Hardie panel installation

[Jayman17]

Hi, hoping to get some knowledge from anyone that has used Hardie panels as siding. I am getting a new roof on the house and detached garage so I wanted to replace the fascia and some shingle siding on the gable ends of my garage before they do the roof. I was going to replace the shingle siding with the panels and exposed metal trim at the joints.

A question I have is that they are using this stuff on all new homes in Seattle and every job site I see they are sinking the nail heads and patching with some type of exterior spackle. The manufacturer says do not set the nail heads below the surface. I was planning on using a siding nail for this and just until the head makes contact with the panel. I'm not crazy about visible nail heads but it will be higher up so maybe not that noticeable. Any thoughts?

Another question is what is the best way to cut this stuff. I should only be cutting straight lines and I do own a circular saw. Is there something better I can rent?

Thanks for any insight...

Jay

 

[Jackfre]

I have the board and batten on the gable ends of my shop, the body of the Well house and am putting it on the last wooden building on the place in the next couple weeks. I have used Hardi primarily for fire protection as I want to be able to insure my place. I bought a Bostitch coil nailer and am shooting 2” nails. It does a nice job, but as with any tool, the finish product is dependent upon your performance. The gun has been excellent. We just nailed off the new roof with it today. The Hardi takes paint very well. There are some dimples here and there on the Well house but damned If I am going to worry about them. I don’t like working with it (dust), but you can cover some territory quickly.

 

[MushCreek]

I did my gables in Hardi panel. Like the rest of my siding, I installed it over furring strips as a drainage plane. I covered the seams and nails with 1X2 PVC battens for a board and batten look. My nailer wouldn't set the nails reliably, so I set them a little shallow and tapped them down with a hammer as I went. I don't think that they're supposed to punch through the surface.

 

[yeldogt]

The key to siding is not over driving the fasteners -- this is especially true with Hardie. Hardie is damaged if overdriving the nails ..

Guess no one ever reads the instructions.

Growing up with a beach house on pilings. We used ... "break away" board for everything at ground level. The early stuff was asbestos .. like the shingles. unfamiliar contractors would drive the nails into the product and the panels would crack in a few years ... the goal was/is to "hang" it ... nails just tight enough to get it snug. last forever.

Also when you nail too tight ... it gets wavy

 

[DPG]

You can set the heads flush per the Hardie installation guide. https://www.jameshardiepros.com/get...4cc7/hardiepanel-single-family-hz10-us-en.pdf. If you miss hitting the stud, or angle the nail, over drive it, it will damage the surface of the siding which I suspect is why you see all the spackle.
You can find special blades at the big box stores. I used to just use a Marathon framing blade. It will do fine, but you will never cut wood with it again.

 

[mmb617]

The best way to cut fiber-cement siding is with a shear designed for that purpose as it makes almost no dust. Any blade I've ever used on a circular saw blew dust everywhere. I had to cut a fair amount of Hardie when I was working and the shear is definitely the way to go.

Something like this is what I mean. I'd guess you can rent them, but don't know for sure.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-5-16-in-Variable-Speed-Cement-Shear-D28605/100609310

 

[toolchaser]

I just got through siding a new garage with Hardie panels. I hand drove the nails JUST flush with a smooth faced hammer, then swept over the heads with Alex plus caulk. Same thing the carpenters did when they built my house 15 years ago, holding up great. Most of my nails are into studs, but a fair percentage are into the 7/16" osb sheathing

 

[Jayman17]

Thanks guys for responding, the info was helpful. I will hand nail with siding nails and call it good. I will see if I can find those shears somewhere to rent as well. Don't really want to make all that dust with the circ saw.
I might reconsider the metal trim and go with the board and batten look.


Jay

 

[PAToyota]

If you do cut it, go for a diamond blade. They say you can use a carbide blade, but after going through three in less than a third of my project I went for the diamond blade, finished the project, and am still using the blade. Be sure to blow out your circular saw regularly as well as remove and clean the brushes regularly. The dust is abrasive and will eat brushes, bearings, and such if not cleaned.

