We Never Left Genoa City
Fifty-eight. That is how many projects this company has completed in Genoa City, more than in any other Wisconsin town we serve. So before anything else on this page: thank you. A border village of 2,982 people gave an Illinois family business enough trust to hire us 58 times, and that did not happen through billboards.
It happened because Genoa City sits right on the state line, straight up US 12 from our home territory. Richmond is the next town south. Our trucks have been crossing that line since before half the contractors marketing here existed. Now we’ve made it official: Innovative Windows and Siding is the Wisconsin division of Innovative Home Concepts, registered on this side of the border, staffed by the same crews.
The houses here need the attention, too. Genoa City’s stock leans hard on homes built from the 1960s through the 1990s, which puts most original siding at 30 to 60 years old right now. And with homeownership at 92.5%, these are not flip houses. People stay. When you plan to be in a house another 20 years, the cheap re-side is the expensive one.
I’d rather show receipts than adjectives, so the photos on this page are all one real IHC job, start to finish, just south of the line in Antioch, IL.
I’ve walked more Genoa City exteriors than I can count at this point, and the pattern repeats: aluminum from the original build, a hardboard patch from the 90s, a vinyl overlay somebody sold the previous owner, all layered on the same walls. Untangling that history is half the job. We’re good at it because we’ve done it here, on these exact streets, 58 times.
Genoa City Siding Pricing
These rates are per square foot of wall area, installed, tearoff and cleanup included. Print this table and hold every bid you collect against it.
| Material | Per Sq Ft of Wall, Installed | The Genoa City Fit |
|---|---|---|
| Builder-grade vinyl | $5.50 – $7.50 | Rentals and pre-sale refreshes on a tight number |
| Quality vinyl (Mastic) | $6 – $8 | The village workhorse: 1970s and 80s raised ranches and split-levels |
| Insulated vinyl | $12 – $15 Mastic / $14 – $16 CraneBoard | Drafty homes fighting Zone 6 heating bills |
| LP SmartSide / James Hardie | $16 – $20 | Buy-once siding for families staying 20+ years |
| Cedar | $16 – $22 | Rare here, but we install it right when asked |
| Versetta Stone | $25 – $30 | Entry and gable accents that lift a whole elevation |
Wall area, not floor area: a 1,400-square-foot ranch can easily carry 1,800+ square feet of wall once you count gables and garage. Your quote comes from a tape measure, not a template, and it itemizes tearoff, wrap, trim, and disposal. GreenSky financing available. See the full siding cost guide →
Real-world example from the table: a split-level with 2,000 square feet of wall area lands around $12,000 to $16,000 in quality vinyl, $26,000 to $28,000 in Mastic insulated, or $28,000 to $36,000 in LP or Hardie. Three legitimate answers, three very different 20-year stories. My job is showing you which story fits your house and your plans, not upselling the biggest number.
Siding That Earns It
Six ways we clad a Genoa City home, from the budget end to the premium end, with the honest tradeoffs attached.
LP SmartSide →
Treated engineered wood with serious impact resistance, my pick for Genoa City families done with vinyl. It shrugs off hail, baseballs, and ladder dings that crack lesser cladding, and it installs clean in cold months. $16 to $20 per square foot of wall, backed by our LP certification and LP’s 5/50-year limited warranty structure.
✓ LP SmartSide Certified
James Hardie →
Fiber cement is the no-excuses option: fireproof, rot-proof, pest-proof, with ColorPlus factory finishes that outlast paint by decades. Same $16 to $20 band as LP. We install it as a James Hardie Select Contractor, and around here that credential is rarer than it should be. Ask your other bidders for theirs.
✓ James Hardie Select Contractor
Insulated Vinyl and Accents
Insulated vinyl, $12 to $15 per square foot of wall for Mastic or $14 to $16 for CraneBoard, wraps foam against your sheathing, stiffening panels and trimming heat loss through a Wisconsin winter. Versetta Stone at $25 to $30 handles entries and gable accents. On a lot of 1980s split-levels, stone at the entry plus two-tone vinyl everywhere else beats a one-material wrap on both looks and budget.
