Hardie Plank Siding

[2LOW4SNOW]

Does anybody have experience with James Hardie plank cement fibre siding?

I have been thinking of using it on my shack but have read mixed reviews. Trying to decide if it is worth the extra cash.

[AndyL]

No personal experience...

Down at the bottom of ridgeview place in cochrane you can find a bunch of houses with it... Have a good look down the sides - check the waves...

If it was me - it'd drive me nucking futz; but I'm a little OCD when it comes to lines.

[2LOW4SNOW]

I will have to check that out, thanks.

My shack is not new, so I'm sure it is far from straight and true also.

I have read you can avoid the waviness with a quality install and shim it out

[ALBERTA_IS]

My entire house and garage are Hardie and I see a few very small waves but by no means is it unattractive. It all depends on your framing. I higher advise people using it vs vinyl. Vinyl looks like shit and is cheap looking. Just my opinion but for our house it was only around $6k extra over vinyl. It gives a good fire proofing too. I don't have a negative thing to say about it. If your looking at Hardie check different neighborhoods to get a good idea what it looks like installed. I will try to throw up a couple pics of my house for you tomorrow.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[frozenrice]

^^The standard colour selections is somewhat lacking, but it can be custom coloured if you are willing to pay the premium.
As far as the waviness goes, a good part of it depends on the colour. If it's a darker colour it tends to show the waves a bit more than lighter colours. I'd still take a little bit of waviness with Hardie over vinyl siding though.

[B20EF]

Originally posted by ALBERTA_IS
Just my opinion but for our house it was only around $6k extra over vinyl.

I thought Vinyl only cost $3-$4K ish to do standard house. Thats a decent amount more. I could be way off on the price of vinyl though, I just googled it when I considered replacing my siding.

[frozenrice]

That'll probably cover just the labour on about 2500 sq of wall area. Depends on the size of house you're talking about. 2500 is the average wall area of most newer homes.

[sputnik]

Just put Hardie (iron grey) on my 1956 bungalow.

It looks awesome.

I have no waves at all. However I also have 1" foil back insulation under it as well.

[AndyL]

I'm 100% sure install has a lot to do with it (like almost anything) - but, from what I've seen, there's some "variation" in the hardie product. Which can appear to be vertical and horizontal waves.

The extra cost can be justified in new home, where they're starting to require fire ratings. One of the big things for me is the siding appearance, fire rating and hail resistance. It's definitely an attractive product in a number of ways.

Any product, it's best to go out and see real-world installs. Just my humble opinion.

[sputnik]

Another benefit of Hardie is that you can paint it.

[2LOW4SNOW]

Thanks for all the replies! This really helps.

For everybody that has hardi board, how long have you had it for? Was it pre-finished or painted on site? How has it held up so far?

Originally posted by ALBERTA_IS
I will try to throw up a couple pics of my house for you tomorrow.

I would really appreciate that.

Originally posted by sputnik
Just put Hardie (iron grey) on my 1956 bungalow.

It looks awesome.

I have no waves at all. However I also have 1" foil back insulation under it as well.

This was my next question as I am also thinking of putting some foam under the siding. I see that the maximum hardi recommends is 1" of foam. However, to create a thermal break to prevent moisture build up on the sheathing I figured I need about 1.5" of foam. Did you do anything special to accommodate for this?

[sputnik]

Originally posted by 2LOW4SNOW
For everybody that has hardi board, how long have you had it for? Was it pre-finished or painted on site? How has it held up so far?

Mine went up last October.

The horizontal planks were pre-finished and the corner and window moldings were painted onsite. The caulking used is colour matched as well.

Looks great so far.

[00sir2]

Originally posted by 2LOW4SNOW
Thanks for all the replies! This really helps.

For everybody that has hardi board, how long have you had it for? Was it pre-finished or painted on site? How has it held up so far?

I've had Hardie board for 5 years now, we've had zero issues and it looks way better than vinyl. Ours was pre-finished brown. If we build another home I wouldn't hesitate to use it again.

[Sugarphreak]

....

[BerserkerCatSplat]

We just finished replacing all the poorly-installed vinyl siding at our condo complex with Hardie, it's pretty solid stuff, especially compared to the flimsy-assed vinyl. Nice that it's paintable as well.

[2LOW4SNOW]

I'm surprised there are so many people using it, this helps me decide for sure. Sounds like a solid product.

After the last big hail storm, I"m not at all interested in putting up vinyl. I currently have aluminum in a nice yellow / green 70's color.

Anybody have any experience with foam under the siding and moisture problems?

This article suggests a minimum thickness in order to avoid moisture build up. Link

[LOLzilla]

Originally posted by sputnik


Mine went up last October.

The horizontal planks were pre-finished and the corner and window moldings were painted onsite. The caulking used is colour matched as well.

Looks great so far.

Whats the sq/ft of the house? Did you do the install yourself? How much did it cost? I suspect we've got similar houses. Gotta do my 1200 sq/ft bungalow sometime and I'm torn between the foam backed vinyl siding or hardiboard.

[ipeefreely]

Originally posted by LOLzilla
Whats the sq/ft of the house? Did you do the install yourself? How much did it cost? I suspect we've got similar houses. Gotta do my 1200 sq/ft bungalow sometime and I'm torn between the foam backed vinyl siding or hardiboard.

I was just about to ask that! Mine's about 1300 sq/ft and it will need to be done in the next couple of years...

Originally posted by sputnik
However I also have 1"; foil back insulation under it as well.

Did you notice any difference in comfort and a lower heating bill with the foil?

[reijo]

A friend of mine used to do the lab portion of the Civil and Architectural programs at SAIT - where they build the house each term.

All those houses built at SAIT have used Hardie Board and he swears by it. Very durable - 15-20 yr. warrantee although you can get some fading in the sun. The installation is more labour-intensive due to the weight of the product (it is concrete after all) and, hence, more expensive.

But it is solid ... will stand up to hail much, much better than hail.....and better for a fire barrier when your neighbour's house is burning down.

I looked over the last house they built in the fall and it appears to be a good product. Basically, you get what you pay for.

R