gimpy007 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 My wife and I need to replace our siding. Our home has LP siding and its days are numbered. I am looking for some advice from those that have replaced the siding on their home and also anyone in construction with siding experience. We are looking for an affordable option that can stand up to the rainy NW weather. Our home also takes a beating from the sun. Do we go with wood or fiber cement? If we go with wood, what is our best option? If we go with fiber cement, do we go with Hardi or is there a more affordable option? All feedback it welcomed and appreciated. Thank you - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I'd go with the fiber cement. Hardi is good from what I hear,but I'd do a search for a few more manufacturers for comparison sake. Might want to talk with a local building inspector and maybe you home insurance company and see if they have some suggestions as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandymac27 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Just out of curiosity, couldn't the fiber cement siding swell/shrink and cause rotting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gimpy007 Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 Just out of curiosity, couldn't the fiber cement siding swell/shrink and cause rotting? From my understanding fiber cement is more durable than wood and will last longer. But I will need to do more research on all the pros and cons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Just out of curiosity, couldn't the fiber cement siding swell/shrink and cause rotting? Nope. At least not nearly as much as wood based siding. The real issue with fiber cement is pre installation and installation to make sure moisture doesn't get trapped behind it. That's when rotting and such becomes a problem for the structure beneath the siding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandymac27 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Nope. At least not nearly as much as wood based siding. The real issue with fiber cement is pre installation and installation to make sure moisture doesn't get trapped behind it. That's when rotting and such becomes a problem for the structure beneath the siding. Ahh, ok. I was assuming it would expand/contract like regular cement and cause issues for the wood behind the siding. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gimpy007 Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 Nope. At least not nearly as much as wood based siding. The real issue with fiber cement is pre installation and installation to make sure moisture doesn't get trapped behind it. That's when rotting and such becomes a problem for the structure beneath the siding. That is good to know. It sounds like you have experience with this. Would you happen to know if its true that fiber does not provide good thermal resistance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Don't have a lot of experience with the siding,as most,if not all,the siding I put up over the years was wood. Cedar and such. However there are homeowners here who swear by it. I see bunch of it being used outside of where I live. These Northwestern Winters are tough on wood. Generally speaking,all types of siding have their pluses and minuses,and fiber cement has a few minuses. Thermal resistance is one of the minuses,(as with other materials in varies from thickness to manufacturer). A nice interior insulation job can help a lot in that area though. It's also a real pain to work with and the dust may not be the best for ya,(again,depends on manufacturer). It can cost to install and have to make sure the folks who do it are good at it,otherwise moisture problems can show up. Stuff lasts a very long time,so it can be low maintenance compared to wood siding especially. I'm a wood kind of a guy,but on the exterior,I could make an exception if it means less work in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLeVan Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 When you say your sidings days are numbered, what exactly do you mean? Manufacturing defect, mold/mildew, fading, shrink/swell (aka moisture absorption), thermal properties. Depending on what you plan to use, this could be a decent size expense. Before giving advice for a specific product, I think it would be a good idea to identify the actual issues with the existing siding to determine where to go from here. There are a ton of choices out there and lots of ways to get bitten by them. If there are any key failure points with the siding, photos would help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gimpy007 Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 When you say your sidings days are numbered, what exactly do you mean? Manufacturing defect, mold/mildew, fading, shrink/swell (aka moisture absorption), thermal properties.Depending on what you plan to use, this could be a decent size expense. Before giving advice for a specific product, I think it would be a good idea to identify the actual issues with the existing siding to determine where to go from here. There are a ton of choices out there and lots of ways to get bitten by them. If there are any key failure points with the siding, photos would help. Our home was