I’m getting ready to side a house using a pre-finished Hardi lap siding. I’ve got a guy who has exp. installing it, but I never have myself. He suggests using all Hardi products for the soffit/facia/frieze/etc., but I would like to use wood(painted) as that’s what I’m used to and I can’t get the Hardi in the dimensions I need. I have a two pc. frieze w/ a drip edge and crown. The overhangs also differ, so i’d like to use ply and a vent strip instead of the hardi-vent stuff. Any suggestions? Forsee any problems mixing the matls?
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I did not see the Hardi trim first hand but the manager (and a friend) of the lumber yard told me not to use it in that I would not be happy. I used the AZAK for all the trim and I'm mixed on it for the time being. Expansion and contraction issues.
I'd use the wood trim providing it was primed and painted prior to going up. I love the wood grain Hardi plank.
I used preprimed FJ pine for all my trim, MDO for the soffits and Hardieplank for all the siding (5" exposure). E-mail me and I'll send you a photo or two. I haven't persuaded my computer to let me post pictures here.
I used 100% Hardi on my house and had no problems. I milled drip cap and all the other parts I needed and it worked just fine.
I bought a Dewalt table saw and a Hatachi miter box figuring they would be trashed as a result but 3 years later both work fine.
Just do all saw work outside and wear a mask. The sofit pieces are a bit difficult getting used to handling without breaking but doable.
I didn't use anything with fake wood grain because I'd never put lap siding that wasn't well planed if I was planning on painting it.
On my house I used Hardie Shingle for the body, Trex for the window and door trim, Hardie Fascia for the fascia, and ½" good-one-side MDO with standard aluminum strip vents for the soffit. They all worked well together, took paint well, and held up.
Trex has a surface texture that would not go with every style, but for my Craftsman style home it actually looked better than an artificially smooth plasticy material would have. It took some effort to work the paint into the dimples.