Hardiboard siding is NOT a replacement for cedar wood siding.
Hardiboard siding is an ALTERNATIVE siding to cedar wood siding as are vinyl and aluminum sidings.
Everyone hates or at least should hate the cheap ugly look of vinyl siding so hardiboard siding is a much better option.
Although homes you have seen with hardiboard siding may look like cedar wood siding there is a difference.
Hardiboard siding.
Despite hardiboard being an alternative, it is promoted as a replacement to wood. When comparing a house sided with cedar wood siding and hardi there will be a noticeable difference. This is also why the James Hardie manufacturer does not recommend replacing a damaged cedar clapboard with this product. It just won’t match.
Hardiboard Siding is Too Thin
One reason it won’t match is that it is too thin.
Wood cedar siding (clapboard and shingle) is tapered and has a thickness of 7/16” at the base.
Hardiboard is just a straight flat board with a thickness of 5/16”.
That is 1/8 of an inch, almost a third narrower.
This may sound minimal but it does make a difference.
Hardi board is 1/8 inch (one third) thinner than cedar wood siding.
That means that there is less of a shadow line. Shadow lines are extremely important on all architecture for they play with the light and create the character and interest that makes old buildings interesting.
A question I have is if hardiboard was created to replace wood siding then why is it a different thickness and shape? Well the shape may have something to do with how it is manufactured and I don’t think that makes a great difference but I would expect hardi to have the same thickness.
Product versus Thickness
- Cedar siding and shingles 7/16
- Hardi Shingle 4/16
- Hardi Plank 5/16
- Hardi Artisan Lap clapboard 10/16 UPDATE: Artisan is no longer offered.
There is a trick using hardiboard to make a thin board appear thicker. Using a wider board make the reveal less and because the hardiboard has square ends the overlap will be greater.
Remember that most old homes have a clapboard and shingle reveal of 4.25 to 4.5 inches wide.
There are many styles of wood siding. Check out the Ultimate Guide to Wood Siding here .
If you are in the market for wood siding, don’t stop here, there is a ton of information out there that you still need to know. Here is one on Recreating Historic Siding With Modern Materials.
Wood clapboard provides so much more character created by the shadow-lines of thicker wood.
You should read this: The above image is taken from a National Park Service, Preservation Briefs 16_ The Use of Substitute Materials on Historic Building Exteriors
Hardiboard Has a Fake Texture
Do you fall for that fake wood grain?
Real wood clapboard is smooth and does not have this texture.
Only vinyl siding has it. If you don’t know this then I guess you have never seen real wood.
The reason is to make the simple-minded believe it looks like real wood.
Hardiboard SHOULD BE replicating real wood siding not vinyl siding!
Well the good news is that hardiboard also comes with a smooth finish. Smooth is what you should ALWAYS use.
Haridboard offers a fake texture to replicate vinyl siding. NEVER use this. This is meant to fool the simple-minded consumer.
Installation Mistakes
If using hardiboard one must be aware of the mistakes that can be made. Some contractors are so accustomed to installing vinyl siding that they do not understand that wood siding and hardiboards are installed differently than vinyl. What I mean is that when using wood siding, the window casing which is about 1” thick is first installed. The wood siding then butts up against that casing.
Window casing is installed First before siding. Siding then must butt up against casing.
This is wrong! Siding must butt up against the window casing. Never under it like vinyl.
The above is hardiboard. When vinyl siding is installed, the siding is first installed and then a thin vinyl casing is installed around the window ON TOP OF the vinyl siding. This is so wrong and many times hardiboard is being installed the same way . This just means that you the homeowner need to be the educated consumer. The example above was done to specifications of an architect (Bach & Clark LLC)!
Even Curious George does it right!
Hardiboard siding can affect the design of your home. When using wood siding the outside corners can be left with an edge. With hardiboard the outside corners need trim.
Painting Hardiboard and Wood Siding
Hardieboard siding is not bad but just understand that if you want to either be authentic or have the best curb appeal, cedar wood siding is your answer. From the street however, you will not notice the difference.
There are many benefits to using hardiboard but websites sometimes provide false information to promote hardiboard siding. One big mistake they make is saying that paint will last 15 years on hardiboard siding and only 3-5 years on cedar wood siding. This is dead wrong. If there is a huge paint build up your paint will peel. However if you remove all the paint from your original wood siding you will get that 15 plus years too. Click here for an article on Why Paint Peels . Some painters have a paint shaver that removes the old paint and will not hurt the wood. I had this done to my house to get more of a life out of a paint job.
