I sided my house with Hardi Panel and also used Hardi Soffit and their trim boards a few years ago and found the results to be disappointing. You have to be ever so careful not to allow and edges to be exposed to continuous moisture. It has to be above grade or or it will absorb moisture. It also has to be protected around spigots and gutters to make sure it is never exposed to continual dampness. The trim boards will also absorb moisture if cut ends are left exposed.

That Hardi Soffit has been a nightmare. It's behaves like drywall and nails want to pull through it and I have had to fix it numerous times until I used a metal strip with the nails to support it. If you want something animal resistant, I recommend using metal soffit.

Hardi products do have good uses in the right environments. It's very fire resistant if you live in a dry area. It can allow you to get a house up and closed in very quickly and it does resist termites. But, don't use it where there is continual dampness. Perhaps they will come up with some kind of additive to make Hardi products completely water repellant through and through. That would certainly make them more useful.

Thank you for posting your experience with fiber cement materials.  That confirms my thoughts also.

Posted By Alton on 15 Feb 2014 10:18 AM
Thank you for posting your experience with fiber cement materials.  That confirms my thoughts also.

Alton,
My experience too, including Fibercement SIP skins become soft and pliable when they get too wet.

Maybe there is a difference between actual moisture on it and continual dampness. I've had Hardie soffits up for a couple years now which means two Pacific Northwest winters and they are doing fine. Still haven't painted or caulked the cut edges and there is no problem.

James Hardie cement board siding has been around for years, it started getting popular in west michigan about 12 years ago. I have been installing the product since it got popular. When it first became a "big thing" here in Michigan they did not have any install requirements. Then all these silly rules started coming along in order to help make the product last. Things like 2" gaps at roofing, 1/4" gaps above any trim, flashing behind butt joins and 6" minimum from grade. With all the requirement I noticed that the product did hold up better than without the install rules however in my opinion it is still an inferior product. Before I start criticizing the product I will give you a little background information on the manufacture. In the late 1930's James hardie came out with asbestos based products with the knowledge of the health risk, but supplied it anyway. It was the cats meow cause it was so strong but came with a great chance of health issues including death from cancer causing fibers getting lodged in the lungs. Since then they have removed asbestos but replaced it with silica. Silica can be found in almost all concrete based products however when put in a product that must be cut repeatedly, it posses a great health risk to installers. It has been studied and proven that silica dust has cancer causing properties. As far as longevity goes, I will not stand behind the product. I watch this product fail in almost every exterior application. Although it is very easy to install and pays a lot more than a vinyl product, I still feel obligated to inform homeowners of it's faults. It is basically drywall/Sheetrock for exterior use. If you pick it up wrong, it will break. If you drop it, it will break. Most people think cause it is concrete based that it is strong as rock, however this theory is dead wrong. The fact is, that it is a very fragile and heavy product. When installed, nailing on wall studs, it is still only weighing down your house and not adding any structural integrity or insulation value. To be fair the building department does not take siding into consideration for R-value in most cases. Hardie has a product called color plus, which is pre-finished and they claim it to be a finished product once installed without the need to do a field coat of paint. I have found more issues with this product than with the raw material that requires paint. The color plus comes with each piece being individually wrapped with a plastic type material to prevent scratching during shipment and handling. The idea behind this is to keep the plastic on until it has been cut and installed, then removed once nailed to structure. The problem is that the plastic falls off once a piece is moved to be cut. Once the plastic falls off, cut dust will stick to the product like glue and is extremely hard to remove, which leaves a chalky looking surface much like old aluminum siding. Another issue I have found with the plastic is that with the product being concrete based there is moisture in it, and this moisture want to get out. The plastic seems to be restricting the moisture from evaporating and gets trapped between the plastic and the material and gives the product a smell similar to cat urine. The color plus also seems to be wet and only dries once installed, which causes severe shrinking at butt joins. In my professional opinion cement board siding should not be used anywhere and anyone who claims otherwise just does not know any better, has drank too much James Hardie coolaid, or gets such a great deal on the cost they do it anyway just to make a buck. Don't believe what the Reps tells you, they get paid to pass the blame and sell it anyway. I can crap in a box and put a warranty on it, but you'll still be getting crap. I know what I said here is very bold but sometimes the truth hurts....please stay away from this product for your house, contractor health safety and your kids health. Go with vinyl, cedar, or Lp siding but remember all products have flaws, but Hardie has the most.

