What is the difference between Dutch lap and traditional lap siding?

Traditional lap has a straight bevel like clapboard. Dutch lap adds a concave groove along the top of each course, which creates a deeper shadow line.

Is Dutch lap siding more expensive than traditional lap?

Within the same product line the two profiles are usually priced close together. The panel grade and installation decide the price far more than the profile.

What is clapboard siding?

Clapboard was originally overlapping wood boards. Today traditional lap vinyl and fiber cement siding reproduce the same straight, bevelled look.

Which siding profile looks best on a colonial?

Traditional lap is the usual choice on colonials and historic homes because it matches the original clapboard look.

Dutch Lap vs. Clapboard Siding: What Is the Difference?

Short answer: Traditional lap (the clapboard look) has a straight, flat bevel on each course. Dutch lap adds a concave groove along the top of each course, which throws a deeper shadow and reads as more textured from the street. Both install the same way and perform the same. Choose traditional lap for colonials and historic styles, Dutch lap for a bolder, more dimensional wall.

What clapboard means

Clapboard was originally overlapping wood boards, thicker at the bottom edge than the top. Traditional lap vinyl and fiber cement reproduce that straight bevel, and it is still the most common siding look in Maryland and Virginia.

What Dutch lap adds

Dutch lap mimics old hand-planed boards that were bevelled along the top edge. The groove creates a second, sharper shadow line on every course, so the wall looks deeper and the siding hides minor waves in an older wall better.

Performance and cost

Same panels, same nailing hem, same weather barrier behind them. Thickness, the grade of the panel and installation quality decide how long siding lasts, not the profile. Within the same product line the two profiles are usually priced close together.

Which fits your house

Traditional lap: colonials, Cape Cods, Federal and historic districts, and any house where you are matching existing siding.

Dutch lap: ranches, split-levels and newer homes where you want more texture, or older walls that are not perfectly flat.

Many homes mix them with board-and-batten or shakes in the gables. We bring full-size samples so you can hold both against your wall before you choose.

How we quote it

One written, line-item price that names the panel, the profile, the trim and the house wrap, so two quotes can be compared on the same product.

MHIC #111971 in Maryland, Virginia Class A #2705183185, family-owned since 2005.

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