Over 100 years of paint is removed to insure the new paint will last 15+ years. Why would anyone remove this wood?
I get many emails from homeowners saying they plan to remove their vinyl siding . I think that’s great. Then they go on to say they will install hardieboard siding. Why in the world would you throw money away when you already have wood siding on your house! If your siding is old then it’s from old growth wood and that wood is like iron. Don’t waste it!
Some Other Points
Some other points to keep in mind when considering a siding is that wood is a natural insulator. Hardiboard which is a cement product will hold the cold like a freezer. Hardi is promoted as being durable due to its cement content and is therefore resistant to termites and other pests. But so is cedar. That said it is more likely that termites would infest the wood behind the hardiplank or cedar where the wood can remain damp. A big plus however is that the fiber cement will not ignite when exposed to direct flame or extreme heat. It has been rated for fire resistance rated construction.
Again, hardiboard siding is an OK product and should be thought of as a second option to cedar wood siding. If your building is historic then you should stick with cedar wood siding. Manufacturers and contractors aggressively promote hardiboard and sometimes may neglect to mention some of the things covered in this article.
Check for yourself. First drive around in a more middle class neighborhood then go to an up-scale neighborhood. There you should find real wood unless the homeowner is parvenu.(those having new money but lack the necessary refinement)
Great points, old house guy! I was a palled by the fake wood grain on hardy board when looking at products for our build. I was happy to find that they make a flat board, which is what real milled wood looks like, but you wouldn’t believe how many people (Hardie salespeople, my contractor) try to point you in the direction of the fake wood grain. I started to wonder if I was crazy until I posted on Houzz and had some architects agree with me wholeheartedly.
The other thing that I guess isn’t specific to hearty but it’s pretty common now is that contractors want to use the wider boards because they are cheaper to install and take less material. Lucky for me, my architect had specified a 4 inch reveal for my “farmhouse “style house , and the contractor was stuck with his original quote. Again, he tried to talk me into the idea that there is no difference. You were instrumental to helping me understand that there is a huge difference in clapboard reveal for different styles of home. I couldn’t be more happy with the final product.
My final beef with Hardie is that since it doesn’t need to be painted after installation, and comes only in a handful of pre-painted colors, the landscape is now filled with neighborhood upon neighborhood with the exact same color scheme. Factory white trim with either tan, gray, or blue clapboards are the predominant choices. For this reason, and also because of the “farmhouse” look we were going for I chose white on white, and although I wanted to it was too expensive at the time to paint it. I can’t wait until the budget allows and I can have a beautifully PAINTED house, whether we keep it all white or go for something else.
Oops I do know “appalled” is the correct word. Voice to text is not my friend
I haven’t thought much about the reveal. I’m building a new home and trying my best to keep it “old” looking as much as possible. The design is French Creole. I have had limited success in finding information on this style home. What is suggested for the siding reveal on a creole home? Also, undecided about the roofing material. Older homes had metal/tin roofs, more recent one had singles.
My question is what is the opinion on the very best product to put on freshly installed rough cut red cedar siding and shack. I’ve taken off the old 30 year siding which was ate up with bee wholes.. for 30 years I put a CWF UV coat on it.this was applied about every 3-5 years after a bleach wash . I would like to know what’s the latest and greatest stuff..
My experience with painting old wood, even wood stripped free of paint, is that 15 years is a pipe dream. But, I’ve never had cedar siding, so perhaps it lasts that long.
As for the issue of textured hardiboard, it isn’t intended to replicate the look of new wood siding, but of weathered wood siding. This it does well, although it is a more honest look to make a new house look new,c rather than old.
Jenn- would you be willing to post a photo of your white on white house? I am intrigued. We have a 1959 split level ranch in a suburb of NYC. We have the same repetitive color schemes, in our neighborhoods, that you mentioned. Right now we have old, tired, off white vinyl siding but we are heading toward a reno. I do appreciate a clean, classic white!
I was going to use Hardie on my circa 1980’s garage. The house is 1908, cedar sided. I think I will go cedar on the garage, after reading this. Thanks!