 

[MushCreek]

There's a little learning curve with the shears. Hard to describe, but they'll mush up the edge if you don't do it right. I have a set of shears I need to sell. I did cut some with a circular saw. Use a saw you can afford to throw away, and wear a good dust mask.

 

[jhrodd]

That's probably Hardie's Reveal panels your seeing with the recessed fasteners it's 7/16" thick and they use screws. You can't cut the panels with shears since the cut edges aren't caulked like they are on lap siding, it will look awful. Need to cut the panels with a diamond blade. https://www.jameshardiepros.com/products/hardie-reveal-panel-system

 

[545_days]

I used cheap carbide blades in a cheap Harbor Freight circular saw. There was no way I was going to let all that dust destroy my good saw.

You will need a good respirator. Don't cheap out on your lungs.

 

[1redTA]

I used a razor knife to score my hardie board then it snapped cleanly over a straight edge

 

[Jayman17]

All good tips, thanks for responding.

Jay

 

[theoldwizard1]

The best way to cut fiber-cement siding is with a shear designed for that purpose as it makes almost no dust. Any blade I've ever used on a circular saw blew dust everywhere.

Anyone not using a shear/guillotine for cutting fiber-cement siding is crazy ! (Exception is a small patch job.)

 

[Jayman17]

To anyone that has used the shears, can they cut a long distance or just the width of a plank because I am using panels.

Did anyone use ring shank nails? I am concerned about the nails that just are into the 1/2" sheathing. Worried about the holding power of smooth shank nails.

Thanks, Jay

 

[amkluttz]

Did anyone use ring shank nails? I am concerned about the nails that just are into the 1/2" sheathing. Worried about the holding power of smooth shank nails.

Thanks, Jay

We used 2" galvanized ring shank nails in a Paslode. We didn't install the sheets but used the Harieplank lap siding. My dad and I did my house 10 years ago with their colormatch system. Looking at this info now, and not knowing any better then, I realize my dad probably never looked at any type of directions. I'm almost certain we installed this stuff wrong but it's been up for 10+ years now with no issues.

If I had it to do over again I wouldn't buy the pre-painted lap siding and would've just had the house painted when we were done. I'm having to re-caulk a couple of joints and need to go back to Hardie to get the color matched caulk.


Also, several manufacturers make cement siding blades for circular saws. They have like 6 teeth on the entire blade but work well and make much less dust than any types of wood blade. You can also cut it with an angle grinder and a diamond blade. Both of these result in quite a bit of dust. I wish I had known about the shears since we were doing lap siding.

 

[yeldogt]

We used 2" galvanized ring shank nails in a Paslode. We didn't install the sheets but used the Harieplank lap siding. My dad and I did my house 10 years ago with their colormatch system. Looking at this info now, and not knowing any better then, I realize my dad probably never looked at any type of directions. I'm almost certain we installed this stuff wrong but it's been up for 10+ years now with no issues.

If I had it to do over again I wouldn't buy the pre-painted lap siding and would've just had the house painted when we were done. I'm having to re-caulk a couple of joints and need to go back to Hardie to get the color matched caulk.


Also, several manufacturers make cement siding blades for circular saws. They have like 6 teeth on the entire blade but work well and make much less dust than any types of wood blade. You can also cut it with an angle grinder and a diamond blade. Both of these result in quite a bit of dust. I wish I had known about the shears since we were doing lap siding.

You don't caulk the joints ... people love caulk.

You can buy matching paint .... it's been my experience that the paint holds up. That's what I like it .. especially the darker colors.

With all of the fake products -- proper painting is important .. having it done at a factory eliminates many of the issues. I found this to be the case with Boral when I first looked into it. It comes primed ... but for proper coverage it needs to be primed and painted.

 

[Samh]

What are the height of your walls? I am doing board and batten with hardie soffit instead of the hardipanel, mainly because my walls are 12ft tall, and I didn't want any more horizontal seams than I could get away with.