built in 91 and has LP siding. The owner before us took the money from the class action lawsuit and never used it to replace the siding. We knew this going into the purchase of the home back in 04. There are portions that are rotten to the point you can push a nail through it with your hand - Not good. I have replaced a few pieces myself. The majority of the damage is on the SE side of the house. It get lots of sun and rain. I could probably paint it and replace a few pieces to get another 5 yrs or so out of it, but I feel that would be just throwing away money. Right now the economy is in the dump and we have the cash on hand to do it, so I figured what a better time. I am in a position of power to drive down the cost. So I've decided to start my research on wood vs fiber cement. Do you have experience with either one? Thanks in advance - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLeVan Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I may have a skewed version of things and it may not be what you want to hear. I used to be a Paint department manager at Lowe's as well as the delivery manager so I've seen my fair share of products that are decent and products that get returned. There are a few things that lead me to question Hardie/fiber cement board. I'm a big fan of vinyl siding since it's for the most part maintenance free. Although you may not like the look, it's cheaper to install, cheaper to maintain, and cheaper to replace in sections if home additions are in your future. Just so you understand that I don't have anything against the company, I've used Hardie-backer boards as all my underlayments in multiple home renovations and have had no problems whatsoever. Great product for that job. Lightweight and low dust compared to Durock and easy to work with. Here are my concerns when it comes to fiber cement board when used as siding material: 1.It needs to be painted unless you get their ColorPlus product. -any product that requires painting is standing only on their finish laurels and not on durability. The heavy lifting job is done by the paint. If you want to be painting your house every 5-7 years, which you will be doing on the SE side of your house has to question the investment. 2. Chalking when the surface isn't prepped correctly -Hardie is a fairly new siding substrate and hasn't been tested with all lines a paint manufacturer has to offer. The best performing ones are the higher polymer based paints that have a much higher solid content and much higher elasticity to them such as the Valspar Duramax line which on sale is about $30/gal. 3. Contracting -with a slow economy, it gets harder to seperate the the wheat from the chaff. Are you willing 2-3 years down the road to go after contractors who don't stand by the products that they've installed. I'm not saying all contractors are like this, but unless you've had prior work done or they come on a good referral it's another risk. The best advice I could give you is to find the exterior look you want with your home and go find the best/most reliable contractor you can find. They'll get a much better deal than you ever could but the key is quality of his work. Or get vinyl siding and take your wife to Vegas with the money you saved. Haha. PCS should be able to point you in the right direction when it comes to untreated wood siding that doesn't require paint. Best of luck to you, hard decisions ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 . I'm a big fan of vinyl siding since it's for the most part maintenance free. I disagree with this. Look at any vinyl siding house 5 years or older. They turn green. Vinyl is a magnet for algae and mold. Vinyl warps very easily... pay attention to just about any house with vinyl siding and you will see a wavy pattern, it is inevitable. Also, if you get hail storms in your area, kiss your vinyl siding goodbye. We had one here in the spring and houses with vinyl looked like they'd been the victim of a machine gun attack. And, above all, if you see it in a trailer park, it's probably not a nice building material. Vinyl is enormously tacky imo. But, that's personal taste. Gimpy, if you can afford it, go with hardie board, you will be exponentially more pleased with the look. Sure, you don't need to paint vinyl siding, but it will fade, it will attract mold and algae, it will warp, and it will be especially brittle (especially in the winter). Saying vinyl is "maintenance free" is probably the biggest outright lie ever told by any industry that the public accepted. 