Other differences with cement board siding is that it requires a fine diamond edge sawblade and creates a lot of fine dust when cut, so at least a dust mask should be worn when installing it, plus it can hold in moisture, so must be installed with a rainscreen to allow any trapped moisture to escape. A standard layer of housewrap or building paper is not sufficient. These factors adds to the cost of installation, so the cost differential between cedar and cement board can be negligible.
Hardieboard will probably last as long as those old asbestoes shingles on your house, or around 80 years, as long as it isn’t struck by an object and cracks. However, you will not be able to use a paint shaver to remove the layers of old paint in the decades ahead, so chose your colors carefully.
Could you explain (with photographs of each please) what you mean here:
“When using wood siding the outside corners can be left with an edge. With hardiboard the outside corners need trim.”
Thank you!
Look at a vinyl sided house and notice the corners of the house have a plastic trim to match the house. This is required on a vinyl house where it is an option on a wood house.
How would one add trim or cornerboard to original wood siding that goes all the way to the corner- in other words, with no opportunity to butt the siding against the trim (unless you cut back the siding vertically by the width of the trim)?
I really don’t think you can unless you cut out the siding.
My old house built 1940 has asbestos siding, but I discovered underneath is the original wood clapboard. Not sure what to do, meanwhile it’s sister house has been bought by a young kid who is tearing up all the original wood. Sickens me.
Wondering if hardiboard could be used to cover the asbestos or tear it off and restore the original wood?
Tear it off and expose the original wood.
I live in South Florida, and currently have Cedar siding on my house. The sun, heat, and humidity do a number on my siding. Every year I have to replace multiple boards that are rotting. It is an ongoing maintenance project. Can anyone tell me whether Hardie board would help eliminate some of these maintenance issues?
I have also been considering replacing all of the boards on one side of the house at a time. Will it be super noticeable if I don’t do the entire house all at once?
Thanks for any recommendations!
Hardiboard is slightly thinner than clapboard so yes it will be noticable if you patch with it.
I also live in Florida (central) i ended up having to change from ceder to hardiboard due to the rotting and humidity. I did the hole house. Hardi and stucco. Mo maintenance issues sp far
As I understand it, the new lead paint removal “guidelines” have made shaving (maybe even heat burning) the clabbered house a huge expense. I have heard that the regulators gloss over the cost as an issue. It can be done, but it is very expensive. I am assuming that is why this site defaults to Hardiplank rather than stripping and doing a quality paint job. I just want to emphasize that I am 100% behind a zero lead exposure world. It is catastrophic, for children and all of us. I just wanted to see if my assumptions were correct, and, for the folks wha can afford the new rules for stripping, I am so happy they chose to do it, and really enjoy looking at their finished jobs. Thank you for your website, and all the links to preservation and conservation sites.
Can you offer any advice on how to effectively remove paint from cedar shingles please? Ours was painted by a previous owner and is peeling off. Looks horrible and I’d like to get it back to bare cedar if possible. TIA
The only thing you can do would be to have it sanded off.
You could try a heat gun. Chemical strippers can also work some but they typically only remove one or two coats of paint at a time and require several applications and are very messy to deal with.
Depending on what type of shingles you have, sanding could change their frontal appearance and will reduce the thickness of the shingles some. It’s best to use solid stains on shingles rather than paint in my 40 years experience as a house painter in the northwest.
I have an apartment building (built in 1924) with asbestos siding on half of it and cedar siding on the other side. The cedar siding needs painting (although the last paint job lasted a good 15 years). I’m thinking of replacing the cedar with hardi. I have about 3500 square feet to cover. Can I go over the top of the cedar siding, or do I need to tear all the cedar off? Is there a better product than hardi? Do you recommend the hardi shingles (a slightly closer match to the asbestos)?
Why try to match to something bad like asbestos? Remove the asbestos and paint the siding. Why replace it with hardi when you have wood?
How does LP Smartsude (smooth) compare to the look of cedar. I read it’s closer in thickness to cedar. It’s not tapered, but I don’t know what difference that would make.
We have semi-transparent stain on our cedar siding. We are planing to repaint the house now after eight years. The contractor told us that we should consider solid stain(last 8 years) or paint since semi-transparent stain will only last 5 years. We don’t want to use paint but not sure if we should consider solid stain.
Not sure but my paint job lasted 11 years. I had the paint removed so hoping for at least 15 years.
