Hardie Board -vs- Engineered Wood (LP) Siding (-vs-painting)

[Mike Goetzke]

I'm in the Chicago area and my house is 40 years old. I have a tri-level brick house with the upper level sided with douglas fir RBB (think that's what it's called). Last fall I replaced most of the fascia and just received three replacement windows for upstairs  - getting ready to paint this year. Then my wife tells me I should replace the siding with something more maintenance free.

I don't like vinyl because of the expansion/contraction and noise associated with it so I see the hardie and LP being used a lot. When I investigate the two there seems to never be an unbiased review.

Would appreciate feedback on experience with the new siding materials. Ha - as well as just re-painting (this is what I want to do to save $$$).

Thanks Mike

 

[Peter Kelly]

Depending on your location and climate you'll get 15 or so years out of the factory-applied Hardie Plank finish. It'll require a more typical 7-10 year painting schedule after that. Not inexpensive ($10 sq ft and up installed) but it's a very tough material. I think LP is less expensive.

The only exterior finish that comes close to being "maintenance free" is stucco.

 

[jeh]

I'd think long and hard about replacing a natural product with a man made one. Your house will never look the same.

I live in a coastal area and Hardiplank was a complete failure due to environmental moisture. It is not unusual to see it being removed and replaced though the frequency has been reduced since most of it has been replaced. It was sold as the ultimate replacement to wood and in this case was not. That is a lot of money to blow to only have to be replaced in less than 10 years. Your area may have better results and I readily admit my home is in a tough area. The product of choice is traditional cedar shakes with do last without issues.

Local builders have moved on to the LP product, but I am highly suspect of it given the construction. I had some samples and left them in a bucket of water for a few days and they ballooned up to about 1 1/2 times the thickness. To be expected, but what it tells me is all cuts have to be sealed and the product has to be caulked exactly as specified by the manufacturer and you have to stay on top of it. In my area high winds are an issue and they have to be faced nailed in additional to blind nailed which makes it a complete no go for me. It is going to be interesting to see how it holds up 10 years from now especially on houses where the homeowner is not on top of the maintenance. If you were to go with it I would search out the most qualified installer you can find (if you are not doing it yourself).

For vinyl, if you must, I'd recommend the Craneboard (solid core and insulated). Vastly superior to traditional vinyl. My parents have it on the back of their brick home and it has held up well. Additionally the color is still holding up after close to a decade.

 

[Dan C]

We have used Hardie Shingle siding on our projects here and a large garage project. Its been 3 years on the oldest installation but they are looking as great as the day they went up.  Eventually the rest of the house will have them as well.  Used with the hardie trim boards its a great look. 

 

[Cheese]

When I resided our house I installed clear vertical grain cedar bevel siding, extremely happy with it but it all needs to be repainted after about 8-9 years. So for the new garage, I'm looking at Hardie plank instead because of the reduced maintenance. We'll also get a discounted price on homeowners insurance because it's not combustible.

 

[Rob Z]

My oldest reference for Hardi was for a job we did in the early 2000's (I think it was 2003).  The entire house was resided with Hardi, except for the lower portions that are brick. House was built early 1950's. I hired a sub who had a solid reputation as a Hardi installer, and he and his crew did a wonderful job.  I also hired a painter who similarly had a great reputation, and their work was fantastic, as well. We installed new windows and doors all the way around the house. In all respects, it was a job done by the book. The only maintenance that has been done is the owner gets the exterior of the house power washed every few years. A former employee still goes by occasionally to do small jobs for my former customer and last time he was there he told me the siding still looks the same as when it was installed, albeit a bit dirty and with the paint fading in places.

We used Hardi on other jobs since then, but for most I haven't been back and don't have any follow-up observations.

I think the thing that surprises me is not that the Hardi has done so well for ~20 years but that the paint has held up for so long.

 

[huntdupl]

I'd comment modern materials are really crisp compared to traditional wood siding - evaluate historic nature of the home and others with engineered products applied. For me, its wood on an 80 yr old house. Quality prep, primer(s), paint; caulk joints may last a little longer on Hardie compared to wood, but it comes down to aesthetic. Want less expansion/contraction, take a look at Boral TruExterior (just hide your pocket book first).

