This summer my wife and I decided to add a 2 story addition to our house. Everything was going well until last Sunday. My wife was on a piece of scaffolding (about 4 ft high), lost her balance and jumped to the ground. We just got the MRI of her knee back and she tore all the cartiledge and her ACL! Needless to say our crew of 2 is now 1 (actually 1/2 with working full time and assuming all the household chores). The addition is enclosed with 1/2″ plywood sheathing. My question is this – should I try to get the pre primed hardiplank up this fall (it is doubtful I will be able to paint it) or is it better to tarpaper over the plywood sheathing and leave it until Spring? We live in MN and winter will be on us soon! Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you. Bill
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I'm no pro, so take my advice with a grain of salt..........
I sided my house by myself this summer using 5 1/4" hardi, pre-primed, and found working by myself wasn't all that bad. I used the siding gauges called "the Laborsaver" (advertised in the back of FHB), and found they really helped for solo work. It came out pretty well, but it was very slow....
I don't know how big your addition is or how much time you have, but if I were you I would feel much better having primed hardi on my house rather than tarpaper. By February you may find that winter wind has ripped off the tar paper and you have nothing over your sheathing. According to Hardi, you may have to reprime next spring before painting, but it beats redoing tarpaper in February!
http://www.irfanview.com Please!!!!
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
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Sorry, I didn't realize it was so big
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Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Man! I wouldn't want to be up in the gable with heavy Hardi Plank on that scaffolding!
<Man! I wouldn't want to be up in the gable with heavy Hardi Plank on that scaffolding!>
The scaffolding was a bit sketchy, but I reinforced it as I went up to improve the stability somewhat. Since I was working alone, I was able to keep the supported weight and bouncing to a minimum. I still didn't trust the setup much, and was happy to finish the job and take it down. If I was going to do this with any regularity, I would buy aluminum poles, but for one time use, I took my chances........
Bummer about the better half...hope she recovers well...
I'd try and at least dry it in....if you tarpaper, be sure to staple it off enough to withstand those cold winter winds that can sometimes hit us here (MN also)...
BTW...where abouts in the land of 10,000 lakes are you? Albertville here...
another thing...what style of hardie are you using? shingles, lap? I know the stuff can be heavy and hard to handle by yourself, but it can be done...if it is lap siding, check out the HD or Menards...they have this clip that holds one end of the siding up for you while you nail...its about as helpful as some of the guys I used to employ..and you onlypay for it once....and it doesn't smoke, sleep late or ask you to advance his pay....
Thanks for your replies. I live in Northfield, about 35 miles south of the Cities. I am planning on using lap siding (7" reveal) on the bottom two thirds of the house with single shingles on the top third. Since I do not own the special pneumatic nailer for the siding I was planning on using a Hitachi roofing nailer with 1 3/4" maze double dipped ring shank nails. I also picked up the set of gauges to use with the siding.
I was at Menards the other day and the brand of siding they sell (certainteed?) says it must be painted immediately. When I spoke with Hardi today they said I have 67 months to paint (6 months from when?). I also spoke to someone in construction who said they would not leave it on with just the prime for more than 3 months or it would delaminate. I just want to make sure I do not have to rip it off in the spring.
Thanks again for all the help, my wife sees the surgeon next week and is looking at 6 months of rehab.
welcome to the forum.. sorry to hear about the bird and her wing. bloomington myself and have been to fariblult lately to a friends house warming party.
did a house in Minneapolis a couple of years ago and the HO was painting themselves and well you guessed it they didn't till the next year. How do I know this you ask? because they called me and asked " I remember you saying something about the primer and winter and 6 months and all, Could you tell me that info. again?"
So if you side now plan on repriming ( the 6 months is from installation because of the UV breaking down the binders) otherwise double up the paper, tack it down with battons and remove the top layer next spring.
this is what I did on my house when I didn't finish before winter and everything seemed fine with the underlayer went I got back to it in the spring. glad to hear from another Mn. Mike
Almost went to school in Northfield..St Olaf...they have a great music dept there...
what sides of your house does the addition face? if it faces the east and south primarily, your going to be in better luck than if it faces west and north more...for wind anyway...
another thought...if you do just paper it...maybe you'd want to prime the first 3-4 feet up from grade...the paper will cover it, but i'm thinking about the snow, snow-melt senerio...
if you decide to go ahead and put it up, have you thought about pre-painting it while it is down? I did a big hardie job a year ago where the HO insisted on the pre-stained stuff...sure, you'd have to do some touch up, but it would cut down on the painting issue later...plus maybe the MRS. could help out...stick a paint roller in her hand while she is in her wheelchair...and push her back and forth...you'd be done in no time!!! :)
My oldest son is a junior at St. Olaf this year and sings in the St. Olaf Choir. They are performing next Sunday at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis if you're looking for a night out. (please excuse the concert plug)
Regarding the house facing, I live in the country and am fortunate to be surrounded by large trees that tend to cut down on the wind.