I’m in the process of removing the vinyl siding on our 1958 ranch. There is only one layer of paint on the underlying cedar. I love the idea of restoring the cedar but am concerned about all the nail holes. What is the best process and product for filling the nail holes?
We also have two large original wood windows (both direct set picture with two awning windows underneath) , but the rest of the seven windows in the house were replaced with vinyl.
A contractor is proposing he removes the cedar around the replacement windows to the nearest butt joint so new wood windows can be installed to match the originals, then puts new moisture barrier and cedar up where the boards were removed. Does this sound like a reasonable endeavor?
Thanks
Hi Bryan – What he plans to do sounds right. I’m not versed in construction though. As for the nail holes just use caulk. The paint should do the rest. It’s great you’re removing the vinyl!
People need to read carefully the installation instructions for concrete siding, as I have rarely seen it correctly done as the specifics make for terrible esthetics. Specifically, leaving 1/4″ gaps between boards and at ends to allow for expansion and then must be back flashed and caulked. As well, your are supposed to stay 2″ off roofs, sills etcetera. I can not believe you would even consider this product.
Didn’t know that. I only looked for the aesthetics.
I have a 30 year old contemporary cedar house . In the 60’s it was popular to add interest to houses by attaching the cedar boards on an angle.. Where this siding touches the shingles water has cohesed past the flashing. The contractor wants to replace that side (3 stories) with Hardiboard. That side does not face the street and you only see it when coming to the house from the north. How much more expensive would it be to use cedar? The original cedar was beveled and I understand the flat look of hardboard. (I agree the patterned is ghastly).
Marge
I don’t know the prices.
We are purchasing a 1977, cedar sided contemporary, one story, with an angled roof line. It currently has vertical cedar siding (in need of repair, lots of termite and water damage)… hardie board, engineered wood or pay the extra for cedar?
You may only need to replace a few boards with wood and that way it would cost less than replacing everything with Hardi. You can’t mix the two for you will see the difference. I would really like to know why Hardi cannot make a true to size replacement for wood!
If you get Hardi – make sure you get the smooth surface.
Having lost a house in a fire, I’d prefer siding that burns. Most house fires start inside the house. If the siding burns, the fire has a way to move out of the house. If it can’t, it moves through the house, meaning more of the house is destroyed. We lost a house to a house fire and we were told by the fire department and our insurer that the old, asbestos siding locked the fire in the house and contributed to a flash-over, which destroyed the whole house.
If you live in an area with a possibility of brush fires (e.g., California), I can see wanting fire-resistant siding. But if you are anywhere else, I suspect Hardie siding would function much the same as asbestos siding and lock the fire in, increasing the temperature in the house, and allowing everything else in the house to catch on fire to. Just my perspective.
Wow – never would have thought that.
We have a roughly 35-year-old house with an exposed side that faces west in a salt water beach environment. Takes the brunt of a lot of storms. In trying to make what looked like some small repairs for water damage, the contractor discovered widespread rot among painted cedar shingles on the west side. He hasn’t examined the other 3, more protected sides. Said cedar isn’t used anymore in our community and suggested replacing with a synthetic plank. Wears better. But our cedar planks are 4″; synthetic are 6″. He said we could replace everything with 6″ when it’s time. I normally prefer natural materials, but houses take a beating with weather there. Also, I question how to marry a 4″ with a 6″ at the corners.
Any thoughts?
I must be doing something wrong. In almost everything I discuss I warn readers “Let the Buyer Beware” for most of the information they will get from contractors is wrong. Did you read anything on my website? Why would you listen to him? Contractors and realtors are saying to paint your natural woodwork on the inside and open up your kitchen and replace your windows. Evidently he does not know anything and you should not use him. This is very obvious and is a theme of everything on my website.
We have a 1920s home with cedar shake on top level and cedar clapboard on main floor. My husband recently started removing clapboard so we can insulate. We are debating Hardie installation, keeping cedar shake on top and painting all to match. I’m saddened by the removal of cedar but house needed insulation. What is the cost of replacing with new cedar vs Hardie? I’ve heard cedar is insane with tariffs right now.
