Like brick, stucco is a manufactured siding product that uses natural materials to create a unique look. These ingredients include lime, silica sand and white cement.

Note: Stucco siding has an average warranty life of 15 years. However, a standard stucco exterior has been known to last more than 50 years or more.

One of the primary advantages with stucco is an aesthetic one — it can be manufactured in whatever color best suits the design and style of your home. This, in turn, will give you a wider variety of design options for your home.

The process involved in creating stucco includes laying down several base coats of the sand and lime mixture, and wetting them between each coat before applying a final color coat. Because of this multi-step process, stucco will cost you more to install than vinyl or fiber-cement siding; however, it's a very quick process that can take as short as a day or two. High-end siding options such as brick and wood can take weeks to cover an entire home.

There are so many options when it comes to siding for your home, so let's recap quickly with a final overview:

• Remember that the first function of siding is to keep out the elements such as rain, snow and ice.

• When it comes to functionality nothing compares to brick or vinyl, so in heavy rain or snow regions, consider these two options.

• Aesthetics — Don't forget what the exterior of your home will look like with the siding choice you make. Keep in mind that stucco and painted wood will give you the most "color" options.

• If a textured aesthetic is more your taste, wood, stone and brick will give a distinctive look.

• Don't forget about your budget. If cost is not a limiting consideration, choose brick, wood, stone or stucco. If you want to keep your budget lower but still want variety, consider vinyl or fiber-cement siding. Both will give you the textured look of wood siding at a lower price.

• Keep in mind that even though we covered several siding options, there are still more out there. And also consider that some new houses use more than one siding material. For this reason, make sure that you work with your builder to thoroughly research all your siding options.