Cement 'Hardi-Plank' type siding.

[terry]

Understand that this is a cement based product; brochures advise it comes in various sizes and patterns.

My neighbour has installed hardi-Plank of the type most similar to conventional wooden clapboard, on the two ends of an A-frame summer home; in recommended manner and it is painted.

He has noticed some 'crumbling' of the leading edges of some of these clap-'boards'.

So now we are wondering; did the product got wet while in storage before sale; and frost has now (a couple of winters later) caused the edges to erode. Or was it a 'bad batch'?

Perhaps there are are/is basic problems with the product? It is advertised as 'resisting', cold, fire, damp, insects etc. That seems fair enough; cos nothing, except perhaps seam welded stainless steel, would be 'impervious'?

Hardi-Plank and/or similar products would, on the face of it, seem to be ideal. making house somewhat fireproof, as quiet as wood clapboard compared to vinyl siding in our, at times, high winds and can be installed in/with pretty conventional manner/tools?

Any comments advice or opinion about this type of product would be appreciated; for example had been thinking of using it as replacement for 10 inch (8 inch reveal) clap-board on our 60' by 36' single storey bungalow. But if edges 'crumble' not so sure.

[marson]

haven't heard of or seen crumbling edges before. that would definitely be a warranty issue.

the advantages of CF siding is that it comes pre painted in more interesting colors than vinyl. it can also be repainted if you get tired of that purple house. it holds paint very well. should last basically forever. definitely better than vinyl.

it does has it's disadvantages. it sucks to install..it's heavy and fragile--plan on breaking a few sticks until you get used to it. it doesn't detail well. you can cut it with a regular saw and a blade made for hardiplank, but the dust will ruin it eventually (and ruin you,by the way). can be cut by scoring and snapping or shears. you will need to get a coil siding nailer--i've never had luck hand nailing it. it is meant to be blind nailed, so it is sort of flappy after it's put up. it ain't cheap either. we're paying about 1.50/sq ft for the material.

on my house, when i get to it, i'm using cedar.

[Robert Gammon]

I have seen this is Hardi soffit that I stored improperly for a number of months. if it gets wet, before it gets primed and painted (backside too), it will disintegrate where it sits, or in your case, after it has been up a while.

Backside priming is NOT needed if you buy a whole pallet a ta time, have it delivered with the Hardie plastic wrap on it and install it on a dry sunny day.

PET for water has a similar issue, you need to get fresh rolls still in their protective wrap from the factory and get them under the roof asap. UV breaks down the walls of this pipe.