I have used hardie siding since 1995 on both commercial and residential products ,
They have always had installation instructions.
yes it is heavy and it is brittle. But I prefer the look compared to vinyl and like the stability vs wood.
I have Color Plus on my own personal home , the Color Plus siding in my area does not come with a plastic sheet.
I have installed on many projects and never had a call back

I'm guessing Michigan has an axe to grind with James Hardy.
Things like 2" gaps, movement spacing, flashing behind joints and 6" off the ground are all common sense items that apply to most siding.
Almost no siding has any insulation or structural strength.
All JH products come with a primer coat on all sides so shrink will be the same on all products. Shrink and expansion are the reasons for the 1/4" gap. If you apply on a hot humid summer day, don't leave any gaps. If you are applying at minus forty, 1/4" may not be enough.
As to the "wet" it may be that the siding was not stored correctly. Siding delivered to the site and sitting in the rain without proper protecting will absorbs some moisture that siding hung on a wall will not.

silica is a health concern and JH clearly documents this. It is only a concern during the cutting and that is why nibblers are recommended rather then power saws.

Certainteed fiber cement had some major issues in my area and pretty much screwed fiber cement as a whole, James Hardy is making a push to regain ground as LP Smartside is taking off like wildfire, but there not going to get anywhere. Fiber cement is such a pain to install by the book.

Hey Greentree - what issues do you have with the install?

FBBP,

Its not easy to work with, the plastic slip sheet is a pain, its cracked when nailing the corners. If a nail is overdriven they want you to add another, its not supposed to touch raw aluminum, a bummer when the roofer uses aluminum step flashing, with a 2" roof clearance youd have to bend and flash a coiled counterflash so you dont get blinded by shiny flashing. 2" clearance above a deck looks really stupid. If you trim out a window, you wont hit a stud since the trim covers your trimmer and king, hardie solution is "add a stud," not real practical. Its like carrying a noodle around when you pick a piece up, did i mention its a pain to cut and shape? I dont trust it by aluminum, aluminum is everywhere on a new exterior. Boring holes stinks, field cutting once its up is a pain, they're heavy, they seem to mar easily. You're working with cement based sticks, I mean that in itself is kinda ridulous.

I quit using it a long time ago, so admittedly maybe for some reason its become more user friendly but I've checked out new jobs by others and hear the same gripes, I switched to smartside (fingers crossed that doesnt turn into a hardboard fiasco) and am much happier. Maybe its gotten better, Certainteed once had predrilling nail holes in their manual, you cant get much worse than that.

If you like it great but I vote no.

I agree with most posters, and to FBBP, I have no axe to grind with anyone. I've used it on several projects since 2008, and I need to replace 20 SF on that project due to failure due to moisture (this is high on a wall & it is delaminating). Installers hate it; I dislike it, and have decided to refuse to use it on any upcoming projects. Especially since LP is making a good blind nailed product. I understand that the LP product uses Advantech as a base - Advantech might be trademarked by Huber, but my understanding is that LP actually developed the product for siding use (on LPSS) and licensed Huber to use it as sheathing. As anyone who is familiar with Advantech knows, it's the most bulletproof sheathing and underlayment availabke, and the best I've seen in my career of over 40 years.

I find the preference for LP interesting. During the 80 and 90's LP had the market around Calgary sewn up. Non vinyl siding was 90% LP. Then in the late 90's people started to notice how bad it faded and some delamination. Up here almost all LP siding was installed with the H clips on the butt joints. The clips where colour fast so the stood out like a sore thumb against the faded siding.
Now JH has almost the total market. Interestingly enough, most JH siding is installed with LP trim ;-).

Not sure why there would be moisture delam. once its on the wall unless there is moisture migration through the wall. Especially when its at least primed on all four sides. Unless JH has a different product down there?

We don't use aluminum flashing. Around here every thing is galvanized or prefinished metal.
LP still has to be set 1" off the roof. Yes that is only half of what JH calls for but the gap is still there.

