vinyl siding or hardiplank siding?

[mclear]

I have a question to throw out there. We are finally building our home. It is worth the extra $7000 to go with hardiplank siding. Vinyl Siding, sofits, trim, and gutters is around $17,000.

I have heard about problems in the south with the color fading early. We are building in Northern NJ.

An upgrade to hardiplank siding is an extra 7,000. Any experience out there and some opinions?

thanks


Mike

[charliex]

I used a dark blue pre-colored Hardi plank when I resided my last home. Would do it again if I need to. Vinyl is easier to install but colors fade and darker colors fade more.

[lago]

We built our house about 8 years ago just NW of Austin, TX. The builder talked us into going with vinyl siding due to the height of the house(3 story;1st and 2nd are cinder block and 3rd floor is vinyl). His reasoning was expense in repainting later on.

If we had to do it all over again, we would go with Hardiplank, regardless of the cost. We do have a lot of sunshine and the vinyl color has faded slightly. We also had a major hail storm when the house was about 3 yrs old and one side of the house looked like someone took a shotgun to the siding. We had problems getting someone to replace it due to the house height and other claims that were easier to work. We finally found someone but they had problems in getting vinyl that would match.

I don't know how Hardiplank cost compares to Hardipanel. I have used the panel for a storage closet on the boat dock and I will consider using something like that if/when we get hit with another hail storm.

Ken

[capncarl]

My vote is for BRICK, #2 goes to Hardi and dead last is vinyl. Vinyl is just plastic, very thin plastic. Just stand beside a vinyl sided house in a strong wind and listen to it pop and whistle. The cost may only be 6-7k difference, but the viny cost must be really inflated, with a lot of profit for everyone involved, even the builder who whined about painting 3 stories. This stuff is really "builder grade". They can deliver enough vinyl siding for your house on the ladder rack of the installers truck. Lets see them do that with hardi plank. Vinyl is junk.
We installed vinyl soffits all around my house and vinyl ceiling in the shop carport. Wasps and dirt daubbers fly around all the joints and seams into my attic, and it also pops and carries on with every gust of wind. The carport is another story, what ever you do don't put it in a ceiling that you might decide to blow in insulation on top of. It will not even hold up the weight of 12 inches of blown in pink insulation.
capncarl

[woodturner]

I have a question to throw out there. We are finally building our home. It is worth the extra $7000 to go with hardiplank siding. Vinyl Siding, sofits, trim, and gutters is around $17,000.

I'd get more quotes. You didn't say how many squares of siding, but unless that's a HUGE house, those prices seem way high, at least for this area (pennsylvania).

The cost difference is surprising - hardiplank should cost maybe 10% more installed.

I used hardiplank when I built my shop/garage, and would do it again. Definitely better than vinyl. I assume you are referring to the prepainted, but I used the "bare" siding and primed and painted it myself. After 10 years, looks brand new, no fading or discoloration.

I considered brick, but given the very high cost of brick and the problems with cracking in mortar joints, would rank brick second at best. If you live in an area with very stable, solid ground with no clay, brick might be OK. We have clay soil around here and a lot of brick houses - and all have mortar cracks at least.

[LCHIEN]

vinyl is plastic. Hardiplank is cement.
Which piggie do you want to be when the bad wolf comes around?

Realistically, the vinyl will fade and crack. Eventually it will need to be replaced- I don't think a coat of paint will help at that point.
The hardi plank will have to be painted up front. And some years later it will also need repainting, but repainting will cost a lot less than replacing the hardi plank.

If you will be there for only a couple of years and sell the house, vinyl will put out out less money but if you are there for the long run hardiplank will cost less despite up front cost. If you sell in 2 years, hardiplank may still cost less, because it will add to the value of the house, at least to a knowlegable buyer.

[conwaygolfer]

About 6 years ago I removed the cedar siding from my house here in SC.
I stained the cedar once and about 2 years later it needed it again. I was not going thru that every couple of years. A friend recommended hardiboard.
After installing it, I primed and painted it and still looks as good now as when first finished. I would use it again over any other siding.

