Fixing the same woodpecker holes twice is a familiar Stateline story. The boards look fine for a season. Then the drumming starts again on the same gable. If that sounds like your house, the question is less “how do I fill this hole” and more “why does this material keep inviting the bird back?”
This post compares wood and engineered wood siding with James Hardie fiber cement for homes that keep taking woodpecker damage. For the full inspect-to-install path, see woodpecker siding damage repair.
Why the same wall gets hit again
Woodpeckers drum to claim territory, attract mates and hunt insects. Wood and engineered wood give them a soft, resonant face to work on. Soft spots, peeling finish and insect activity make that face even more interesting. A neat board repair restores the look, but it leaves the same material in place. The bird that found the wall once often finds it again.
James Hardie groups cedar and engineered wood with wood-based siding that is prone to woodpecker and termite damage, and notes that wood-based siding is more susceptible no matter how new it is. Age helps the problem along, but new engineered wood is not immune.
What wood and engineered wood do well (and where they fall short)
Wood and engineered wood can look warm and traditional. Many Rockford-area homes were built with them for that reason. The shortfall for woodpecker-prone lots is durability against pecking and pests. Once holes reach the sheathing, you are dealing with water risk as well as cosmetics. Repeated board repairs also leave a quilt of replacements that never quite matches the rest of the wall.
We talk about “wood and engineered wood siding” on purpose. We are not here to bash a single brand. We are here to name the material class that woodpeckers prefer.
What James Hardie changes (short version)
James Hardie says its fiber cement siding holds little appeal for woodpeckers and other wood-boring pests, and that its products hold no appeal for pests compared with wood-based siding. That is Hardie’s claim about the product surface, not a promise that a woodpecker will never land on your house. Full detail, including Hardie’s Impeckable House demo, is on the woodpecker siding damage repair page.
Side-by-side for a woodpecker problem home
| Question | Wood / engineered wood | James Hardie fiber cement |
|---|---|---|
| Attractive face for pecking? | Often yes | Hardie says little / no appeal for woodpeckers and pests |
| Board repair workable long term? | Sometimes for isolated damage | Usually not the main strategy; replace the problem material |
| Look of wood? | Natural | Wood-look profiles and ColorPlus colors |
| Moisture behavior | Can swell and soften | Hardie markets moisture resistance on its fiber cement (see Hardie performance page) |
| Who installs it at Martin? | We can install it on request | Certified James Hardie Installer, and what we recommend for woodpecker damage |
Vinyl is the other main option we install. It is a different product with different tradeoffs. We cover it on our vinyl siding page and help you weigh it against Hardie during the estimate. For woodpecker-driven replacements, Hardie is the product we recommend most often because of Hardie’s own pest-appeal claims and the wood-look finish.
How the job runs
Our inspect to options to Hardie install path is on the woodpecker siding damage repair page. Siding estimates are free for everyone. Financing is available as low as $149/month for qualified buyers.
What we will not claim
We will not say woodpeckers will never return. We will not offer wildlife removal. We will not invent stats about how many birds live in Winnebago County. We stick to Hardie’s published product claims, what we see on local jobs, and a clear section-repair-or-replace recommendation for your walls.
Ready to change the material, not just the boards?
If woodpeckers keep finding the same wood or engineered wood walls, it is time to change the material. Martin Exteriors is a Certified James Hardie Installer, a GAF Master Elite contractor with 2-Star President’s Club recognition, and an Inc. 5000 company four times (2021 to 2024). We were voted What Rocks Rockford Best Roofer and Best Siding.
Start on the woodpecker siding damage repair page, browse James Hardie siding, or call (815) 624-6278 for a free estimate. Offices in Roscoe and Rockford. Serving Rockford, the Stateline and southern Wisconsin.
Photo credits. These example photos are not Martin Exteriors projects. The edited versions shown here are shared under the same Creative Commons license.
- “Woodpecker damaged cabin, Drummond Island” by Corvair Owner, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized, converted to WebP)
- “Woodpecker Holes in Old Barn” by Joe Decruyenaere, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped, brightened, resized, converted to WebP)
