OT: Hardie board

[BonzoGoesToCollege]

We've been in our house for 16 years and the cypress wood gables have started to show age and rot. The wood was painted (not stained) originally and we have painted them over the years a couple of times, but still wasn't enough to prevent the degradation. We really like the cypress, but the maintenance over the years has been great. We are considering replacing the cypress gables with hardie board and were wondering if anyone on here has had any experience with the hardie board.

The contractor names we have been given so far are Bubba Sumrall (sp), Matt Hodum, and Kevin Sumrall (sp).

Any feedback on the hardie or any of the names above would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tired]

Hardie board is good stuff. Will be there as long you are. What material is your fascia & soffit? Where do you live?

 

[dawgman42]

Replaced all the Masonite siding on my house in Flowood back around 2002 with HardiePlank (thank you, class-action lawsuit). Stuff is great and holds up very well, and a good quality paint on it can easily last 20 years or more. We've driven by the old house when we're back in town, and it has not been repainted or anything and still looks very good.

 

[aTotal360]

I don't know those guys, but I know the product and process. All the fiber cement siding products are good. I don't think there is much difference in the HardiePlank stuff and other brands. The BIGGEST issue is the installation. Make sure the installer follows the manufacturers instructions. I've seen lots of homes not be able to make warranty claims because their siding wasn't installed properly and the installer has flown the coop. If the installer does what they are supposed to, it's a great investment.

 

[johnson86-1]

We've been in our house for 16 years and the cypress wood gables have started to show age and rot. The wood was painted (not stained) originally and we have painted them over the years a couple of times, but still wasn't enough to prevent the degradation. We really like the cypress, but the maintenance over the years has been great. We are considering replacing the cypress gables with hardie board and were wondering if anyone on here has had any experience with the hardie board.

The contractor names we have been given so far are Bubba Sumrall (sp), Matt Hodum, and Kevin Sumrall (sp).

Any feedback on the hardie or any of the names above would be greatly appreciated.

Had a house with some of the earliest versions of hardi board. Siding was great. The trim, fascia and soffit were wood. I guess hardi plnk was new enough that it was cost prohibitive to do the trim work in hardi, but I had to replace a good bit of the trim and fascia over 15 years and the hardi plank looked like new except for fading of the paint job.

 

[BonzoGoesToCollege]

Hardie board is good stuff. Will be there as long you are. What material is your fascia & soffit? Where do you live?

Fascia is pine or some other soft wood. It looks pretty good. Live in Madison.

 

[Shamoan]

great material, but its going to be a fortune even for a small project.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

I don't know those guys, but I know the product and process. All the fiber cement siding products are good. I don't think there is much difference in the HardiePlank stuff and other brands. The BIGGEST issue is the installation. Make sure the installer follows the manufacturers instructions. I've seen lots of homes not be able to make warranty claims because their siding wasn't installed properly and the installer has flown the coop. If the installer does what they are supposed to, it's a great investment.

This is the key, the installation. I spent significant time selling Hardie, CertainTeed, and Plycem fiber cement siding by the carload to dealers. I have also sold LP Smartside and Collins Truwood composite wood siding. Not to mention raw, primed, and fingerjointed pine and cedar siding. I have had to give countless pk sessions to dealers and builders on all of these products over the years.

They all have pros and cons, but the most important thing is the installation. Fiber cement, specifically Hardie is the 800lb gorilla where I live in the DFW area and there are thousands of experienced installers. But that may not be the case in your area. The other issue that's a little more inside baseball is the fact that fiber cement actually absorbs a lot of water. This is really bad because unlike wood siding, you may not see rot or damage on the exterior. So it could trap excessive moisture for years creating all kinds of damage to the sheathing and framing behind the fiber cement. Also, when not installed properly it gets real wavy.

Fibre cement is also brittle. Throw a baseball against Hardie and it will leave a perfect hole.
For my money, I would recommend LP Smartside. Easier to install this much better chance of not having problems. 50 year warranty. Cheaper. Looks better in my opinion.

 

[WrapItDog]

Fibre cement is also brittle. Throw a baseball against Hardie and it will leave a perfect hole.

I replaced the cedar board and batten board on my gable ends with Hardie board. After removing the cedar I installed a layer of 1/2" OSB as an underlayment for the Hardie board. I pre-drilled the nail holes at the corners and edges due to the how fragile/brittle the Hardie board is when driving nails. I did this about 10 years ago and it still looks good and has not needed to be painted since the original paint application.