1.It needs to be painted unless you get their ColorPlus product. -any product that requires painting is standing only on their finish laurels and not on durability. The heavy lifting job is done by the paint. If you want to be painting your house every 5-7 years, which you will be doing on the SE side of your house has to question the investment. This is not true in my experience. You'll get 10 years no problem with a good quality paint, longer actually depending on how anal you are about your home's exterior. Wood needs to be repainted often because the wood underneath the paint actually deteriorates causing the paint to peel/crack. You don't get that with cement board. I've got 6 years on mine, looks like new, and I'm in direct sun and we get more rain than any place in the US besides the Pac NW. It isn't even showing signs of age. my parents have 10 years on theirs, looks like new. 2. Chalking when the surface isn't prepped correctly -Hardie is a fairly new siding substrate and hasn't been tested with all lines a paint manufacturer has to offer. The best performing ones are the higher polymer based paints that have a much higher solid content and much higher elasticity to them such as the Valspar Duramax line which on sale is about $30/gal. Nothing against Lowes but I would question the sanity of anyone who would buy any paint product from there for something as important as painting your home's exterior. Though I do think you make a good point, I have seen chalking on cementboard. Definitely want to use the highest quality paint you can. 3. Contracting -with a slow economy, it gets harder to seperate the the wheat from the chaff. Are you willing 2-3 years down the road to go after contractors who don't stand by the products that they've installed. I'm not saying all contractors are like this, but unless you've had prior work done or they come on a good referral it's another risk. I definitely agree, but I would add that it would be no different with any other building material installation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I'd go with the fiber cement. Hardi is good from what I hear,but I'd do a search for a few more manufacturers for comparison sake. Might want to talk with a local building inspector and maybe you home insurance company and see if they have some suggestions as well. Agree with PCS. As part of our recent addition we put siding on the whole house. We went with the Hardie Plank cement siding. Good stuff. http://www.jameshardie.com/homeowner/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishtw Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I'm hang siding for a living and have hung everything from Hardy, Certainteed, Ceder, Shakes, Vinyl, Board and Bat, T111 and so on a so on. I can tell you on my own home I would want cement fiber which is Hardy Plank. There are other brands that seem just as good like Certeineed thats a little cheaper but is a little bit harder to work with. Why some people stay away from cement fiber and go with vinyl is usually either price (both labor and materials will be cheaper) and or up keep. People are told that vinyl is maintenance free which isn't completely true. Vinyl does fade with time, depending on the weather in your area will determine how long it takes to fade. Just like most all siding you will have to re caulk where caulk is needed every few years. Then you have the washing cause it does get dirty and sometimes moldy or moss can grow on it. Cement fiber has a few detractors as well. One is the expense. Depending on where you buy it Hardy Plank can cost up to $20 a board (8 1/4 in X 12 ft) and cost between $1.50 to $2.25 a square to hang it. Another is maintenance, you will have to caulk and paint every few years depending on the weather in your area. Some folks don't realize that even though its cement it still absorbs water if it isn't sealed, especially cut edges. All said and done and have experience with them all Hardy is the way I would go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gimpy007 Posted August 25, 2011 Author Share Posted August 25, 2011 I got my first quote for 21K. By my best guess, I will need about 2,500 sq ft of siding. This included 8.25" siding, wood trim, paint, gutters and downspouts. I think this is a good 5K too high. Am I being too cheap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishtw Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I got my first quote for 21K. By my best guess, I will need about 2,500 sq ft of siding. This included 8.25" siding, wood trim, paint, gutters and downspouts.I think this is a good 5K too high. Am I being too cheap? Just for the labor for for hanging 25 sq's is $4k on the low side, no material included Materials 2500 sqs plus 20% = 3000 sq's of siding. If its $20 a board in your area ur looking at amox $8500. at least 2 boxes of quad = $120 Tyvek house wrap 2 rolls = $300 Siding nails galvanized ring shank coil = Amox $80 per box Maybe a little different if you plan on putting vent's in the Gables or bands and band raps and/or different type of siding in your Gables for accent/decoration like board and bat or cedar shakes. Then you have trim materials which I would have to pull your house for. Usually not that big an expense compared to everything else. Also depends on what your using, typical is 5/4 primed pine. The last expense is the (labor of) removal and carting away ur old siding which may require a dump trailer or small dumpster rental. And don't forget paint and gutters. hope this helps some what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 There's not much to painting it- rent a lift and paint it yourself. Save some cash, and you can buy the paint you want (i.e. high quality) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gimpy007 Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 Thanks for the advice guys. I like the idea of renting a lift and painting myself. I could even do the tear off myself to save. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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