Cement board siding has all the same pluses and negatives that a Hardie siding would have. In most cases, you can find a cement board siding that is made with a simulated wood grain, a stucco look, or can be very smooth and plain. Cement board siding is waterproof, and can withstand extremely strong winds, rain, hail, salt air and is extremely fire resistant.

If you install a fiber cement siding on your home, you can expect it to last the entire lifetime of your home. The best part about cement siding, is it’s low maintenance. Unlike a wood or vinyl siding, Hardie siding will resist mold and mildew. As with a wood or vinyl siding, you will notice that every other month or so you must clean the exterior of your home to avoid the growth of mold and mildew.

Cement board siding comes pre-primed and ready to paint. You can even find pre-painted, or pre-colored cement board siding. This saves you the time and hassle of having to paint the cement board siding after it is installed. Simply install the cement board siding, caulk it with a clear caulking, touch up any unpainted areas and you are done. If you do buy a pre-primed cement board siding and paint it yourself, paint will likely never peel or chip from the surface of the fiber cement board.

Cement board siding may be a little more costly than that of a traditional wood or most vinyl siding. However, if you take into account that a cement siding will last longer, and have less maintenance, you might come to the conclusion that paying a little more upfront will be worth it in the long run. Remember that the exterior of your home is the first thing that people see when they pull into your driveway, so choosing a tough, good looking exterior siding such as cement board, is a great way to make that first impression.

Hardie Board siding takes paint and caulk very well.  It is priced comparable to wood siding, but will long outlast it.  If you are going for ease of installation by all means choose the hardie board siding over the planks, but for that unique look of planks, you dont have much choice but to use the planks.  Planks take more time to install and are long and bulky, making them hard to handle by yourself.  Special hardie screws have been made to make sure your hardie does not out last your screws.

Hardie can be hung with nails, or screws, but if using nails make sure to use a ring shank nail that will not easily be pulled from the surface it is nailed to.  I prefer using a senco screw gun when installing hardie board siding, it has almost the speed of a nail gun, with the strength of a screw.

Many people ask, why do I have to use thinset between Hardie board in the subfloor? The reason consent is required between Hardie board of the subfloor, is to eliminate any deviations between the backer board itself and the subfloor. This decreases the probability that tile will crack, or that the grout lines will crack, causing the tile to pop up in the future.

A lot of people also wonder, can I use liquid nails to glue the Hardie board to the ground? The answer is simple, no you cannot. Hardy board requires a bonding order to ensure that the Hardie is getting a good grout to the subfloor. Liquid nails is just a general adhesive, and is not strong enough, and just will simply not bond correctly.

After the thinset has been applied to the ground and the Hardie board is laid on top, nails or screws should be applied 8 inches apart all way around the exterior edges of the Hardie board.
Then nails or screws should be applied every 8 inches apart everyhwere on the Hardie board. Do not get too close to the edges as the Hardie board will crack or break. It is important to hit the floor towards running underneath the plywood at all possible, with screws or nails.

After the Hardie board has been installed on the ground, the next step is to apply a 2 inch fiberglass mesh tape on the seams. Apply the fiberglass mesh tape on the seams, the exact same way you would do with drywall tape. But instead of using a drywall mud to float the seams, you use the modified thinset as your float. Using the fiberglass mesh tape and thinset is required, and will greatly strengthen your subfloor.

Using your level chalked line, install your first row of hardiplank.   Go from left to right, or right to left. Do not start in the middle and work out both directions. On the top of the hardiplank there is an area with no texture, this area is about 2-3″ wide. This is the area that you will nail or screw into. This un textured area of Hardie Plank is also where the next peice will over lap. So make sure your screws and nails stay within the designated area.

The fastest way to install hardie is with a spacer. If your hardiplanks are going to be spaced 6″ apart, then build a 6″ spacer that will catch on the bottom of the lower hardie board and allow the next piece to lay on top of it and rest on the spacer.  You need two of these spacers, one for each end.  The best way to describe a spacer without a picture is with the letter “L”.

Using Hardie Sheers, or a circular saw, cut the hardiplank to the right lengths and work your way up each wall of your house. It is good to check every row for level. Spacers will help keep the hardiplank level, but it is still a good idea to stop and check every so often. Make sure that each row of hardiplank from one wall matches all walls that it touches, to give your house a uniform look all the way around.

The absolute best method for cutting Hardie board siding is, with a pair of Hardie shears. There are many brands of Hardie shares on the market, such as Hilti Hardie Shears along with many attachments that can be added to a normal drill. Hardie shears are quick and virtually dustless. However you do need to be careful when cutting along the edge of Hardie board, because it can cause it to crumble.

If you are using a thinner Hardie board like quarter inch hardie used for an underlayment, you can get away with using a utility knife to score and snap the Hardie board. It is best to use a straight edge to push the utility knife against to ensure that you do not cut yourself, while keeping your cuts in a straight line.

Many companies have come out with dust reducing saw blades. These blades can be purchased from Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Ace Hardware among other hardware stores. These blades can be used on a normal circular saw, table saw, or a chop saw. These blades do not completely get rid of the dust caused by cutting Hardie board siding, however they do reduce it drastically. If you really want to cut down on the dust while using a circular saw, it is a good idea to have someone holding a shop vac, to suck up the dust as it is shot into the air.