Why Replace It Now
Genoa City winters run a full climate zone colder than the Illinois side of the US 12 corridor on Wisconsin’s energy-code maps: Zone 6 up here, Zone 5 down there. Cold is not the killer by itself. The killer is the cycle: thaw, soak, freeze, expand. Every winter pries old siding a little further off the house.
The 1960s-to-1990s problem: most of this village’s housing went up in those decades, wearing aluminum, hardboard, or first-generation vinyl. All three are past design life. Hardboard in particular drinks water at every unsealed edge and swells; we find it hiding under repaints all over the older blocks near Walworth Street.
The overlay trap: some outfits will quote you a tempting number to hang new vinyl straight over failing siding. We tear off, every time. On 30-to-60-year-old walls, the odds of finding damage that needs fixing are too high, and burying it under fresh panels just gifts the problem to future-you with interest. If two bids differ by thousands, ask each one a single question: tearoff or overlay? That answer usually explains the entire gap.
The heating-bill angle: a commuter town feels energy costs twice, at the pump and on the furnace. New siding done right, with a sealed wrap and optional insulated panels or fanfold underlayment, tightens the whole envelope. Not a miracle fix, but on the leaky split-levels we open up here, it is real money back every February.
What 58 jobs taught me about this village: the walls facing the road fail first, the north sides grow the mildew, and the garage almost always got skipped the last time around. I’ve learned to quote the garage and the shed up front, because a fresh house next to a peeling outbuilding annoys owners within a month. I’ve also learned that Genoa City homeowners do their homework, compare hard, and respect a contractor who says “that side can wait.” So that is exactly how we bid here.
The Genoa City Playbook
Measure and Probe
Tape measure on every wall, moisture meter at the bottom courses and around openings. Fifty-eight Genoa City projects taught us where these houses hide trouble, and we look there first instead of finding it mid-job on your dime.
Quote at the Table
Samples in your hands, wall-area math on paper, three price tiers explained without pressure. If the right answer for your house is the $13,000 vinyl job and not the $30,000 Hardie job, that is exactly what we will tell you.
Order and Schedule
Materials typically run a 4 to 6 week lead time, whether that is vinyl, LP, or color-matched Hardie. You get a start date tied to actual delivery, and a heads-up call before the dumpster ever rolls into the driveway.
Tear Off, Wrap, Hang
Old cladding off, sheathing repaired where probing said it would be, weather barrier sealed, then siding and trim. A typical village home takes 3 to 7 working days; a full Hardie conversion runs 5 to 10. Photos document every stage.
Walk It Together
We circle the house side by side with a punch list, register your manufacturer warranty, and hand over our 2-year workmanship warranty in writing. Yard magnet-swept, gutters cleared of debris, driveway broom-clean before the trailer leaves.
Join the Other 58
Peeling paint, chalky panels, or a wall that sounds hollow when you knock? Get the same measured, honest quote your 58 Genoa City neighbors got. Same-day response, financing available. And if a modest repair buys your walls five more good years, that is the quote we hand you, because the long game in a small village is being the company people trust twice.
James Hardie Select Contractor • LP SmartSide Certified • Family-owned since 2005
Why Neighbors Rehire Us
I know exactly how a border town gets treated by out-of-area contractors: sold hard, installed fast, forgotten faster. I tell my crews the opposite standard applies here, because in a village this size our last job is always visible from our next one. Here is what that standard looks like in practice.
The 58-Job Head Start
Nobody marketing siding in Genoa City knows these houses like a crew that has already opened up 58 of them. We know which decades of construction hide hardboard under vinyl, which blocks flood their bottom courses in a March thaw, and what the last contractor probably skipped. Experience in your specific town is not a slogan. It is fewer surprises on your invoice.
Certifications That Bite
James Hardie Select Contractor. LP SmartSide Certified. Both programs hold our installs to the manufacturer’s written standard, which is what keeps a 30-year product from becoming a 12-year product. Most bids you will collect in Walworth County carry no manufacturer credential at all. Ask. Watch the answer.