FBBP,
Smartside has only been available since early 2000, or at least thats when the marketing started in my region. You're saying Canada had Smartside available in the 80's or was it called something else?

LP settled the class action in 1996, ultimately agreeing to pay $500 million to owners of homes sided with Innerseal. For homeowners to receive payment, their siding must have been installed before 1996, and they had to have filed claims by the end of 2002. The class-action case has now been closed; going forward, any homeowners with failing Innerseal siding must file a regular warranty claim -- assuming their siding is still within the product's original 25-year warranty.

It seems like people in regions that experience freeze/thaw cycles don't like fiber cement siding. In the southeast it's wildly popular.

Wait til it starts to fail.

Greentree - LP has marketed CanExcel for many years and still markets it. This was the failed produce. My point was not that smartside was a bad product but rather that once a brand name is blemished, the market takes forever to forgive them and give them another chance even with a new product. That said maybe watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-3JKhTPISI
No idea if other issues are at play in that video but there still seems to be some concern with smart side.

Chris - thanks for the info.

Jelly - we have lots of freeze thaw cycles but don't see any problem with JH.

Bob I - curious as to why you would have just 20 feet of failure. Does high up on the wall equate with "bottom of pile? Was the siding stored on or in contacted with the ground for a prolonged period of time? Either on site or at the suppliers? Does high up equate with a wall and ceiling joint that is leaking moist air in behind the cladding? (You don't sound like the kind of builder that would miss that) I'm just trying to rationalize why 20 feet out of a large mill runs of siding would fail. You indicate failure is due to moisture. If it is surface moisture, would not a much bigger area be impacted? If moisture damage occurred after install, how did it get in? was the product damaged? JH is primed all four sides. Where joints not properly detailed and moisture weeped in from the ends? Not saying any of these where the cause, just having a hard time understanding the situation.

If you do some web research, you find a ton of complaints about both products. Almost all are either fading or delam/rot/fall apart related. Some people swear at JH and switch to LP. Some go the other way. I think both products are very open to human error. A large part of the problem with both products are solved with proper back venting. And of course, at sometime, installers are going to have to learn all wrb and flashings have to lap top over bottom, not the other way. Neither product will do well just nailed into sheathing. Maybe they got away with nailing vinyl that way but these heavier products that do move with temperature and humidity, need to be nailed into the studs. You are better off not caulking mid wall joints. Back flash with metal or wrb.

I had to inspect a couple of JH failures this summer. Don't know if both were done by the same installer but the symptoms were the same. Both were nailed well above the nail line and both had over exposure, that is, the lap did not come down far enough. One had all the flashings (drip) installed over the wrb allowing water to get in and drain over the concrete basement wall into the basement frost wall starting mould and rot in the finished wall.

If anyone has definite failure mechanism for either product, I would be most interested in hearing about them.

we have an HRV exhaust on the (east) wall which exhausts air and moisture; the delaminating cement siding is 7' above that. We're trying a different exhaust which should push the air beyond the wall, so that ideally should solve the issue. My gripe is not that the paint is peeling (it isn't, but that would be understandable) but that the siding is failing apart in a situation where it shouldn't. We were careful to follow all the manufacturer's instructions.

We had a long conversation with one excellent siding contractor who is going to stop installing it due to the cancer causing properties. (I've talked to siders who have used shears, but disliked the method.) I also dislike the weight and difficulty of installing it. The fact that the previous poster found a problem due to a minor difference in exposure is further evidence that it is not a product I want to stand behind. I've never had a problem with any other siding due to minor exposure issues or moisture issues; why deal with such a fussy product when there are better alternatives?

i was also searching for the same.. Thanks for clearing my doubt.

Hardie has been the industry standard in my area for almost 20 years. Before that it was the LP but the class action law suit inspired the shift to Hardie. LP has improved their product and it's still around too. I think Hardie is going to be the next big class action lawsuit that will never happen. Reason being is it says right in the instructions to back vent but nobody does. So if we do see failures in the future I bet it will be on the installation not the product. My new house is entirely open joint cladding (3/4" back vent, 1/4" joints) and the areas getting Hardie panels will be cut to fit then pre painted on all six sides. To cut it either use double cut shears or hold your breath and stand up wind from the saw.