Fiber Cement Siding (hardie) Questions

Having gone through this with a house in Oregon, I would highly recommend that you stay with genuine Hardie siding.

Hardieplank is grey, porous, brittle. Installation consists of preparing the surface and properly attaching the planks. Now it's on your house. All seams and nail holes must be caulked and the surface painted. Will you use one subcontractor for all the work? That would be preferable. You don't want blame-shifting when something does not turn out right or warranty work is required. This material will require eventual maintenance - patching any cracked surface, recaulk and repaint. You should understand what reasonable expectations are for this to be normal and not a failure of the installer to correctly install and finish the product. Will you subcontract any repairs due to unavoidable damage?

I did not realize they HardiPlank brand was that old. I know the fiber cement products have been in use for over 100 years and was first introduced in France. When/where did James Hardi start his company?

I am considering a colored product. Most manufactures make them. As I understand it, those do not need to be painted.

I agree about one contractor.

I hope it will be a number of years before repair is required. Most manufacturers warranty their products for a number of years.

There is a lot of historical information on the website I mentioned above. Here is an excerpt.

The predecessor of these modern companies was established more than

Factory-painted fiber cement is well sealed except where it is cut, so you're mostly right, just needs some attention to the raw ends.

I highly recommend hardie board. I was also going to go with the prefinished color. If you add up the extra cost, you can paint it for less. Remember you will need to buy color matched caulk for all the joints. Or just color match some paint and paint the caulk... I was a DIY and I opted to not use the hardie corner boards, found them to be very brittle and costly. Used a non wood composite product. Very happy with the results. Also used vinyl soffit instead of hardie, just because of the looks? my 2¢

TP

All siding products, EVEN HARDIE Plank or Panel NEED Backside AND Frontside Priming for optimal lifetimes. It doesn't add that much to cost to put a coat of Kilz or similar on BOTH sides prior to installation to make a truely LONG lasting investment

Hmmm. Who says Hardie boards need painting?

Nick

i believe they do. when i got my mothers hardie it was primed. was told to prime cuts and caulk joints before paint.

That's cosmetic.

I've got scraps of hardie plank that have been sitting as stepping stones in the dirt for a few years and they are fine (other than a bit of cupping from being stepped on). Nobody primed or painted any of those cuts.

sdb

Not according to the manufacturer.

But then, those scraps in the dirt aren't trying to keep anything dry, are they?

Fiber-cement siding is porous. If it isn't sealed, rain can soak right through it into the structure. The siding itself might not mind getting wet, but do you want pretty siding over rotten framing?

Hardie says so .....