I have no idea of the prices. You will need to contact a contractor – I am NOT a contractor. Be careful insulating an old house. You may be getting yourself into a big mess. Insulating houses can be toxic
cedar versus hardiboard
We purchased a 1958 cedar sided ranch over a year ago. It has all the original Anderson double hung windows, and lead paint. I have been stripping and refinishing inside and out. The exterior shingle siding has 61 years of paint, cracking and chipping, flaking. Lots of paint, lead as well. The north side of the exterior is in decent shape, some scraping and repairs. The south side and gable ends are in need of more extensive repairs, curling and split shingles, pulling away from the house. I hate to rip the house apart, but I don’t see another option. The house has nice moulding and copper caps on top of the moulding at the corners that has been painted, they painted everything. Is new cedar my only option? Thanks
Cedar siding can last forever if properly maintained. The sun does a job on them and some sides need more frequent painting. You probably need to have it replaced. I had to replace my south side resulting from lack of maintenance by previous homeowners.
Old House guy, I am replacing the soffit,fascia and siding planks on back of my 30 year old red rough cut cedar home. I have cleaned the cedar shake with bleach and water.. I need to know the best stain to put on all the wood for best color saver and wood protection.. I live in the south so the sun is hot and strong.. I’ve used a CWF UV clear coat for 30 years I want to know what is the best stuff out on the market these days..
Sorry I don’t know. Contact a good paint manufacturer and they will know.
Regarding cedar clapboards and how long paint lasts, we removed all of our old, mismatched and peeling clapboards from our 1740+/- home and installed new cedar clapboards to the whole house many years ago. The clapboards were pre-
primed. We painted the house ourselves and the paint lasted a good 10 years, no peeling, just some fading. Just completed the second paint job after an additional 12 years with same issues: fading but no peeling. It looks great, we get tons of compliments. I’m thinking we could do this every 10-15 years for a long time if we lived that long! We’re in the northeast with typical northeast seasons.
Why did you replace them? Were they rotted beyond repair or where they just old with paint build up? You could have made repairs and just sanded off the peeling paint. It seems that you just want your house to look new. Clapboards were frequently mismatched back then for they were hand cut. If you really needed to replace them they should be mismatched like the originals. 1740 is a very historic house. It seems like you destroyed all the character of a very old building. That old growth wood which is impossible to get today is now replaced. Almost 300 years and all gone – so sad! Please don’t buy anymore historic homes. You would probably take a tarnished chandelier and spray paint it gold.
He is correct for it will not look good. You say that the paint is peeling badly and that is very costly – how do you know that? who told you that? It is normal to have peeling paint and for that paint to be scraped and sanded. It sounds like this is just an excuse to convince yourself not have to do normal preparation on your wood. I also see that you are a contractor posting a fake question in order to boost your page by having your website attached to this post.
We have vertical pine boards (original to our house built 1989). They are 3 inches wide and tongue and groove I believe. It is hard to find replacement boards and hard to find carpenters who can do the work. Most is in decent condition except trim corners and the side with our chimney which has significant rot – it is more exposed. We have gotten quotes from painters and carpenters. It will cost $8000 to paint and replace rotten boards (with pine) and we’ve been told paint should last 5 years minimum. We do not have significant paint build up, but did see paint peeling around year 3-4 last time we painted. Possibly because it is pine?
We are trying to decide if we should continue to maintain the pine or replace with Hardiboard smooth board and batten. Will pine last if we maintain it? I am having trouble with the idea of pulling off all of the wood, but also am concerned about having to paint every 3-5 years. We are in a humid climate (nc). If you are willing to weigh in on if this particular wood siding from 1989 is worth maintaining as well I’d appreciate it!
3-5 years is crazy. Talk to a paint store. Something is wrong. You should get at least 10. The wood must be primed with an oil based primer. Maybe too much insulation?
That’s the case with my house–I have to repaint every 3-5 years with lots of rotten boards (DC area gets very humid). Painters charge about $10-12K each time (not to replace boards but cut out the rot and use bondo. The seams then rot over a few years. Considering pulling it all off for hardie.
Do not use Bondo – so many people use it. Read this. https://thecraftsmanblog.com/6-reasons-not-to-use-bondo-as-a-wood-filler/ The house must be prepped very well before painting. Any peeling wood must be sanded down to clean wood and then primed with an oil based primer and two coats of latex paint. If the walls of the house are not insulated properly or overly insulated that can trap moisture and be a cause of peeling paint. Insulation can really do a number on a house.
one more point – pine was like iron 100 years ago and today it is like cardboard. Never use pine!