It is now recommended that caulk be placed in the seams while you are installing it, not after. So what this means is that before you butt two pieces of hardy siding together, you need to apply a thick bead of caulk to the edge of the hardy pieces that will be touching. Apply the caulking and push the seams tight, allowing the caulk to seal the seam tightly. After the pieces of hardie board are installed, take a damp rag and wipe away access caulking.

What kind of caulking should I use on hardie plank siding? Many people wonder what the best, or more importantly the correct kind of caulking to use is. If you want your finished home siding to keep out wind driven rain, and snow, you need to use a caulking that will remain permanently flexible. If a caulk if made to stay flexible, it will say so right on the tube. Make sure to look for this when you buy caulking.

After you have caulked your hardie plank siding, it is important to allow the caulking to dry the recommended amount of time on the tube. Each manufacturer or brand of caulking is different, so make sure you read the directions. Why is it important to allow the caulk to dry first? This will help the caulking take paint better. If you paint caulk before it is completely dry, it will continue to shrink, causing your paint to crack and chip.

Another important tip about caulking your hardie plank siding, is to remember that anywhere your hardy siding butts up against a wood material, such as door and window trim, you need to leave a gap. This gap needs to be 1/8″ to allow the wood to swell and contract. This is one of the reasons you are using a permanently flexible caulking.

For applications calling for  vertical siding, you can also get a hardie designed for vertical installation.  Use this with hardie trim peices to give your house that board and batten look.  There are all different kinds of hardie plank siding to suit your needs, such as soffit panels, backer board, lap planks, and even artisan lap plank designs.

Hardie plank siding is impervious to water, which makes it the ultimate siding source.  It comes pre primed and ready to paint.  Hardie siding can become brittle when it is bent. Unlike wood it does not support its own weight very well.  It is important when istalling it that it has a sturdy flat structure to be nailed or screwed to.  The pros way out weigh the cons and would add a unique look to your home to last a life time.

Hardie board siding will last at least your lifetime on your home and could last for generations to come. Do not overlook wood siding though as it has been around since the beginning of houses, and is still going strong today. If you prefer a plank siding, you can get a plank siding in many different materials such as cement Board, or Hardie plank, different woods such as cedar, and pine among others. Aluminum siding and vinyl siding also last a long time as well however with aluminum siding to have to worry about corrosion, and with vinyl siding it becomes brittle over the years.

For the price that you’re going to pay for this investment, you want to choose a house siding that will last as long or longer than you’re going to own the home. Hardy plank siding takes paint so well and does not need to be primed which is another aspect that you should consider when looking for the best house siding. When calculating the cost of your siding make sure to include the price of good quality nails or screws, lots of caulking, paint, trim pieces, moisture barrier, and how much per square foot you are going to be charge for installation, unless you’re planning on doing the installation yourself.

Hardie Board Siding is just one of the many ways that you can cover the exterior of your home. Remember there are other alternatives such as brick, stone, stucco, and if you’re really creative you can go for the log cabin look and actually use real logs. Take your time and do your research I believe that with enough reading and research on the Internet you will come to a conclusion that Hardie plank siding may just be the best house siding for your money.

When using a hardie backer board to install tile over it is important to have a good foundation to go over. This usually means at least a 3/4 inch ply wood sub floor. One thing that you would not want to do when installing Hardie board as your subfloor is, to go directly over studs. Hardy board is not strong enough by itself to support that amount of weight.

When installing Hardie backer over an existing subfloor to install tile over, it is very important that you use a multipurpose thin set. It is very helpful to make your measurements for your cuts, then dry them,  If in fact they do fit than what you would want to do is use a 3/8 inch notched trowel, to spread down a layer of thin set. While the headset is wet place the Hardie backer into place, then using special Hardie backer screws, screw the Hardie backer to the sub floor placing screws every 8 inches. After the thin set dry’s underneath your Hardie backer, your floor will be solid as a rock.

Before installing your tile, you will need to float in tape your seams. A fiberglass mesh tape works well, along with then set as your float. After this dries you are ready to install your tile.

When using a hardie backer board to install tile over it is important to have a good foundation to go over. This usually means at least a 3/4 inch ply wood sub floor. One thing that you would not want to do when installing a Hardie board as your subfloor is, to go directly over studs. Hardy board is not strong enough by itself to support that amount of weight. Remember that you will use a 1/4 inch Hardie board for the floor and 1/2 Hardie Board for the Walls.

When installing Hardie backer over an existing subfloor to install tile over, it is very important that you use a multipurpose thin set. It is very helpful to make your measurements for your cuts, then dry T If in fact they do fit than what you would want to do is use a 3/8 inch notched trowel, to spread down a layer of thin set. While the headset is wet place the Hardie backer into place, then using special Hardie backer screws, screw the Hardie backer to the sub floor placing screws every 8 inches. After the thin set dry’s underneath your Hardie backer, your floor will be solid as a rock.

Before installing your tile, you will need to float in tape your seams. A fiberglass mesh tape works well, along with then set as your float. After this dries you are ready to install your tile.