The cost when I did my house (2 story) was $3.25 per piece. I just built a new shed and the cost was up to $6.00 per piece. They blamed China for the cost increase. Said they were willing to pay that price, so if we wanted it, we would also have to pay the same. Oh well. Shop around though as I have seen it somewhat cheaper.

Conwaygolfer

[woodturner]

The hardi plank will have to be painted up front.

The Hardiplank can be purchased already painted. I used the "primed" version and primed and painted it myself, so I don't know how well the pre-painted version performs.

[woodturner]

Shop around though as I have seen it somewhat cheaper.

Hardiplank is one brand, but there are other brands of fiber cement siding.

Given the weight of the material, it's likely one brand will cost less in a particular area, based on proximity to the manufacturing plant and therefore lower shipping cost.

[toolguy1000]

sided our house 5 years ago with vinyl. no cracking or fading at all, even on a southern exposure side. i would do it again as i am maintenance averse. one tip if going with vinyl....make sure any window or door casings that are not vinyl, but are aluminum, are done with a very good grade of aluminum with a baked on finish. i've seen some inferior aluminum start to wash down onto the siding, and that looks terrible.

i will add this: realtors in our area (NYC tristate area) favor siding that resembles wood over almost everything else (excluding masonry products) as they seem to feel the closer to real wood the siding is, the more positive an impact on resale value it has. if the house is historic in nature, or preservation of a certain period appropriate appearance is important, i'd probably skip the vinyl. but there is something about having the house washed every other year for between $300 and $400 and largely being done with exterior maintenance that is appealing. painting even small houses here can cost $7-10,000. HTH.

[Norm in Fujino]

Another vote for Hardiplank; I'm currently in the process of residing my home with Colorplus Hardiplank and am pretty pleased with how it handles; I've read complaints from years past about problems with prepainted Hardi, but they've changed formulations and rules over the years, and mine seems to be very sturdy. I handle it carefully, but it still gets hit once in a while, and the finish has been very resistant to abuse--but remember, the stuff is painted in different factories, so one may be better than another.

If you want best longevity for your siding and trim paint, I'd also vote for going with a rainscreen wall; it will add a bit more to the cost, but it's supposed to give the best environmental protection to painted surfaces in climates such as yours.
With Hardi, the devil's in the details; be sure your contractor follows all Hardi-specified practices (must seal/touchup all cut ends!) and uses only the proper fasteners (the current rules can be downloaded from the net). As one example of changes, they used to specify caulking at field joints, but now you're supposed to use flashing behind the joint and just butt the two ends together without caulking (use only factory-cut ends at field joints; save field-cut ends for joints with trim, where caulking is used).

[dbhost]

One of the home improvement projects on my schedule is to replace the old masonite garbage siding with Hardi Panel. There are big insurance discounts for cement fiber siding for everything from fire resistance to wind resistance.

IMHO vinyl siding is a joke, a bad, bad joke...

I have no intention of using the prepainted stuff. I have a pecular color on my house, and plan to keep it... So priming and painting it is for me!

[mclear]

the $24,925 would include:

• James Hardie Cedar Mill siding on all clapboard areas
• Cement shakes on three peak areas
• Up grade all trim to XLD trim w/ 15 year finish including 3 1/2 window and door trim
• 6" and 4" corner post trim
• vinyl sofits
• pvc aluminum trim coil to cover all rakes, facia boards, and porch box beasms.
• 5" seamless k-style aluminum gutters w. 2x3 aluminum leaders.

The house is @3,400 sq ft

[MilDoc]

We purchased our home 8 years ago, now 28 years old. Originally built with pre-painted (or color built in?) Hardiplank. Lots of sun in central Tx, and it still looks great. No fading, no repainting.

OTOH, my last home in Dallas I had vinyl siding installed. 7 years later faded.

[pelligrini]

Anything colored will fade with UV exposure. It is especially evident in darker pigments. This is some comparisons by Marvin Windows on their clad window finishes.

Vinyl is cheaper, but it really doesn't last. There are few color options for vinyl, especially any with longer warranties. Vinyl also has problems with UV exposure. It doesn't just affect the color, the material will become brittle over time too.

The cementuous fiberboard is a much better option over vinyl. I don't know the actual cost differences, but I would spend another $7K for the Hardi.