The spec house I am planning to start in the spring is per some plans I bought through the Taunton site. It is a pretty good looking package, done by a Newport, RI architect, and featured in his website’s portfolio. Siding is 100% wood shingles, painted, with woven corners and built-out base courses. I am wondering about the look of this project if I use the James Hardie “shingle panel straight edge” siding product. It has a 7″ exposure, can be woven at corners, flared out at base courses, but will it look really fake, or will only the purists see the diff? My cost for #1 perfections, WRC, R&R, is almost $295 per net square, prefinished 2 coats at the factory. Adding house and detached garage, there are 33 squares of siding. I will save a bundle if I can do this in fiber cement.
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Gene
What about get just enough materialls to build up a mockup of a corner and see what it looks like?
Take a look at the photo on their web site: http://www.jameshardie.com/sidingmain.htm
Doesn't look very good to my eye, and if you think it looks bad in a low resolution web graphic, image how it would look in real life?
OTOH, making this kind of decision from a couple of web site photos also leaves something to be desired. Contact a local distributor and see if you get an address to some the real thing.
You'll also need to consider you market. I'm sometimes amazed at what people just don't see in looking at houses
_______________________
"I may have said the same thing before... But my explanation, I am sure, will always be different." Oscar Wilde
I would build a small mock up.
I did that for part of my home that has horiz lap siding that I am going to replace with Hardie plank as soon as the holidays are over. mine is on the side of a 2 story dormer and looks the same as that 4 letter word stuff (wood) from the ground.
I would ask myself also about the initial painting and recurring maint costs for the wood shingles. How often will you repaint and what will it cost?
hardie will not swell, rot, warp, or flake the paint off etc like wood.
Maintainance is a big factor. Many homeowners that we work for ask about man. when picking out materials. I would reccomend fiber cement. Remember "SAFETY FIRST".
It's a spec house.......what's the local market dictate?
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
The covenants require wood and or stone. In this particular subdivision, we have wood claps, wood shingles, half-logs vertical, waney edge clap, stucco, stone, and house styles from craftsman to Adirondack great camp to plain and simple rustic. If the f-c shingles look somewhat realistic as compared to a painted wood shingle job, we will do it. Here is the prototype: http://www.estestwombly.com/pondpage1.html
Just had a call from my supplier (one of them), who said the HardieShingle straight edge panel, size 1/2 x 16 x 48, exposure 7", is only available plain, no primer, no prefinish, and that the price is, sit down for this, THREE HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE dollars per net square. Looks like this question is moot. I am using cedar.
I used Hardie Shingle on my home built in 1999. The siding is painted. It looks great to my eye and I would not hesitate to recommend it.
HGTV has used it on several of their recent Dream Homes. I'm not familiar with their web site, but perhaps it has more photos than the Hardie site. You'll spot it on TV, too.
One thing to watch out for is to make sure you don't follow a pattern by repeating the sizes over and over, otherwise it will catch your eye. Break it up a little.
It will hold up great to marine weather. Use nails appropriate for your environment whatever siding you choose.
waynel
"One thing to watch out for is to make sure you don't follow a pattern by repeating the sizes over and over, otherwise it will catch your eye. Break it up a little."
what do you mean by that?
thanks
Wain, in answer to your question, when I used Hardie Shingle a few years ago the material came as individual shingles, in a mix of three different widths. This was the first time the contractor had used the material before, and he started on a wall on the back of the house which had a fairly large area without openings. Following the percentages of each size, he installed them in a pattern. I forget what it was, lets say for example, 1 large, 1 medium, 2 small, and so forth. He repeated this pattern over and over, staggering the next row to one side, but still maintaining the sequence. When the wall was done, the pattern was clearly visible. We discussed this and intentionally broke up the sequence to make it more natural looking. It was easier to do where there were more windows and doors. The contractor had no difficulty breaking up the pattern and the whole rest of the house looks really good.
I believe Hardie now sells the shingles as a small panel, a couple of feet wide. I don't know if they are all the same, but in any case, be careful to intentionally not follow a pattern.
ok
thanks