I have posted before and this is more of an advice wanted question. Climate 5A. I started with encapsulating a crawl space and went the outsulation route. 4″ of EPS foam to footer with perimeter drain and HLM 5000 waterproofing under foam. I backfilled the entire 2′ trench around the house with the river rock, no soil. Tuff 2 acrylic stucco for protection below and above grade on block wall foam. I stopped the insulation at the top of the block, start of the sill plate. I have copper termite flashing to install still. Then in order to cover the rim joist and in an effort to be aestetically pleasing but budget friendly, I am continuing the foam from the termite flashing 3′ up onto the house. I do not have the budget at this time to foam the whole house, because that would include new windows and all new siding. As it sits, 3′ up from the sill will keep the foam below all my current windows.

My question is, what do I cover the foam on the lower portion of the house with that will look ok for a few years until the budget for windows and siding is there. My thoughts were to do a faux stone, like a wainscoting. But with prices of the realistic looking stuff near $10-15 a square foot, that would be roughly $4,000 just in siding material. Another thought was to use 3′ sections of corrugated metal in a wainscoting style, and try to age it. The last thought is to use the Hardi siding I plan to use on the rest of the house, there will just be a 4″ bulge for a while. Currently the house has baby blue siding from 1991, and the hardi siding I’m going to will be a neutral earth color, grey or green hue from a tan base color.