cement fiber siding

[36tbird]

Howdy All,

I am thinking about putting new pre-colored siding on the old house and garage where there is now painted exterior plywood siding. Did a search on here and see Hardi-board mentioned a lot. Is that the front runner as far as endurance and longevity? Is it a good idea to put some felt paper over the existing plywood siding as a little insurance?

How long do the colors hold up? I guess they cannot peel just fade, right? So, it could just be a case for re-painting on down the road? I'm here in south Texas, so the summer sun is pretty brutal. Thanks in advance for suggestions.

 

[mmhouse]

Yes, Hardi originally developed the product and is the premier product. I have never seen paint peel on the product and it does last much longer than on wood siding. I'd use house wrap between the plywood and Hardiboard but felt would probably be fine too. Sorry, I have no experience with the pre-painted product and we have weather nothing like Texas so can't help you there. I do think you'll be pleased if you go with it...I've never heard of anyone who isn't.

P.S. If you use it rent a shear to cut it. The dust will ruin any power saws you use on it and is terrible to breathe.

 

[Wingnut65]

Welcome to GJ, tbird.

It seems that Hardie Board is the leader in the cement siding industry. We use it frequently here in Fla. I am not familiar with their ColorPlus integral color products. It seems to be very durable, but will probably come with a cost. The value may be in not requiring painting after install.

Here is a link for the HardiePlank Installation instructions. They show a water resistant barrier on the plywood sheathing before installing the HardiePlank. That could be Tyvek house wrap, felt or other similar product.

 

[csp]

My house has Hardieplank 7" exposure lap siding and it is the kind with the integral color. It's been up for three years and shows no signs of fading or wear at all. We may not have the extreme heat that Houston has, but we do get 300 days of sunshine and our temps do get into the low 100s in the summer. We also have snow and ice and cold temps to contend with.

Ours was installed with 1/2" foam between the OSB and the siding.

x2 on the recommendation of a shear. I had to side one small wall that's only 6.5' by about 10' and it ruined the bearings in my circular saw.

 

[36tbird]

Thanks for the info and welcome, gents. I found other references that voice concern over the pre-painted boards getting chipped during shipment and installation. May be difficult to match then on site. Guess that is why I saw folks getting the primed pieces and painting after installation. Great info in the installation instructions. Lou

 

[Rosco]

Definitely go with the hardi-board but not pre-painted. I used house wrap and then caulked every seam. You will want a paintable board after all of the cutting/caulking. Another good tip is to use small flashing behind the seams where two ends **** together.

 

[porschedude996TT]

I used CertainTeed concrete board on my shop. I bought it pre-painted and I think I saved time and money doing so. I also bought the CT trim painted. I would think that Tyvek would be the best under the concrete boards and the plywood. I think they called in ColorMax when you buy the prepainted.

 

[csp]

You will want a paintable board after all of the cutting/caulking.

Cutting doesn't remove the integral color. If it comes off, you've got a big chip that paint isn't going to cover up.

Color matched caulk isn't hard to find at all.

We put 30lb. tar paper behind our joints to act as a flashing.

 

[hetkind]

My favorite heavy duty industrial siding product was "transite", a cement/asbestos board...fireproof, long lasting, chemical resistant, but a bit heavy.

Howard

 

[Falcon67]

I used 4x8 Hardi sheets on my shop when I built it in 1997. I sprayed Walmart white house paint on top with a crappy Wagner. The house has old wood washboard-type siding and been painted 2 1/2 times since 1997 with high quality paint. The house has also received two new roofs thanks to big hail storms in that time period. One of the long garage walls has been a baseball, dog ball, tennis ball, foot ball back stop and and never a chip and the paint still looks good. If I didn't already have my *** up in projects, I would strip the house and re-side with Hardi in a minute. It may happen on some parts anyway because of deterioration of the existing siding. There are a couple of places that just will not hold paint very long.

 

[sammm]

How did y'all handle outside corners? Just miter them, or is there a 'V' shaped piece like vinyl siding uses?

 

[twostory]

How did y'all handle outside corners? Just miter them, or is there a 'V' shaped piece like vinyl siding uses?

Just use hardi 1x4 boards. See attached pic

 

[Falcon67]

I met the sheets at the corners and covered them with 1x4 trim. On a house, I would build the corner and window trim, then cut the siding to fit the spaces and caulk. IIRC, that's how Hardi recommends the install for lap siding anyway. The above way works too - that's how our house with the wash board is done. On that, I used 4.5" wide trim - looks better and covers better.

 

[southernfriedcj]

We use Chem Plank instead of Hardi. It is about 20% cheaper and I can't tell the difference.
I have used the shears and I prefer the saw. I set a box fan up on the saw bench to keep the dust away. The shears are just too slow for production work and you can't gang cut with them (cutting multiple pieces at one time). They also **** for ripping and they can't cut corner boards.
That being said I have some very lightly used Dewalt shears for sale.
Invest in a coil nailer as well.
Blind nail all your nails & put a piece of bib flashing behing every **** joint. If you bib flash you can run the butts tight and you will have no need to chaulk. If you want to caulk your butts leave an 1/6" gap.
Cut a jig piece for you gables.

You can save money by using solid soffit for your band. Rip it to 10" and fur it out with OSB. Hardi 1x10 is freakin' expensive!. Use PVC drip cap above & below the band.

 

[tcianci]

We use the pre finished Hardi product all the time. It comes with a plastic peelable liner on each piece and we have had no problem with the storage or handling on site as far as damage to the finish. Lay out your job so as to **** factory ends together on any given run and put your field cuts up against window casings or corner boards. They sell color matched caulk for every pre finished color. Get a gallon of matching paint as well, paint all of your edges of corner boards and window casings and inside corner runners before you install the siding. Do not get any of the paint on the pre finished product...the difference will show. Do flash every **** joint with a piece of felt and blind nail the product with a roofing gun and 1-3/4 nails. Lay the job out just like wood clapboard. The nominal exposures allow for an inch and a quarter overlap of each course but you will do well to alter the exposure to arrive at a course even with the bottom of your windows then re-figure the exposure to arrive with a full plank running across the top of your window. This minimizes notching and the pre painting necessary when you do.

 

[sammm]

Just use hardi 1x4 boards. See attached pic

Thanks for the pic. Is that 1x1 hardi board on the inside corners?

 

[twostory]

Thanks for the pic. Is that 1x1 hardi board on the inside corners?

I do not know, that is just a picture I found on the internet. I used 1x4 for my inside & outside corners. If it was easy to find, I would use the 1x1 for the inside corner.

 

[mmhouse]

FYI, Hardi does have patterns other than the plain lap. I used the 'Beaded Cedarmill' and get lots of postitive comments on it because it just looks a bit different.

http://www.jameshardie.com/homeowner/popImages/hardieplank_beaded_cedarmill.shtml

 

[southernfriedcj]

Thanks for the pic. Is that 1x1 hardi board on the inside corners?

Just rip a corner board in half for inside corners.