How much siding for a 1400 square foot 2-storey house

1,400 ft² footprint, 2 storeys

29squares to order

2,347 ft² of wall after openings, plus 22% waste for a complex shape

Siding to order1 square = 100 ft²	29squares
Net wall area2,761 ft² gross less 15% for doors and windows	2,347ft²
Perimeter assumedmeasure yours — an L-shaped house is 15–30% more for the same footprint	153ft
Waste allowanceL-shape, dormers, steep gables — every cut leaves an offcut	22%
J-channelaround every opening and where siding meets the roof	219linear ft
Outside corner posts	144linear ft

Notes

Measure your own perimeter before ordering. The 153 ft above assumes a tidy rectangle about 1.5 times as long as it is wide. An L-shaped or U-shaped house of the same 1,400 ft² has 15 to 30% more wall — and the error runs in the direction that leaves you short on the last day.
The 15% deduction for openings is an average, not your house. A wall of glass on the south elevation, or a house with very few windows, moves it several points either way. If accuracy matters, measure each opening and subtract properly: siding is ordered by the square and the offcuts are not returnable.
Waste is not padding. Every course has to start and stop at a corner or an opening, and the offcut is usually too short to use elsewhere. A 22% allowance on a complex shape is normal; gables are the worst because every course is a different length and the angle cut wastes the end.
Order the trim at the same time. J-channel, corner posts, starter strip, undersill and utility trim are separate items, they are colour-matched to a specific production run, and a later top-up can arrive visibly different. Roughly 219 ft of J-channel and 144 ft of corner post for this house.
Order everything in one lot number. Colour varies between production runs, and on a large elevation the difference is visible in daylight. This is the single most common regret on a siding job and it costs nothing to avoid.
Gables are extra and this figure does not include them. A gable end adds roughly half the width times the rise. On a steep roof over a wide house that is easily another square or two, and it is the part most often left out of a quantity take-off.

29 squares, and the perimeter is the assumption to check

Siding is sold by the square — 100 ft² — and the chain from your floor area to that number runs:

perimeter 153 ft → wall 2,347 ft² after taking off complex shape% for openings → 29 squares with waste.

That perimeter assumes a tidy rectangle about one and a half times as long as it is wide. An L-shaped or U-shaped house of the same footprint has 15 to 30% more wall, and the error runs in the direction that leaves you short on the last day. Measure yours.

Waste is not padding

Every course starts and stops at a corner or an opening, and the offcut is usually too short to use elsewhere. Gables are the worst: each course is a different length and the angled cut wastes the end.

Order the trim in the same lot

J-channel, corner posts, starter strip, undersill and utility trim are separate items, colour-matched to a production run. A later top-up can arrive visibly different in daylight, and on a large elevation that is the regret people mention years later.

Roughly 219 ft of J-channel and 144 ft of corner post for a house this shape.

Gables are extra, and this figure does not include them

A gable end adds about half its width times its rise. On a steep roof over a wide house that is easily another square or two — and it is the part left out of most take-offs.

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