Cutting Hardie board creates a lot of dust. Wear a mask and let your helper do to the cutting while maintaining social distancing**

 

[ksc31]

I am a manufacturer’s rep for several Building product companies. I sell the OSI Quad Max sealant which is recommended by both Hardie and LP so I have been to trainings for both products. They are both good products as long as they are installed correctly and property sealed. If not, you can have some major issues that their warranty won’t cover due to improper installation. Make sure whoever installs them, that they have proper clearances, prime end cuts, and flash where required. Also make sure they don’t smear the sealant. Especially if you use a ore finished product.

If you want to go with a higher end product with more traditional wood profiles over the straight lap. I would recommend TruExterior Siding by Boral. I might know a guy who sells.

 

[the dog is on the loose]

I installed hardie board 4x8 sheets on the side of my storage building back in ‘03 and it still looks great with minimum paint fade. Had it installed on my back patio walls and front porch walls on my new house in ‘14. Stuff is very durable and looks great.

 

[tired]

This is the key, the installation. I spent significant time selling Hardie, CertainTeed, and Plycem fiber cement siding by the carload to dealers. I have also sold LP Smartside and Collins Truwood composite wood siding. Not to mention raw, primed, and fingerjointed pine and cedar siding. I have had to give countless pk sessions to dealers and builders on all of these products over the years.

They all have pros and cons, but the most important thing is the installation. Fiber cement, specifically Hardie is the 800lb gorilla where I live in the DFW area and there are thousands of experienced installers. But that may not be the case in your area. The other issue that's a little more inside baseball is the fact that fiber cement actually absorbs a lot of water. This is really bad because unlike wood siding, you may not see rot or damage on the exterior. So it could trap excessive moisture for years creating all kinds of damage to the sheathing and framing behind the fiber cement. Also, when not installed properly it gets real wavy.

Fibre cement is also brittle. Throw a baseball against Hardie and it will leave a perfect hole.
For my money, I would recommend LP Smartside. Easier to install this much better chance of not having problems. 50 year warranty. Cheaper. Looks better in my opinion.

LP is more impact resistant, but also susceptible to termites and has no warranty for termites or hail. Hardie has a warranty for hail and termites don't eat concrete. LP comes in 16 ft pcs while Hardie is 12 ft. Both are solid products if installed properly. I prefer Hardie siding, & LP trim. Both products need primer/paint on the edges. That's the most common mistake with both.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

This is the key, the installation. I spent significant time selling Hardie, CertainTeed, and Plycem fiber cement siding by the carload to dealers. I have also sold LP Smartside and Collins Truwood composite wood siding. Not to mention raw, primed, and fingerjointed pine and cedar siding. I have had to give countless pk sessions to dealers and builders on all of these products over the years.

They all have pros and cons, but the most important thing is the installation. Fiber cement, specifically Hardie is the 800lb gorilla where I live in the DFW area and there are thousands of experienced installers. But that may not be the case in your area. The other issue that's a little more inside baseball is the fact that fiber cement actually absorbs a lot of water. This is really bad because unlike wood siding, you may not see rot or damage on the exterior. So it could trap excessive moisture for years creating all kinds of damage to the sheathing and framing behind the fiber cement. Also, when not installed properly it gets real wavy.

Fibre cement is also brittle. Throw a baseball against Hardie and it will leave a perfect hole.
For my money, I would recommend LP Smartside. Easier to install this much better chance of not having problems. 50 year warranty. Cheaper. Looks better in my opinion.

LP Smartside - cut with regular sawblade?

I'm in the same predicament as the OP and was sold on Hardie but may do the work myself. I was gonna buy Gecko guages, some fiber cement shears and a Passload nailer/nails that are special made for Hardie. I could save all that, possibly.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

I am a manufacturer’s rep for several Building product companies. I sell the OSI Quad Max sealant which is recommended by both Hardie and LP so I have been to trainings for both products. They are both good products as long as they are installed correctly and property sealed. If not, you can have some major issues that their warranty won’t cover due to improper installation. Make sure whoever installs them, that they have proper clearances, prime end cuts, and flash where required. Also make sure they don’t smear the sealant. Especially if you use a ore finished product.

