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Jim & I are kinda confused.
I say that the Fiber cement sidings like Hardie and Ashland-Davis are going to last forever, and if you use SS fasteners and 100% acrylic finishes on the factory primed stuff, that they will be the lowest maintenance, good looking (read that GREAT LOOKING), and I won’t have to maintain it at the same level as my old favorites, RC VGAH, 1/2 x 6 clapboard, or factory dipped WRC 18″ R&R, shingles @ 5 1/2″ to weather. Never mind price.
Jim says “well, there was an article about Fungus growing out of the bottom edge”, but I think he just hasn’t figgered how to chuck it in his lathe, or run it thru his surface planer.
I’ve hung every kind of siding there is, mostly wood, and I’d like to know what you think of it.
b Lets trrrrry and be constructive out there !
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Remember, where Jim lives fungus grows on EVERYTHING.
*Well, er, what I meant was, the early results are good on this siding. I'm not disputing that. But it wasn't so long ago that lp siding seemed like the smart choice for siding and after a few years serious problems became evident. Now, a few years after the Hardi type products have been in use, I notice a blurb in either FHB or JLC about a fungus growing on the edge (or back?) of this stuff. It reminds me of the first problems that surfaced with lp type products.I'm for the development of new products. But I also have confidence in products and techniques that have stood the test of time. And while Hardi type siding may prove to be the best manmade siding since asbestos (all right, that was a cheap shot) I'm glad I haven't had to put my good name on it yet.True, wood siding requires more maintanance. But after all these years, we kind of know what to expect from it - how to treat it. And in many folk's minds, it is still a mark of quality - mine included. - jb
*NOYL??Not on your list?Rich Beckman
*Rich: yeh that would work too, so does "life"Jim: I would agree with that, but I keep getting squeezed by my Customer's budgets. So....if I can't go with wood, what's next ? Vinyl ? remember the old saw "Vinyl is final" ?And here in New England we don't do brick except for some small veneer jobs.If I want the architectural style of clapboard and can't afford either the high initial cost, or the high cost of maintenance, is Fiber Cement a good, bad , or great choice ?
*I just completed siding the largest home (small mansion) I may ever side with the Certainteed product which is considered to be better than Hardie Plank...I also painted it with two coats of Sherwin Williams Acrylic based superpaint over one coat of factory primer...ONly time will tell if it is truly a great product....It's looks great now and I have never had so many compliments on a job well done as I received frome this one....I'll keep you all updated through the years....near the stream,aj
*AJ: is the Certainteed a Fiber cement, what are the dimensions ? What did you use for trim and soffits ?Inquiring minds want to know .
*As the demand for affordable housing increases there will be more and more of what you call "...getting squeezed..." but here is my point. The first thing a house should do is provide shelter - protection from the elements. Do we know that this newest in a long line of man made sidings - which includes asbestos, aluminum, vinal, lp, and who knows what all - will end up being servicable, and cheaper over the life of the house? No, we don't. We think it looks like a good product. And we sure hope it will be servicable and cheaper than wood. And there doesn't seem to be any problems with it...until now.
*Certainteed is almost the same as Hardie...dimensions and all but they say that they press it more and it therefore will not possibly delaminate due to trapped moisture expansion in a freezing climate such as upstate NY...Yes it's fibercement...loooks like layers of paper with a pressed in layer of cementious paper.Their are all kinds of soffet and trim tricks from using vinyl to cedar to sheets of fibercement and even thick trimish fibercement...aj
*True, only time will tell how Hardieplank last over time. I am in the process of building a 1300 s/f cabin in the mountains of Arizona. I had my builder use the 6 inch lap siding from hardie plank. The siding looks great! He used the pre-primed stuff and put two coats of Behr premium satin paint on it. I consider myself a die hard when it comes to using "fake", "imitation" or "look-a-like" products. (I REALLY dislike PERGO floors for instance). However, the Hardie plank siding really looks good onces its up. My builder had no experience using it either. Although the shell has only been up since August, I would definately reccomend fiber cement siding. Most of the other cabins in the area have been built with log cabin siding or cedar siding. They will have to apply a clearcoat every other year to keep their places looking good. I maintain piece of mind knowing that I shouldnt have to worry about the exterior of the place for 10+ years (hopefully). Click on my homepage to view a picture of it.-Adam
*I believe Hardi Plank is not so new. It is from Australia and they have been making cement products for over a hundred years.Check it out athttp://www.jameshardie.com/usahome.htm
*Adam: clicked my way thru the maze & ran into a firewall of my own limitations.Let me guess, your home page has a little Icon on it that I'm supposed to click, and I'll bet that is what Joe calls "IE" and after thinking about it ALLL night , I'l bet that IE stands for Internet Express, how'm I doin ?I can see that the next thing I'll be doin is enabling or downloading some IE viewer, if I knew how.Brian : you didn't finish the tutorial on "links" that Joe and others put up did you? I'll take a look anyway, thanks.