Instead comes in a very smooth finish, and one made to look like rough cedar. Unlike regular Hardi lap siding, it does not have that 'fake' repetitive wood grain. The shadow lines created by the extra thickness make it look more like real cedar.

Hardi makes a newer product called Artisan Lap that is 5/8' thick. Most Hardi material is 5/16', or almost half as thick. Your cedar lap siding is likely full 1/2'+ thick boards. Hardi material is generally thinner than comparable cedar lap siding. If it is not properly installed, Hardi will not honor the warranty.Īnother concern is the thickness of the board itself (not the lap, but how thick is the board). I have seen more poorly installed Hardi material than properly installed. Our contractor's crew took quite a bit of time to do the house.Ĭould not agree more. There are a lot of details like gaps on ends, aluminum tabs under joints, minimum clearances to roof lines, clearances to window tops, nailing procedure, etc. Make sure your contractor is really qualified to put up Hardie board siding. Our contractor's crew took quite a bit of time to do the house. I will say that the overall effect of the Hardie siding in terms of shadowing and depth is quite pleasing from an architectural perspective. Hardie siding also now comes with a beveled edge which is a nice touch. In our case, several arch windows were trimmed in a moldable plastic that was painted to match. Hardie also makes various width trim pieces, perforated boards for soffits, etc so that most of the house can get covered with the same finish and protection. I was impressed to see that the homes including the oldest showed beautifully with no signs of mold, fading, chipping, cracking, warping, etc.

Our contractor pointed us to several homes they had done in the general area up to 5 years ago. Most home owners have to paint within 3 to 5 years and max 3 years if staining. In our area, houses sided in cedar are very difficult to maintain. We recently replaced our cedar siding with Hardie board.

Certainteed vinyl siding monogram 46