Anyone else have HardiPlank siding on their house?

[mickeyd]

I replaced all of the wood on the exterior of my house, which was essentually the entire 2nd floor as the first floor has a brick facade.

I had it installed about 5 years ago and it still looks great, of course it is guaranteed for 50 years so I have 45 more to ask for a refund. Does not seem to require repainting either.

HardiPlank was invented in Australia many years ago and and is basicly cement and celulose formed to look like lumber.

Has anyone else used this product before?

 

[eridanus]

I have hardiplank on some of my rentals. It qualifies as stone veneer, which gives me a fire insurance discount. Yay!

 

[REWahoo]

I have Hardiplank on the rear of my 7 1/2 year-old-house. I've been very impressed at how well it has held paint. Still looks like brand new.

 

[sailor]

You guys must be in some more nothern part of US or your builder used better paints.
According to my wife or hardiplank house required painting after 4 years in Georgia sun.
Several houses in the neibourhood were repainted, either at 4 years mark or 7 years mark.
Anybody had their hardiplank shrink? Ours developed about 1/4 inches gaps between the boards, which needed to be caulked.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

We put it on my wifes old house as part of the remodel. Best stuff around.

Sailor: the hardiplank does shrink and expand with its moisture content. Ideally you install it when its warm and dry and keep the gaps small, then if and when it expands a little, it'll just butt together. You'll still want to caulk the seams periodically. I've seen some people install little metal flashing straps over the seams as they install the product.

 

[REWahoo]

You guys must be in some more nothern part of US or your builder used better paints.
According to my wife or hardiplank house required painting after 4 years in Georgia sun.
Several houses in the neibourhood were repainted, either at 4 years mark or 7 years mark.
Anybody had their hardiplank shrink? Ours developed about 1/4 inches gaps between the boards, which needed to be caulked.

I'm in south TX and the Hardiplank is on the southern side of the house...major sun exposure. Maybe it is paint quality. It was installed in August of 97 and there is some shrinkage but only 1/8 inch gap or so in some seams.

 

[Sheryl]

We have specified Hardie products on many of our projects. We use the plank for a pseudo-wood siding look, and have used the larger textured panels instead of acrylic stucco or to simulate board and batten.

Have not had any complaints or problems. Yet.

Hardie has come out with a prefinished board that supposedly does not require painting for 25 years (I think). Haven't tried that as the colors were less than inspiring.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

The prepaint isnt that great. By the time you get it its nicked, scratched and otherwise requires a coat of paint anyhow.

Preprimed is how we get them, but we apply another coat of primer to both sides before installation anyway.

Paint adherence here, which is wet and cool in the winter and dry and hotter than hell in the summer, is about 7-10 years for stucco and hardi and about 4-6 years for wood, when using a good quality paint and a superior primer.

 

[HFWR]

Some on my garage, and the termites don't seem to like it...

It's a bitch to cut, though.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

We cut it with power shears, although you can do it with a circular saw with a hardiplank blade (yes, they make one) with a dust collector on the saw.

 

[HFWR]

Circular saw with a masonry blade!

Was still a bitch...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

A little noisy too, eh?

 

[HFWR]

Yeah, and I'm glad I had a couple of younger guys with weak minds strong backs to help. 8)

Will work for beer!

 

[Sheryl]

We cut it with power shears, although you can do it with a circular saw with a hardiplank blade (yes, they make one) with a dust collector on the saw.

I was just on a job site this morning and saw those power shears in action - they cut through it like butter - well, maybe hard butter - but still.  They cut very well.  The actually remove a 3/8" or so strip, so you loose a bit of length. 

I asked the guy cutting and he said he's used his for six years without changing blades.  Definitely the way to go.

 

[mickeyd]

You guys must be in some more northern part of US or your builder used better paints.
 

Sailor,

I live in the northern part of south Texas. Does that count?

 

[Brat]

We have had Hardiplank smooth lap siding on our house for over 10 years. Newer houses on either side of us with similar cedar siding are on their 2nd paint job. Ours still looks new, only the facias (not Hardi) need paint. We are in Sheryl's part of the country.