So I’m a newbie to this site and have poored all over it trying to get as much info on cement fiberboard. You guys are a wealth of information to a do-it-yourselfer like myself.
I have a question to pose to professionals and people who love to build. I had spent a large amount of time 3 years ago stipping the cedar of paint, repainting the siding, and putting up cedar shake on the front of the of my 1919 bungalow. I am sure I ingested more lead than an MD would recommed. But it turned out great. The last 3 sides are peeling horribly and the wood is shot. I am currently residing these with cementboard. I wanted use CF over vinyl to try to maintain an authentic look. Do you as professionals, feel that the look will be lost if I use the CF with the Wood Grain finish and trim with the wood grain finish even though the cedar in the front is smooth? Any thoughts on this one or did I just make a huge mistake?
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all the mfr's i am aware of make both a wood grain and a smooth
BTW... common palance is FC ( fibercement ) , not CF
your choice
if i were trying to really make it look like the existing cedar clapboards, then i'd choose the pattern, texture & exposure that replicates it...
in most instances it is not that critical.....my opinion is that most houses should look good from the curb and neat and well maintained from close up
I agree.It's only taken me 9 years of beating my head against the wall, scraping every last bit of paint from worn out claps and trim, completely disassembly, striping, reassembling, and glazing the 100+ year old windows, and other bit of hassle to realize that NOBODY WILL EVER CARE how much loving work I put into all of this.Like Mike said, make so it looks good from the street and that there are no gaping problems and that will be fine.And whatever you do, don't get sucked into that Old House Journal crowd!
Thanks,
I too, poor a lot of time and sweat into the projects on this house and the next guy will probably not even care. I just don't want it to look like it was a poor choice or a mistake to use the wood grain FC. I have no problem with it and it has to look far better than what I currently have up. I just want do the house right.
The only right way is how you want to do it, combined with a little common sense. I've got smooth planks on my house. I didn't do the original installation, but am working on the original re-installation. I guess that if anyone is going to totally screw it up, then it will be me! I din't think that I liked the woodgrain texture, but I saw it on a big time renovation/resale and decided that it didn't look too bad. Do it your way, and do it right!
Another important consideration is the exposure. I recently posted to another thread about this. The 7" is the standard FC exposure. Since it's what everyone can get off of the shelf it's what's out there 95% of the time. The result is it's looking a little canned.
Since your house is around a turn of the century house, exposures back then were typically less, some as little as 4".
So, I think if you pay attention to matching your current exposure, it's going to look great.
Runnerguy
I am definitely going for the 4 inch exspsore. The original exposure is a little less like 3 1/2 but the trim boards should break it up enough that the difference is not that noticeable.
Edited 7/25/2008 3:36 pm ET by BVJohnston
we did 4" exposure on a 1670 cape in Scituate..
we used 6 1/2 FC , all we could get at the time looked very good
you can use 5 1/2 and get your 4" or you can actually get your 3 1/2
make a mock up to see how it will lay outMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
BV Johnston.
Quality is something that is often imitated. The real long term value is not with imitation anything but a real proven long term solution.
Either real wood or real masonary or real stone etc.. all the imitators are poor long term investments.
However often the neighborhood you live in won't justify quaility.. You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. If everybody close by has imitation siding it's counter productive for you to invest in quality..
You might if sufficent neighbors have quailty siding tip a neighborhood upscale. However if they do have quaility products you will deeply cheapen your house by putting some imitation product on simply because it promises low maintinace.
If you have 3.5" exposure on the front and put 4" exposure on the sides, true enough 85% of the people won't notice it but to the other 15% it will look like it was done by an rank armature. Of the 85% probably 25% will find the appearance a bit disconcerting but will not know why and the other 60% will only notice what color it is - if even that.
As Mike said, you can get the 5.25" siding and install it with a 3.5" exposure. Be aware though that FC won't look exactly like wood. FC is thinner and ends up being a little bit wavy on the wall.
Possibly the best siding for your application would be cypre$$ but that still has the down side needing to be repainted more often than say FC. The reason FC works a little better with paint is that FC expands and contracts less than wood.
I build new homes and feel that for budgets that support it FC is the best thing going for today's new home homeowner - the reason being that people now a days just don't want to spend the time and/or money that is really necessary to properly maintain a wood clad home.