If you want to go with a higher end product with more traditional wood profiles over the straight lap. I would recommend TruExterior Siding by Boral. I might know a guy who sells.

We don't have the Boral siding in TX yet... I have heard great things.

I will second the priming of the end cuts. It's the number one thing that installers skip.

OSI is a nice line to rep.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Doesn't appear to be anywhere near MS that sells it.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

LP Smartside - cut with regular sawblade?

I'm in the same predicament as the OP and was sold on Hardie but may do the work myself. I was gonna buy Gecko guages, some fiber cement shears and a Passload nailer/nails that are special made for Hardie. I could save all that, possibly.

Yes. Regular sawblades are fine for LP. I would not diy Hardie lap siding. Also, drilling or sawing fiber cement now requires hepa filtration, because silica dust is bad stuff.

Installers push Hardie because JH has a killer rebate program. They give installer/dealers big backend rebates and rewards. LP and others may have some as well, but Hardie is the rebate kings. All of the roofers love it because they show the homeowner/insurance company costs, but it doesn't include the big 10% or whatever rebate on the back end.

Everyone hates installing it. They just love the rebates.

https://www.hardiealliance.com/ContractorAlliance/apex/Fielo_PageCustom?idMenu=a16A0000002mguLIAQ&sfdcIFrameOrigin=null

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

LP is more impact resistant, but also susceptible to termites and has no warranty for termites or hail. Hardie has a warranty for hail and termites don't eat concrete. LP comes in 16 ft pcs while Hardie is 12 ft. Both are solid products if installed properly. I prefer Hardie siding, & LP trim. Both products need primer/paint on the edges. That's the most common mistake with both.

One of the nice things about wood siding vs fiber cement or brick is that if you do get termites you want to be able to see some damage quickly. Just helped a buddy remodel his bathroom with Hardie siding and there was no indication at all of what was going on inside...

View attachment 16223
View attachment 16222

I think they treated the LP with borate, but you are correct on the Warranty.

 

[Apoplectic_Objurgator]

would this smartside work as faux shiplap in a bathroom?

This is the key, the installation. I spent significant time selling Hardie, CertainTeed, and Plycem fiber cement siding by the carload to dealers. I have also sold LP Smartside and Collins Truwood composite wood siding. Not to mention raw, primed, and fingerjointed pine and cedar siding. I have had to give countless pk sessions to dealers and builders on all of these products over the years.

They all have pros and cons, but the most important thing is the installation. Fiber cement, specifically Hardie is the 800lb gorilla where I live in the DFW area and there are thousands of experienced installers. But that may not be the case in your area. The other issue that's a little more inside baseball is the fact that fiber cement actually absorbs a lot of water. This is really bad because unlike wood siding, you may not see rot or damage on the exterior. So it could trap excessive moisture for years creating all kinds of damage to the sheathing and framing behind the fiber cement. Also, when not installed properly it gets real wavy.

Fibre cement is also brittle. Throw a baseball against Hardie and it will leave a perfect hole.
For my money, I would recommend LP Smartside. Easier to install this much better chance of not having problems. 50 year warranty. Cheaper. Looks better in my opinion.

a lot cheaper than 1x6 primed

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

a lot cheaper than 1x6 primed

It's very hard to find it in a smooth finish. Even if it was smooth, I would not use it indoors. There may be some off gassing from the borate and other treatment.

You should go to Lowes. They carry a pretty good array of primed radiata pine. About $1.50 per sf at the Lowes in Madison for primed 1x6 shiplap.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Classic-5-25-in-x-12-ft-White-Pine-Shiplap-Wall-Plank-Coverage-Area-5-25-sq-ft/1001068360

If you want the best shiplap on the planet it will be about $3.00 per sf. I am not sure where you live, but they have a dealers locator. Definitely browse this website for ideas and how to install.

https://windsorone.com/products/shiplap/

 

[bullymcbullerson]

I got the prepainted Hardie on my house several years ago. Looks really good and has a 50 yr warranty. CA Construction out of Brandon did it, and I was happy with the job they did.

I really like the Hardie if someone else puts it up for me. If I were doing anything myself, I’d go for LP Smartside. Here’s a good video on the differences from a contractor I like to watch.. wish we had more contractors like this in the area.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2uzBC_EGQyA