siding: Hardie-plank or cypress?

[brenthenze]

Hi all,

Has anyone out there used Hardie-plank siding before? I'm deciding between hardi-plank (painted "country lane red") and oiled cypress (natural finish) for my new barn. The Hardie-plank is somewhat less expensive up front (about $3700 for pre-finished cypress; about $2700 for pre-painted Hardie-plank). But I wonder how the two products compare in durability and longevity of finish.

Brent

 

[Glennbear]

My shop is sided with SmartSide 4x8 panels nailed directly to framing and I am pleased with this material. http://www.lpcorp.com/sidingtrim/lpsmartside/products/panel.aspx
:wsmile:

 

[DaveO]

As much as I love wood, I would have to say go with the Hardi-plank. I believe that is a basically a concrete (cementous) product. It would have much less expansion and contraction in service so a paint finish would last a lot longer before peeling. The cost savings is another plus. I would also think that the Hardi-plank would have much greater longevity as not as hygroscopic and much harder.
I believe it is best to have special blades to work with the Hardi-plank.
MTCW, as someone who has no experience with either.

Dave

 

[JackLeg]

We built our home here in 1999 and sided it with Hardie Plank. In our opinion, it's the best! :icon_thum


Looks as good as when we put it on, has a fire rating similar to brick, no warping or bowing like some vinyls, and can be power washed if needed.

Just M2CW.

:wsmile:

 

[MikeL]

I highly recommend the Hardie siding. I just wish my house had the new colored version (I still have to paint it) :eusa_doh:

 

[Travis Porter]

Hardie Plank all the way. I have it on my house and my shop with no regrets. I had the house repainted 2 years ago and only did the trim. The hardie plank still looks great.

 

[peteb301]

Echo that ! Hardie is the way to go, supposed to be guaranteed for 50 years. We originally had Masonite on this place but due to the way it was installed (bottom nailed) :nah:and the wonderful way water did not shed but wicked up into the sawdust / glue combination , we had it ALL replaced with Hardi.

 

[pcooper]

I'll go along with the Hardie-plank, I've had both, used the Hardie-plank on my shop here in NC when I built it, and had the cypress stuff on my home in TN before moving here. The cypress stuff was a royal PITA!!!!! I had to keep after it all the time to keep it looking good, and keep the birds from beating holes in it, (woodpeckers love it). The hardie-plank is easy to put up and then go on with life. What I got was primed, so I had to paint it, but looks really good and takes paint well.

 

[jerrye]

Hardi Plank:icon_thum

1. 50 year warranty
2. Fibrous cement construction, very durable and will not crack or dent
3. Can use standard carbide tools
4. Will not flake, rot, peel, or warp, and no need to restain
5. Cost savings vs. cypress
6. On my house since built in '98, needs repainting but otherwise good
7. Only lower maintenance material I know of is masonry-$$$

 

[RayH]

Like Glenn, our's is done with lpcorp smart siding (planks not sheets). It is a wood-based product. I am sure it has limitations (we have only been in the house 2 years), but I really prefer the warranty difference (replace rather than give you some new boards) for the first few years. After all, at my age what do I care about a 50 year warranty?:rotflm:

RayH

 

[woodworker2000]

I was watching one of the home improvement channels where they were in Orlando at the Int'l Home Builder's Show (I think that what it was). Anyway, Irwin was showing off a new cement board saw blade they developed. It was designed specificaly for cement board/Hardiplank and is supposed to keep the dust to a minimum and last for 1,500 cuts. The cost was only $20. I don't see it on their website so it may not have come out yet.

 

[PChristy]

Go with the Hardi board - we put it on our new room and we love it - we are going to take the old cedar off of the back of the house and replace it with Hardi - We really do like it
Phillip

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

My shop (and attached house :wsmile: ) are covered with Hardi plank, and after 4 years, it looks as good as when installed.

If you ding or dent it, which is hard to do unless you are not careful hoisting a machine up to the shop :roll: , you can easily repair it with some Bondo and paint.

If you plan to install Hardi Plank yourself, rent or buy the special cementacious siding shears (Dewalt, PC, etc. make them). It much easier and much less dust and mess than cutting it with a circular saw and masonry blade.

 

[brenthenze]

Heck, I might go with Hardi-plank just for the excuse to get a set of those cool shears!

Sounds like Hardi-plank is a pretty good product. As to finish: pre-primed (unpainted) is $5.98/pc ($1500 for my job) whereas factory primed and painted is $9.66/pc ($2400 for my job)--not including trim, faschia, soffit, etc. The building wouldn't be all that hard to paint, but I'm thinking that for $900 I can find better uses of my time than painting (particularly since I'd put about $700 of that into two coats of paint, and the other $200 into beer and sunscreen)!

 

[brenthenze]

By the way, Alan, did your Hardi-plank come with that nice chain hoist and the attached surface planer, or was that extra?

 

[Travis Porter]

One other suggestion as to installation. I was watching TOH a while back and they were installing it. The installer put a strip of felt paper behind every joint to help prevent water from getting behind it and then caulked all joints as he was installing it. It made it a whole lot easier to finish. IIRC, to get final inspection of my shop all joints had to be caulked and all material primed before it would pass.

On my shop they did not do this and I wished they had. Unfortunately, I saw the TOH episode well after my shop was built.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

By the way, Alan, did your Hardi-plank come with that nice chain hoist and the attached surface planer, or was that extra?

The HardiPlank was free, the hoist and tools cost me a couple hundred thou, however! :wink_smil

One thing- my house was the first HardiPlank job for this crew. They did a decent job, even cut some bent studs and sistered new ones to remove surface irregularities in the larger walls like the garage. It took them quite a few days to complete the job. When they were done they told the builder to call someone else if he had any more HardiPlank jobs to do!!!! They were used to slapping up vinyl, and could finish an entire house in one day! Not going to happen with HardiPlank, though if they were experienced and had the right tools it would have gone much faster.

 

[dancam]

Hardie Plank is the way to go. I had mine pre-primed and painted (all sides) and the paint job is guaranteed for 15yrs. The siding itself carries a 50 year.

One point, a previous post stated the siding does not dent. This is not true, I had a rock roll down a long hill and it launched off my retaining wall and hit the house and put a dent in the Hardie plank. Hardie rep said the best way to fix is a bondo patch and over paint. Not a big deal...but it does dent.

Dan C.

 

[max_in_graham]

One of the added benefits of Hardie Plank is that it's much more dense of a material than just about anything you can use in its price range.

That added density will keep the noise down on the outside of a shop... the obvious benefit is that you can't hear the wife calling you to go shopping at the mall, when you'ld rather be working on a project in the shop!

(Not that I would do such a thing, or condone such actions....)

 

[scsmith42]

Hardie-plank siding is without question durable. In some instances though, you can't beat the look of real wood siding.

Here are some photo's of my farmhouse project. The siding is southern yellow pine, with a medium oil based stain. Up close, the grain pattern really jumps out at you.

Scott