Hi! I recently purchased and moved into an 1894 Victorian in South Jersey and your blog has been super helpful! Thank you for your efforts! So my home has old Transite (cement/asbestos) siding. I know that in this form the asbestos is inert and not hazardous unless one is cutting or drilling into it. Several people (including a vinyl siding contractor) have told me this is great siding and rather than replacing it I should simply have the broken pieces replaced with the modern silica equivalent and then repaint. What are your thoughts in this? I know it’s possible (even likely) that the original wood siding is underneath. Should I strip the siding off someday and restore the wood siding (if it’s under there) or should I stick with this type of siding that’s on there. Even though it’s not original it is still historic in its own right and my understanding is it can go years without needing repainting. Any thoughts?
Hi – yes he was correct. This siding will last forever! The only problem is that it is very thin and the boards are wide. Clapboard and shingles are thicker and show about 4-5 inch reveal so the current siding on your house appears flat. For the best appearance you would need to remove it. Yes it is historic and part of the evolution of the house but the curb appeal is compromised.
See if your contractor can do some investigation to be sure the original wood is still there. If it were my house even if the original wood was not there I would still replace the asbestos due to the flat appearance. If a cost issue maybe just do the front.
Thanks very much for your response. That makes total sense. I’m definitely going try to find out if the old wood siding is under there. While the current siding does have some remarkable properties just the fact that it contains asbestos brings down the home value as well. I see what you mean about the flatness and curb appeal and also from a home value perspective it would probably be wise to restore the wood siding or put some on (if the original is not there) at some point. Thanks again.
Thank you for giving us a direct and straight to the point answer! It greatly helped in clearing our confusion.
Your content is nothing short of brilliant in many ways. I think this is engaging and eye-opening material. Thank you so much for caring about your content and your readers. 😉💖
“Why would anyone remove this wood?”
If anyone is so inclined, chances are the problem isn’t the wood, it’s the paint. From Roman times until our fathers’ and grandfathers’ times, builders used lead-based paint. Lead has anti-microbial properties. Nowadays, even if you buy the best most expensive paint available, properly prime the wood it and use 2-3 top coats, you still are likely to see microbial activity (mildew etc) after a few years, if you live in any area that gets hot humid weather. That has been my experience, anyway, with real cedar siding. The wood won’t rot, but man it’ll start looking ugly especially on the north side of the house.
Where I live (Maryland), many houses in traditional old neighborhoods were built of brick or stone. Not the modern lick and stick of course, but real laid up brick and stone. The imitation stone on new houses looks even more fake than the imitation wood, if that’s possible. In my opinion, all things considered, Hardie products are the best of several bad alternatives if you insist on a traditional “look”. Even better would be to evolve with the times, ditch the traditional look, and go with truly modern design and construction methods. Galvanized metal siding, maybe, or concrete. For new construction, that is.
I have also been considering replacing all of the boards on one side of the house at a time. Will it be super noticeable if I don’t do the entire house all at once?
Thanks for any recommendations!
Try to match it to the original and you should be ok however the original siding is by far the best.
Great site – I have a two story 1970 house. I love the old stained cedar. I have owned the house 20 yrs and stained twice. we removed a deck last year and some of the siding where the deck was attached between garage and house was damaged, also had a reno with some venting changed and cedar has cracked in those areas that were modified. Some bird damage as well. Overall much of the siding is as hard as rock. South side has some wear as I live in Alberta but very low humidity area relatively. I tried to get siding contractors to do a patch, most don’t want to do a small job. I have found one company that suggests replacing the entire back of house with hardie. Said cost would be 8500 vs 15,000 as cedar is VERY expensive now. I saw a private ad for a client offering to sell his cedar siding but I also read that is it very difficult to recover old cedar as it splits upon removal? I think I might need to continue searching for someone that would replace 5 or 6 boards with Cedar but I am sure it is considered a too small a job for many. The siding company also said the new cedar is nowhere near as good as the stuff from 30-40 years ago, and you did confirm that. I am back to square one I guess. I was ready to go hardie this morning but your site has changed my mind back to where my original thinking was..