Twenty Minutes Away
Our showroom has sat at 4410 IL-176 in Crystal Lake since 2005, about 21 miles from Genoa City down the US 12 corridor. When a warranty question comes up in year six, you are calling a company that is still there, still family-run, still answering (815) 356-9020. Border towns get burned by vanishing contractors. We are the opposite bet.
Crews We Vouch For
Hand-picked specialist crews install every job: vetted by us, trained on the exact products we sell, and many have worked with IHC for 15 years or more. No crew you have never heard of showing up unannounced. The photo of our truck on this page is what your driveway will actually look like.
Retail Work, Not Claim Work
We are not the outfit canvassing the village after every hailstorm. Our business is planned siding replacement for owners who decided on their own schedule, specced for the next 30 years. If you genuinely have storm damage, we will say so honestly, but nobody here builds a business on your bad week.
A Name Behind the Name
Innovative Windows and Siding is the registered Wisconsin division of Innovative Home Concepts, women-led and Wilborn-family-owned for 21 years, carrying 402 Google reviews at 4.6 stars and an A+ BBB rating. New name on the truck door for Wisconsin. Same people, same standard, same accountability.
Siding Across the Village
Genoa City is compact, but its housing splits into distinct eras and pockets. Here is how we approach each one after 58 local jobs.
Quick orientation for anyone new to town: the village straddles the Walworth and Kenosha county line, sits directly on the Illinois border, and grew up around the old rail junction that gave it the Genoa Junction name until 1924. That history shows in the housing: a compact old core, mid-century rings around it, and newer builds pushing outward. Your address inside that pattern predicts your siding problems better than any brochure can.
The Old Village Core
The blocks platted back in 1850, when this was rail-stop country, still called Genoa Junction until 1924. Homes here are the village’s oldest, many re-sided two or three times already. We expect layered cladding, true-dimension framing, and out-of-square openings, and we bid the custom trim work those walls actually require.
Walworth Street and Main Street
The through-street homes take the most road spray, salt mist, and eyes-on traffic in town. Salt-laden slush against bottom courses ages siding from the ground up. We detail these installs with extra attention to the first three feet: sealed starter courses, flashed water tables, and trim that can take a plow winter.
The US 12 Corridor
Ranches and split-levels strung along the highway side of the village, mostly 1960s through 1980s builds wearing aluminum or first-run vinyl. This is two-tone Mastic and insulated-vinyl country: strong curb impact, honest budgets, and a one-week schedule that gets the house buttoned up between commutes.
Powers Lake Road Area
Heading northeast toward Powers Lake, lots get bigger and homes mix lake-adjacent cottages with newer builds. More trees means more shade, slower drying, and more organic debris against the walls. I lean LP SmartSide out here for its impact and moisture resistance, with fiber cement for owners going premium.
The Ponds and Newer Builds
Genoa City’s newest subdivision wave, including ranch product in The Ponds. Here is my honest warning for newer-construction owners: builder-grade vinyl at the $5.50-to-$7.50 tier was chosen for the builder’s budget, not your decade. It is fine until year 15, then it chalks and cracks fast. When yours does, upgrade the panel, not just the color.
Nippersink and the East Side
Out by the Nippersink golf resort grounds and the Kenosha County side of the village line, homes range from resort-era cottages to modern family builds. Mixed ages mean mixed prescriptions, so this is where the free inspection earns its keep: sometimes the answer is full replacement, sometimes a modest repair buys the walls five more good years.
Recent Siding Work
Same project as the photos above: full tearoff and Mastic Carvedwood 44 installation by our crew in Antioch, IL, minutes from Genoa City on US 12. No stock photos anywhere on this page. That truck in the first frame is the one we send up US 12; our crew photographs every stage of every job, so when we install your siding in Genoa City, you will have the same complete record this owner got.
Garage matched, yard cleaned, owner thrilled. Yours next? Book a free Genoa City siding estimate.
Genoa City Siding FAQs
How much does siding replacement cost in Genoa City, WI?