 

[Falcon67]

I used HardiPanel on my shop and even at gound level you have to get your face close to even see the nail heads. Yes - if they are driving the heads below the surface, they are losing well more than 50% of the holding power, plus providing a route for moisture infiltration. Stupid. I spent a lot of time setting the nail gun to lay the heads right on the panel surface. No problems in the last 9 years.

 

[yeldogt]

I used HardiPanel on my shop and even at gound level you have to get your face close to even see the nail heads. Yes - if they are driving the heads below the surface, they are losing well more than 50% of the holding power, plus providing a route for moisture infiltration. Stupid. I spent a lot of time setting the nail gun to lay the heads right on the panel surface. No problems in the last 9 years.

Did you face nail ? That's allowed .. or was.

The old redwood wide board claps were always faced nailed .. same with the asbestos. Siding nails -- the ones with the waffle heads. Face nailing does tighten everything up ... my neighbor face nailed Hardi.

Once painted .. I agree they are really hard to see. Even the pre-painted what w/ white nails looked good.

I think when vinyl became popular -- the "no nail" look became the thing.

 

[Jayman17]

What are the height of your walls? I am doing board and batten with hardie soffit instead of the hardipanel, mainly because my walls are 12ft tall, and I didn't want any more horizontal seams than I could get away with.

The highest point at the peak is only about 4' from the belly band to the fascia at the peak by about 20' wide. That was a good idea eliminating any horizontal joints. I won't have any either just vertical.

Jay

 

[amkluttz]

You don't caulk the joints ... people love caulk.

You can buy matching paint .... it's been my experience that the paint holds up. That's what I like it .. especially the darker colors.

With all of the fake products -- proper painting is important .. having it done at a factory eliminates many of the issues. I found this to be the case with Boral when I first looked into it. It comes primed ... but for proper coverage it needs to be primed and painted.

The joints of the lap siding didn't get caulk. The joints did get the Hardie touch-up paint if they were cut. I guess that's what it called for? We used the 5/4 Hardietrim boards at all corners and butted the lap siding to those. I'm caulking the area where those **** together. Are you saying this is incorrect?

As stated above I did buy the matching paint and caulk that supposedly came from Hardie that went with their ColorPlus system. I ended up with a case of paint kits instead of a single due to an ordering blunder.

 

[mmb617]

To anyone that has used the shears, can they cut a long distance or just the width of a plank because I am using panels.

The shears can cut long a distance such as the length of a panel but I'd use a guide of some sort to keep the cut absolutely straight, same as you'd need with a circular saw.

It takes a little practice to hold the shears at the proper angle to get a good clean cut without buggering the edge but you'll see that pretty quick.

Once you use the shears you'll never go back to a circular saw.

 

[Falcon67]

Yes, face nail - like old asbestos type siding used to look.

I had to cut a bunch with a circular saw - avoid that if possible.

 

[yeldogt]

The joints of the lap siding didn't get caulk. The joints did get the Hardie touch-up paint if they were cut. I guess that's what it called for? We used the 5/4 Hardietrim boards at all corners and butted the lap siding to those. I'm caulking the area where those **** together. Are you saying this is incorrect?

As stated above I did buy the matching paint and caulk that supposedly came from Hardie that went with their ColorPlus system. I ended up with a case of paint kits instead of a single due to an ordering blunder.

The caulk is not that expensive .... my guess there has been fading anyway. matching the caulk to paint color down the line is always an issue.

Caulk is simply overused .. Hardi does show it used at trim. I find a square (not angled) cut on the tube and downward movement and angle of gun works best ... and never tool the joint after.

Painting all the edges is most important.

Prior to caulk joints were flashed .. that's why you will see large metal flashing on old houses. in many places caulk just traps moisture .. when you rip apart an old house ... the rot is always around where the caulk is located.

 

[amkluttz]

Caulk is simply overused .. Hardi does show it used at trim. I find a square (not angled) cut on the tube and downward movement and angle of gun works best ... and never tool the joint after.

Painting all the edges is most important.

Thanks for the info.

I can't find information on the caulk I originally purchased but it seems OSI Quad and QuadMax come in a paint matched version for my Hardie Heathered Moss, OSI paint color #739. I'm using the Hardie Sail Cloth as trim.