I do not have first hand experience with installation, but I question the prefinished Hardie siding. Sure they give you a bottle of touch-up paint for end cuts and blemishes, but how careful are your installers. I don't see a jar of paint weathering the same as a factory applied finish, just me. I would stick to a traditional paint film and if you got the time, go for it.

 

[Peter Kelly]

The only maintenance that has been done is the owner gets the exterior of the house power washed every few years.

Let the owners know not to power wash Hardie Plank ever, the install manual states this specifically. TSP, scrub brush and a hose should be the only things used for cleaning.

 

[Peter_C]

We have some form of Cement Board siding on our house that was built in 1970, and appears to be in perfect condition, but it has been painted routinely. The main house sides are redwood plywood, with the cement board above going from 8ft up to the peaks. Living in a fire prone area I wish our entire house and deck were built with such non flammable materials, which is not so important to someone living elsewhere. Yes redwood does burn...

With an older home and the siding being removed there is a lot more work to do than just replacing the siding. Time to re-insulate, and seal the house better. Zip Systems or the like is perfect for such.

Matt Risinger is sponsored by Hardie, but he typically does follow best practices, so biased is to be expected but there is a lot of information he puts forward.https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=matt+risinger+siding

 

[Peter Kelly]

We have some form of Cement Board siding on our house that was built in 1970, and appears to be in perfect condition, but it has been painted routinely. The main house sides are redwood plywood, with the cement board above going from 8ft up to the peaks. Living in a fire prone area I wish our entire house and deck were built with such non flammable materials, which is not so important to someone living elsewhere. Yes redwood does burn...

Cement fibre siding on a home built in 1970 is most likely JM Transite. Those shingles contain up to 50% asbestos so no need to worry about it catching fire...

 

[cpw]

I installed LP SmartSide on the sun room of our rental house last year.  It installed pretty easily, and was affordable.  Since it is painted and I painted the existing asbestos shingles it goes together well.

I am building a shed in my yard, and have ordered the same LP for that.  I was thinking about doing vertical 1x8 cedar channel to match the house; but the price for the ~300 sq. ft. of material I need is about $3500 for cedar and $800 for LP.

 

[manuc]

I know you said you didn’t want vinyl siding but you may want to look into Celect PVC siding.

 

[tjbnwi]

Go with the LP Smart Side or Smart Panel. It works just like wood you are used to working with. Any fiber cement product will be heavier and require special blades for your saws. I cut FC with my TS-55 and a CMT blade, I know most wont do this.

I also feel Smart products hold up to the weather better. With FC the clearances to surfaces at bottom edges are pretty big, especially in your area (I’m from Chicago, I know the weather there).

For the window trim either Smart Trim or Boral.

This is a primer on working with Boral, there are 4 Festool/Boral videos on my channel.

I’ll relink the video when I get to a computer, FOG does not like the YT link method.


The assembled casing made it from Northwest Indiana to Denver without a joint opening.

Tom

 

[squall_line]

I still remember when I was in grad school, vinyl siding had just been added to the list of materials that were considered "historically significant" and 80's housing was finally becoming qualified for protection, much to the chagrin of the "purists" in the historic preservation field.

A 40 year-old house could have had just about any cladding on it in the Chicagoland area, and it may even depend on the builder (Pasquinelli, Lexington, etc. each has their own aesthetic) or if it was in a more upscale area like Long Grove, Highland Park, etc. that requires/required cedar shake roofs and the like.  Luckily, the early 80's were still fairly benign as far as HOAs were concerned, but still make sure that you don't have some legal obligation (Historic district, HOA, etc) to put up a specific cladding.

