I had the house Covered and treated for termites. I need to replace the siding on the 2nd story. ITs an area that I have worked on before, but now the termites should be dead. ANd we are going to remove the siding, repair any studs, and anything else, and replace the siding.

Last time, I replaced with regular PINE SHIP LAP, or TONGUE and GROOVE., but they make this product called Hardie Board, that will overlap, and is suppose to be termite proof. So the termites will eat everything else I suppose.

Any recommendations for Siding? ANyone used Hardie Board?

SHould I conside VInyl?

Have a handy man cousin that will do the work.

Hardie Board is waterproof and almost everything proof. I saw a bottle on the supply house managers desk that had a small piece of hardie board inside it, filled with water and it has been there for years with no saturation.

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Our last house was built with LP siding, which ended up having all kinds of problems. A few years after purchasing it, we got our money from the class action lawsuit with LP and replaced it with HardiePlank. It is a concrete composite siding. No problems at all with it afterwards. There are other forms of composite siding now available, so Hardie is not the only option. I have no problems recommending it, however.

Make sure your cousin is certified to install this. If I remember correctly (and I may not, b/c that was about 8 years ago), if you just "do it yourself" and it is installed improperly, the warranty may not be valid if you end up having any problems.

Hardie board is a fiber cement material. I have used the 4' x 8' x 1/4" version and it comes in other formats also. It cuts with a special one tooth blade because of the dust problem.
It paints well and doesn't expand and contract like the plywood siding. It's used extensively on the northern California coast to replace wood siding and in new construction.

What was on there originally? If it's an old house, pre-50's, or has any interesting design features I'd urge going back to original condition. My house is mid 20's, had been repaired with horrible T11 on a couple sides. I ripped that crap off and used cedar siding and cedar shakes. How long to you plan to stay there?

My 1951 home's wooden siding is original and is giving up the ghost. I've been looking at Hardiboard for years and am going to go with that when the time comes. I have yet to hear of anyone who's used it who has anything bad to say about it.

Hardie Board is good stuff. Used it in the redo of my BBQ island. It had hardie board with travertine over it (bad idea from original house owner). The hardie board held up great in 120+ temps, rain, wind, etc.. in So Cal desert, the travertine -- not so much (cracks from expanding/contracting cycles). Redid BBQ island aluminum framing, proper framing it every 16" and cladding with hardie board backer and faux stone. Also as underlayment for tile top.

We put Hardie Board siding on over ten years ago. Best product we've ever purchased for our house. We have not had to paint in that time. It's really a great product, and you can get it in many styles that will complement any architectural style.

Didn't we have some kind of forum connection to Hardie Backer? Like, someone's uncle invented it?

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