Full siding replacement in Genoa City runs $6 to $8 per square foot of wall area for quality vinyl, $12 to $15 for Mastic insulated vinyl ($14 to $16 for CraneBoard), and $16 to $20 for LP SmartSide or James Hardie, installed with tearoff. A typical village raised ranch with 1,800 square feet of wall area prices at roughly $10,800 to $14,400 in vinyl or $25,200 to $32,400 in LP or Hardie. Those are wall-area figures, measured on site, never estimated from your floor plan. GreenSky financing spreads any tier into monthly payments.
What is the best siding for a 1970s or 1980s house?
For the split-levels and raised ranches that define Genoa City’s 1970s and 80s stock, the best all-around answer is quality vinyl like Mastic Carvedwood 44 for value, or LP SmartSide if you plan to stay long-term. Both handle Zone 6 freeze-thaw well. The non-negotiable part is what happens first: full tearoff of the old cladding, sheathing repair, and a sealed weather barrier. On houses this age, installation quality matters more than the panel brand.
Should I put new siding over my old siding?
No. Overlaying new vinyl on old siding saves maybe 10 to 15% today and costs far more later. On Genoa City’s 30-to-60-year-old homes, the old cladding is usually hiding moisture damage, and covering it seals the rot in with no way to inspect it. Overlay also telegraphs every wave in the old wall through the new panels and can void manufacturer warranty terms. We quote tearoff on every job, and we photograph what we find so you see exactly what you paid to fix.
How long does a siding job take in Genoa City?
Most Genoa City vinyl re-sides take 3 to 7 working days on site; LP SmartSide and James Hardie conversions run 5 to 10. Before that, materials take about 4 to 6 weeks across the board, vinyl, LP, and color-matched Hardie alike. So from signed quote to finished house, plan roughly six to eight weeks. Winter work is routine for LP and fiber cement; vinyl waits for milder temperatures because cold panels crack when nailed. Commuter households barely notice us: the crew arrives after you leave, wraps by dinner, and the site gets picked up every single evening, not just on the last day.
Do you really work in Genoa City, or just advertise here?
We have completed 58 projects in Genoa City, our largest total in any Wisconsin town, out of 217 Wisconsin projects overall. The village sits about 21 miles from our Crystal Lake showroom straight up the US 12 corridor, closer to us than to most Milwaukee-area contractors who advertise here. Wisconsin jobs run through Innovative Windows and Siding, our registered Wisconsin division, with the same crews and the same (815) 356-9020 number we have answered since 2005. Genoa City has been part of our normal working radius for two decades; this page just finally admits it in public. Ask around the village. Odds are decent someone on your street has already hired us.
Is upgrading from vinyl to LP SmartSide worth the extra cost?
If you plan to stay 15 or more years, usually yes. LP SmartSide costs roughly double quality vinyl, around $16 to $20 versus $6 to $8 per square foot of wall, but it resists hail and impact damage far better, holds finish longer, and materially upgrades curb appeal and resale story. In a village where 92.5% of homes are owner-occupied and families stay put, buy-once siding fits how people actually live here. If you might sell within 5 years, a quality vinyl refresh is the smarter spend, and we will tell you so.
Where to Next
Sources and standards: LP SmartSide product specifications; James Hardie installation and warranty documentation; Village of Genoa City official site.
Free Genoa City Siding Estimates
Aluminum from the Nixon years? Hardboard swelling at every seam? Builder vinyl that quit at 15? Get the measured quote 58 of your neighbors already got, with three price tiers and zero pressure. Same-day response, GreenSky financing available.
Free estimates • GreenSky financing available • James Hardie Select Contractor • Serving Genoa City and the US 12 border corridor
Innovative Home Concepts
4410 IL-176, Ste 1
Crystal Lake, IL 60014
(Serving Genoa City, Walworth and Kenosha Counties, WI)
Phone: (815) 356-9020
Text: (815) 356-9020
Email: info@innovativehomeconcepts.com
Monday–Friday: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
James Hardie Select Contractor
LP SmartSide Certified
A+ BBB Rating • 402 Google Reviews, 4.6★
Women-Led, Family-Owned Since 2005