I'm of the opinion that a lower-maintenance but similar look-and-feel is the way to go.  When I moved in with my wife, I appreciated that her 1920's bungalow had vinyl siding after going through a painting saga with my own 1920's bungalow with original wood siding, but the vinyl did detract from the character of the house.  Our current home was built in '61 and has 8" cedar/fir lap siding, and we haven't ever had a lost or loose plank in any of the windstorms that have come through here.  It seems that anyone with vinyl is always replacing at least one or two pieces when we get nasty weather (which is as much to do with the installer as the product, I'm sure).  I'm sure that the next time I paint it, or the time after that, I might be looking for something like LP that might hold color longer.

 

[jeh]

I'm of the opinion that a lower-maintenance but similar look-and-feel is the way to go.  When I moved in with my wife, I appreciated that her 1920's bungalow had vinyl siding after going through a painting saga with my own 1920's bungalow with original wood siding, but the vinyl did detract from the character of the house.  Our current home was built in '61 and has 8" cedar/fir lap siding, and we haven't ever had a lost or loose plank in any of the windstorms that have come through here.  It seems that anyone with vinyl is always replacing at least one or two pieces when we get nasty weather (which is as much to do with the installer as the product, I'm sure).  I'm sure that the next time I paint it, or the time after that, I might be looking for something like LP that might hold color longer.

And when you do replace those vinyl sections you find out the color does not even remotely match due to fade or that particular style is no longer available. At least with natural wood you can get anything made and repaint the entire section so it looks consistent.

 

[MaineShop]

Mike I am up in the coastal Maine area. We have very humid summers and cold snowy winters. When I was doing general construction I think I did three houses with hardi plank siding. It is a good product for sure. It does move with moisture and humidity so you need to take care to seal the cut ends, at least in our area. It also can get mildew pretty easy in spots where it doesn't get sun just like any other siding, but it seems slower to dry out then a wood product like cedar clapboards. The only real pain in the install is the dust and we always used prefinished material and getting the but joints to blend in with the pre finish was a bit of a pain in the A. Never had any call backs on it though.

A few years ago I was building new house for my family and we decided we wanted a vertical board and batten look. The house is ICF so the were no insulation or structural concerns. We wanted to do a 4x8 panel product and apply battens over it. I went with the LP product, the smart side with a flat panel, it does have a wood texture on it but no grooves or anything and is pre primed. Smart side comes in a chip board core and an MDF type of core. For the panels I used the chip board product and the trim strips for the battens are the mdf like substrate as that is what I could get at the time, we put it up and painted it. I also used their soffit panels to match. I am very happy with it and have zero complaints. I took an off cut from the battens before we put them up and chucked it in the farm pond. It really didn't swell much in two weeks and after I took it out it went right back to its dimensions, it was not brittle or weakened at all. That was good enough for me. The 4x8 panels were cheaper, had more options available, and were drastically lighter then the hardi panel product. The LP is very similar to advantec subfloor I believe in the glues and process and if you have ever been on a job site in winter you are aware of how much abuse that product can take from dirt grime and moisture. My recommendation is to go with the LP, the hardi product isn't better enough to justify the added price and certainly not the added hassle of installation.

Just my experience and your mileage may vary. Also if you do go with the hardi plank I would look into getting a siding shear. They work ok with the hardi plank and drastically cut down on dust. Though you need blades.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Thank for all the great info! I kept flip-flopping between new siding or re-painting but after taking a closer look at the 40+ year old siding on the south side of my house it looks dried out and almost brittle. So I have decided to replace all of the siding and from input here and investigation decided to use LP SmartSide.

Thanks

 

[leakyroof]

Having watched many new and re-siding projects go on around here in Chicago, I get to see real world time experiences for our Market and weather patterns. Fiber Cement is popular with many builders, but I elected to use LP Smart Siding on my Garage last year, to replace very old and failing Hardi-Lap Siding that was original to the '70s or early '80s garage that we have.
As stated, and as you already know, no special tools or dust collection worries with the SmartSide. That was a big factor for me since Fiber Cement dust is not good for you.
I hope you can post pictures from your work, it's always great to learn more.
Peter Halle helped me through my simple Garage project, and I'm really happy the way it turned out.
Plus it got me a new Hitachi Coil Nailer for the Project, nice nailer... [big grin] [big grin]