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Anyone used it or have info on it? We are looking at building a home soon and peeking around the 'net I saw this stuff. Says it's fire proof which is nice. We will be in the middle of 20+ acres. Don't plan on putting trees against the house, but still worry about fire. Any issues with maintenance or install or anything?
It has to be installed properly, on a properly prepared wall.
But, generally, it is good stuff.
It will require fresh paint from time to time to perform up to expectations and to look good.
You want a good housewrap, and good flashings around penetrations.
You want a flashing under every but joint in the siding.
Cement fiber board siding has become incredibly popular in my area for new construction. It doesn't rot like wood and the sun doesn't affect it like wood siding either. Like many products meant to replace wood, the manufacturer tries a little too hard to make it resemble wood. If you look at wood siding you won't see any wood grain. However, the manufacturers of cement fiber board siding mold into their product a heavy wood grain pattern. It's really something you only notice once you're up close. Also, as Mike J. mentioned you have to make sure the product is properly installed. Improper installation can void the warrant and greatly reduce the life of the siding. I sold a fairly new condo unit a few years ago and the previous year they had resided the building because (as I understand it) the developer had improperly installed cement fiber board siding and it had started to fail about 5 years in.
Anyone used it or have info on it? We are looking at building a home soon and peeking around the 'net I saw this stuff. Says it's fire proof which is nice. We will be in the middle of 20+ acres. Don't plan on putting trees against the house, but still worry about fire. Any issues with maintenance or install or anything?
Fiber cement siding is very good material when properly handled and installed. It is more expensive and the labor is more expensive than other typical composite sidings but well worth the money.
Thanks for the info, everyone! The house we want to build doesn't have a lot of siding, it's mostly stone, but in areas where it will be I don't want junk or plastic or whatever material they make that siding with that they put on trailers. The fireproof part is what had me pretty excited. Will definitely look for someone with a good long track record of install.
We have it on our condo here in Florida which, as you can imagine, gets attacked by the sun year after year. It seems to be holding up well. We paint fairly regularly, pressure wash it, too, and it holds up BUT, the bottom laps around the buildings are missing chunks in several places where the lawn care guys must be hitting it with weed whackers or other machinery. Also, some of those boards have fallen down from being hit so I think the cement tends to crumble around the fasteners when whacked a bit. And, come to think of it, some of the boards look a little warped so that can happen, too. Overall, though, it is holding up throughout the community.
Personally I'm not a fan. Some people have experienced pealing paint (factory finish) peeling only a few years after installing. After a long battling of back and forth, Hardie's response was to write a check for the a dozen or so affected boards. Meh.
We use a lot of hardi out here in the PNW because it is one of the few siding options that can handle our weather.
Hardi generally comes primed and then you paint it what color you want. You can get it prepainted at the factory, but I think site finishes are always better.
1) Hire someone that installs it on a regular basis.
2) It is heavy siding because it is fiber cement. Cement isn't known for being light.
3) It can break easily. Hardi needs to be handled carefully. This is not a one man job kind of siding product. I've seen plenty of cracked and broken hardi out here with one man contractors trying to install it themselves.
4) Make sure the housing wrap is underneath the hardi. It is meant to go over wrap and not the sheathing. I've seen some builds where they wrapped the house before the sheathing and that violates hardi's install instructions.
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