Some have suggested using Tyvek rather than tarpaper for the winter months. I have heard that after 2 weeks of UV exposure Tyvek begins to disintegrate - is this true?
Also, I am planning on using cedar trim and I have heard that Tyvek breaks down under cedar - is this accurate?
My plan was to prepaint the siding and then install but with my main painter unable to move this plan doesn't appear likely. But I do have a question for the Minnesotans out there - how long can I realistically expect to have to work outside before winter gets the best of the situation? Thanks again for all your help, Bill
Sorry to hear about your wife, sounds like you lost a good helper for about a year. I sided my new house two years ago with primed Hardi-Plank and finally got around to finishing up the painting this year. I did reprime it though. I don't suggest you wait as long as me but it seems to have held up OK.
I think you would be better off if you could side and caulk the house before winter, I would suggest getting some help though because there is a learning curve. I've sided alone and with help and I found that the hardi plank goes up 3 to 4 times faster with more than one person. I've used the shears and the Hardi saw blade attached to my old sliding miter saw and I prefer the saw blade. I found that the saw blade was faster, straighter and left a cleaner cut line on the plank. It could also gang cut when there were repetative sizes. Wear a mask or respirator when cutting though, the dust has some health issues.
I would use a nailer if you can get one to speed the job up, nailing this material by hand is slow. I used an Hitachi siding nailer to blind nail my siding with #8 stainless siding nails for most of the house but I did some of the siding with a roofing nailer and galvanized nails and felt more comfortable with that system because the nail shank was bigger(stronger) and the nail head of course is much larger. Also, I would recommend flashing the butt joints, I'm glad I did because many of mine had to be recaulked after the first winter. Good luck!
If you paper and wait till spring you might want to screw down some lath type material on the tarpaper seams for insurance and sleeping better at night.
Use a house wrap for the winter, it won't rip so easily and you will do a much better job of siding in the spring when you have thew time to do it right ..Rik.........
A few years ago I was running out of decent weather and could not get the brick on before winter rolled in. I used a few rolls of Tyvek and lots of the one inch flat washers on one inch nails to attach it. I used several rolls of tuck tape for all the seams and everything held up fine through the winter and we bricked in the spring. Our northern Ontario winters are legendary for snow and cold also. Best wishes for a speedy successful recovery for your wife!
I did parts of our house (Byron, near Rochester) single-handed. We were putting up Masonite tempered 8", very much similar to the Hardi in weight and hardness (pre-drilled most of the nail holes).
For single-handed work I used an S-shaped hook I made out of a strip of aluminum. It would hook over the top of one course and hold the bottom edge of the next course at the right height. Of course you had to be careful to remove the hook while the plank end was still reasonably loose, so I'd place the hook, lift the plank onto it, nail the far end and maybe another nail not quite to the middle, then go and remove the hook and nail that end. Finally, I'd fill in the nails in-between.
We were working from scaffolding. Wouldn't want to try single-handed from a ladder. Also, the hook didn't work (couldn't remove it) around windows, etc, so they required either an extra hand or some sort of fudge.
If you don't get the siding up, I'd so what another poster suggested and put up Tyvek rather than tarpaper. It will go up easier, hold up better against the weather, and do a much better job of sealing out the wind. You may stretch slightly the suggested maximum length of time to have it exposed, but if you have it fastened down well with lath or washer nails and taped at the seams it won't flap in the wind and will hold up better than it would otherwise. Or, if you're really paranoid you can tear it off in the spring and put up fresh.
If you go with tar paper use 30# and run a string line under the button caps for the full length of all of the lap seams. It keeps the wind from getting a rip started.
Mine's been exposed like that, in heavy winds, for nearly a year. No rips where I used the string but total replacement required where I didn't. The masonry veneer starts going up next week.
Thanks to Boss Hogg for that tip - it works.
Kevin Halliburton
And with that, the great emporer Oz gently floated away on a curtain of hot air, laughing at the unfortunate ignorance of little people beneath him. But under his breath he cursed that stupid little dog...