that it peeled off the siding on one side of our home, the roof sustained quite a bit of damage too and some of our windows were smashed in,” he says.

Dave Krasman, the Director of Corporate Purchasing, Jayman BUILT, says using a sturdier vinyl siding and roofing material could have alleviated some of the damage. “Our show homes in northeast Calgary suffered relatively slighter damage because of the Gentek vinyl siding that we use,” he tells New Home + Condo Guide. “It is a Made in Canada brand and has a heavier gauge than others and performs better in these kinds of situations.”

“Jayman BUILT uses impact and wind resistant shingles which were damaged by the storm but did not leak. It was the roof vents that were typically broken and required immediate repair to prevent water ingress.” He says Class 4 impact rated shingles are available as an upgrade with a material cost of about 30 percent more than typical asphalt shingles, however, in this hail-storm both typical shingles and Class 4 shingles sustained damage.

He says the use of triple pane windows also played a role in minimizing the damage. “The exterior pane might fracture but that’s the extent of the damage, double pane windows can shatter and lead to water getting inside your walls and the home’s interior.”

What really did stand up to the test was James Hardie fibre cement board, and he says the builder uses this material in about a fourth of the 400 or so homes they build a year in Calgary. It is pricey, though, he says and may easily cost three times as much as regular vinyl siding.

Jayman BUILT also offers the Gentek Sequoia Select ultra-premium vinyl siding, which Krasman says can be considered a midpoint between the Hardie cement fibre boards and industry-grade vinyl siding.

He does say that the storm did provide a teachable moment to homebuyers to know more about the exterior materials used in their homes. “Getting the more expensive materials may pay off in the long run, they can also check with their insurance companies to see if they can get lower rates if they use these sturdier materials.”