Beware of the salesperson. Most people work on Automatic Pilot. This means the work like a monkey. They just do what they always do. Remove the old siding and add new siding. They scare homeowners into going their way. Look for a handyman that is local. Ask some neighbors. It seems that you just need some minor fixes. No need to replace and waste all the money. Keep on looking and you will find someone that cares. Best of luck!
Ken
We have been working on a few old houses lately rewiring them, and we have seen both Hardi wood and cedar wood used to add to the there exterior decor. Both look really good but im a bigger fan of the cedar, for sure!
Thanks for the article, great info!
We do a lot of electrical installations in old style buildings, i love the old wooden beams and the wooden decor it is amazing in these old buildings. Thanks for the article it is great reading.
James from 247 Electric
Will it be super noticeable if I don’t do the entire house all at once?
Thanks for any recommendations!
Good question. It may be more costly to do it in segments. I would see if I could make a deal doing a section every 6 months and paying in installments. Depending on the house I would think you an do one side and save the other for later. The issue is having an open end I would think. Has anyone here experiences this? Any advice?
It really depends on the house. Doing it at once should cost less.
I’m planning to switch to Hardi board. Is it worth it?
Switch? You mean just remove your heart-grown wood and get new siding needlessly? What a very bad financial decision. The only reason to use hardi is if you are removing vinyl and for some strange reason the original wood siding was removed. Repair you wood siding and maintain it and it will last hundreds of years.
We live in a Sears home from 1930. This site has been a valuable tool, but I wish I’d found it a bit sooner! The previous homeowner was repainting one side of the home each year— meaning his painting was lasting four years. I think he somehow enjoyed this and kept to a schedule. We were able to get six years with my husband first stripping all the paint off of the cedar shingles and then priming/painting. Unfortunately, I think if we’d found your site first we may have been able to get longer times on three sides of our home. The climate here in the Chicago area is humid in summers and quite cold in winters and the eastward side of our home did terribly in direct sunlight with those weather conditions. We solved the problem with Hardy shingle siding. I’m sure, unfortunately, we did compromise some of the curb appeal (however in old age the curb appeal would also be compromised by cedar shingles not being repainted and getting broken over time— that was our thought). Not sure if you’ve seen an entire home done in Hardy shingle — most in our area just use it as an accent due to cost — but it kept our home’s appearance as close to original as possible that is what we did. Our main goal was not repainting that one side of our home every 4-6 years and hopefully not repainting at all someday once we cannot climb ladders. I think/hope we retained a little more curb appeal than if we’d switched to regular hardy plank. If you answer questions (not sure if you do), we lost our crown molding (I’m still most saddened by this) and I’m wondering if you’ve ever seen crown molding on a Hardy home (like can I put it back?). Our crown molding was in terrible shape and would have needed replacement anyway due to rotting and being 90+ years old. Now we have trim plus a more modern square molding under the roof at our gables — correctly installed per my architect family members — but it has less charm. Thanks for this lovely and informative site you maintain!!
Hi – I have heard others say they only got 5 years out of a paint job. That is not acceptable! First, for example if you use Sherwin Williams paint, they can have a representative come to your house and check the new paint and what is below it. Also some houses are over insulated today or should I say old houses have had too much insulation installed. This prevents air circulation inside your walls and moisture is unable to escape. Another cause is poor preparation. Peeling paint must be scraped off but the wood under that must be sanded down to nice clean new looking wood. An oil based primer goes on next. Also where the bare wood meets the existing paint should be sanded making it smooth or that old paint will soon peel off. If wood is very dry from the sun paint thinner and linseed oil can be brushed on – a few coats to moisten the wood before priming. I was complaining I got 11 years out of a paint job so I had all the paint shaved off down to bare wood. Time will tell.
ANYWAY – enough of my rant. You can add crown molding or bed molding back where it was. One issue is that different products expand and contract in different ways. I don’t know about the hardi. First read this page https://www.oldhouseguy.com/classic-moldings/ This is a company that offers trim that best matches what was there. https://www.kuikenbrothers.com/products/residential/moulding/ I had a piece missing on one side of my gable so I had it custom duplicated. The cost was about $200 for about 10 ft. from what I recall made out of mahogany. So bottom line, yes that trim makes a huge difference but you need to do some work on what you would find acceptable to replace it with. Just make sure that it is primed and painted on all sides BEFORE installation and the end-cuts are well sealed with paint. Best of luck!