Yes, My 20 year old home was sided with pre-painted Hardi. As I noted in an earlier post, it wore very well and finally received a coat of paint 4 years ago. I don't know how many colors it comes in but mine was a soft tan. When a added an outside garage, my contractor was unable to find the same color. He switched to an alternate brand of siding that did match.

I have a new project in the works, and that led me to a product that is relatively unkown.

Everlast. It has all of the benefits of fiber cement, perhaps minus fire resistance. It has other benefits beyond fiber cement as well.

Material is more expensive, labor is less, so in the end it's a rough wash. I'm currently doing 50 squares plus Versatex trim/soffit/fascia. Vinylmax Newton windows, Provia doors.

We resided our house with the LP Smartside siding three years ago. Looks great. Just make sure the installer puts paint on all the cut surfaces and caulks the ends.

I put pre-painted Hardi on my house about 8 years ago. In fact three of us re-sided all our houses ourselves. Lots of dust cutting and we also painted the cut ends just to make sure they were sealed. Also made sure to put some felt paper behind the joints. After 8 years aside from a little fading from the sun it looks brand new. Will get painted before we sell but there is zero damage or chipping anywhere. Really impressed with the product.

I did my carhole in LP Smartside. I read about the issues and the general caution seemed to be to prime and paint all cuts and don't overdrive nails. Seems to be okay after a couple of years. I choose it mostly cuz of cost and and no need to buy special tools.

Also, I left some cut pieces in the driveway amd yard with unprimed cuts and they seem to have held up surprisingly well. I recently took some pieces for a small project and it seems fine after a couple years of lying around. Only one piece that was sitting on its edge was trimmed, and I still coulda probably used it if I didn't care about a little swelling that could probably be sealed with primer. I don't thinks it looks as nice as the Hardie lap siding but they do seem to have fixed the delam issues.

Another vote for Hardi board siding. Part of house 2005 & rest of it in sections 2010 & 2014. Can't tell the difference between aged sections....except the need to recalk the end joints. First installer used wrong stuff, it shrank a bit.

Anticipate painting for first time, whole house next spring.

I'm an outlier: installed pre-painted LP SmartSiding on a new construction home in 2015. Was well aware of the fiasco of LP's previous product, but the builders and primary construction material supplier in Western MT have generally had a better experience with LP vs Hardie. Material supplier sells both, so they win either way.
So far it looks like the day it was installed in 2015, but it's only been 5 years.

LP pre-painting is done at regional fabricators across the country, so the quality of the pre-paint is dependent upon the specific pre-painting factory. The Northwest Finishes Factory in Bonner MT facility uses Akzo Nobel paint that has roots in the auto industry - and carries a 30 year limited warranty on finish.

Don't have a pic of the house, but it's the same LP SMart Siding as I used on my shop

This message has been edited. Last edited by: aileron,

aileron,

Your comments I found quite interesting. There are only two "certified" Hardi-Plank installers in my general area. Repuaible firms for sure but still a very limited choice. LP Smartside is shown as the preferred material by quite a few more siding contractors. Again many quite reputable.

I haven't asked for quotes yet but online sites discussing various materials invariably show the cost and labor for the LP SmartSide as significantly less than the Hardi-Plank.

Was that your experience when getting quotes from your local contractors?
I know you're 7 hours WNW from me and therefore in a different market, but still....

We had Hardi plank installed on our place 15 years ago and it still looks almost new. Ours was factory painted (baked on) and guaranteed for 25 years. Looks like it will make it. I am very pleased with it.

Assessor wrapped up a lengthy afternoon visit. Extensive hail damage to siding, roof, windows, decks, etc. He would have been here sooner but for the snow storm we had earlier this week. Today the snow had all melted away and temps were in the high 60s.

Mentioned he had a claim just a few miles south of me at Hart Ranch where the Hardie-Plank took tea cup sized hail (3 to 4") unlike my neighborhood which had 2" hail. The Hardie had impact craters of several inches. Apparently no siding is hail proof!

I have Hardi on my house and garage / carport which was built in 2002. It came primed then I laid it all out and put one coat of paint on it (a job just handling, painting, and putting it on shelves to dry). After installing the Hardi it was caulked and the second coat of paint was applied on the way down with their scaffolding. I've since painted it twice and it's in great condition and certainly holds paint far better than wood siding. It doesn't seem to allow moisture from behind to wick through lifting the paint over time, like wood siding often does especially if installed right against plywood or house wrap.




For my motorcycle room / shop built last year I was planning on using Hardi again but the builder I spoke with showed me a product they were using on a home they were finishing up. I thought it was Hardi but it was Celect by Royal. https://www.royalbuildingprodu...Latte&type=homeowner
He said the product itself was more expensive than Hardi (which they have been using for years) but the installed cost is the same because it's a little easier to install and there's no painting. They REALLY like it and had already used it on a couple homes. The finish is much longer lasting than any paint, it completely interlocks together, sides and ends, so no gapping and unlike Hardi it's inherently water proof. It also adds some R value. There are some tricks to installing it correctly so a representative from Royal came to their first home to walk them through the installation.
I ended up using it on the shop and certainly like it so far. Not hail but my friend (a retired builder) and I were out there and saw a wind guest catch my partially opened 42" steel door slamming the door back against the siding. He couldn't believe the knob didn't dent, crack, or even scratch the siding, so the stuff is pretty tuff. Unlike Hardi you're limited to their factory colors so I picked the closest one to my house color and when the house needs painted again I'll match the paint to my shop siding. If my house burned down and I had to have a new one built I think I would go with Celect on it.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
aileron,

Was that your experience when getting quotes from your local contractors?
I know you're 7 hours WNW from me and therefore in a different market, but still....

This was a new home, and my GC did the siding himself. He told me that he'd use Hardie if I insisted, but it might be another $4-5K by time it was installed., and thought we'd be happier with the two-color paint Black Hills LP Smart Siding product. An advantage was all the trim, battens and corners were available pre-finished with the same paint system. Not every market gets the bi-color option, as it has to go through the finishing line twice; once for each color. The roller transfer puts the darker color on top of the lighter color - the battens were smart siding trim with just the lighter filed color applied, but the corners match the 2-color siding. This is, in essence, single stage car paint with the flex additive and is incredibly hard and durable. Less than pre-finished Hardie, long lengths and 3 widths, and matching trim. Here is the finishing vendor; it looks like they have distribution for LP ColorStrand in SD.

http://northwestfactoryfinishe...artside-colorstrand/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: aileron,

My shed was built with Hardi Board in Feb. 2011. Other than needing pressure washed it still looks like it did when built.