Patent ID: 7698864

Claim:
A polymer siding panel for mounting on a wall surface, comprising: at least two horizontal adjacent sections; a plurality of decorative elements integrally formed with said panel and disposed in at least one row, said decorative elements defining a front face of said siding panel; a top edge disposed above said decorative elements; a plurality of apertures formed in and extending through said siding panel disposed below said top edge and above said decorative elements; a plurality of downwardly depending tabs located on said front face of said siding panel; an upwardly facing channel formed on a rear side of said siding panel opposite said front face; and at least two splicing members, said splicing members being transparent or translucent and manufactured from a polymer that is of a different material than said sections, and one of said splicing members welded to and joining said sections to one another, and wherein each of said sections includes side edges and one side edge of each section has a tongue, and said tongue overlapping the side edge of an adjacent section, and when said splicing members are welded to and adjoin said sections, a layered joint is formed that includes a first layer of the side edge of one section, not having a tongue, the side edge of the adjoining section with a tongue, and said splicing member, said tongue being sandwiched between the other side edge and the splicing member in an overlapping fashion; and said other splicing member is welded to one of said sections at a side edge opposite said side edge adjoining said other section, said other splicing member extending beyond said respective side edge; and said upwardly facing channel has a vertical leg and a bottom leg, and one of said side edges includes a notch in said vertical leg forming a notched area; and an upwardly extending lip on said bottom leg in said notched area, said bottom leg having a portion in said notched area that is stepped to be higher than the rest of said bottom leg, and said lip is located on said stepped portion and extending above a horizontal plane defined by said stepped portion.