House Siding

[VincentVega]

Looking to replace a window, remove T111 siding and replace with plywood sheathing, 1/2 foam insulation and Hardie siding. Anyone have experience with this?

~400 sq ft, hoping to do the house in stages

I've skimmed through the installation docs on their website and have read a bunch online. Is this something to DIY? This part of the house is 2 stories so I would need to rent ladders or scaffolding.

My default answer is DIY but I havent done this before. I appreciate any advise and/or experience. Contractor quote is ~6k, I spec'd materials (I'm sure I'm missing some trim and some other small pieces) at ~$2600.

Thanks

[GWN7]

Have you thought about mirror? I can make you a very good deal on some.

The quote sounds about right.... 2X material costs. It's pretty simple to do. Just don't nail it all the way down. (oops....missed Hardie siding...was thinking of vinyl)

[Zeke]

Plywood is difficult to handle on the ground by yourself — all but impossible up on the 2nd story. Either get a couple of helpers or farm it out.

[john70t]

Read up on it: DIY Chatroom - DIY Home Improvement Forum - Search Results
It would probably be easier w/two people to snap a line or adjust scafolding.
Start from square and level, and use best hardware and techniques of course.

Cost of renting, extra materials, time, and unfinished project might negate the money saved. Or not.

[trekkor]

Do you have the tools and abilities?
( Diamond cutting blades, nail guns, compressor, etc )

I've done this on my place and the landlord's pool house.
It's precision work and a small mistake in handling, measuring or installation can mean a loss of time and materials.

Quality construction is always expensive.


KT

[matt711]

If you plan to use the foam board as insulation between the studs I would buy many cans of spray foam. You will never cut the foam boards to fit exactly so you want to fill every gap with spray foam to creat a real thermal break.

[MikeSid]

Originally Posted by trekkor

Do you have the tools and abilities?
( Diamond cutting blades, nail guns, compressor, etc )

KT

This. Unless you already have the shears and are proficient at cutting cement board, I would strongly consider hiring it out. Milt makes a good point as well. Not only is a full sheet of plywood difficult to handle on a ladder, have you hefted a piece of hardie siding? It's heavy and a long length of it will wiggle on you considerably while installing.

Basically this is a two person job that requires a special cutting tool and some skill at the corners/edges. Most people that consider this kind of job as a first timer will already have the compressor and maybe the nail gun. Very few will have the shears.

[Mark Howard]

Hardie siding is difficult to install for a DIYer. In order to make it look good it has to be blind nailed. Takes some practice to get it right. Also chews up cutting blades. If you know this going in, it's not too bad, just take your time. Could be a fun project though.

[MBAtarga]

I've put up almost 100 pieces of Hardie siding doing replacement of wood siding. Not too difficult to work with in 12' lengths, but if you source 16' lengths you better have a helper. There is a tool/jig that you can snap on each preceding coarse of siding that will then hold the next layer until you start nails to hold in in place. I purchased a power shears (off CL) made specifically for cutting the siding - looks like a drill but has a cutter shear head. That makes the job much easier and doesn't cause much dust at all. You cut the siding from the back side to keep the front edge sharp.

[VincentVega]

Great info, thank you.

I can source materials, including the window, for the price above. One contractors bid was + ~3k and the other was materials + labor, with an unknown duration.

Never done this before but love getting my hands dirty. The weight of the plywood on the 2nd story concerns me, need some help there for sure.

I'm thinking about farming out this section and sucking up the $$ pain. Assuming they dont throw me off the site I'll hopefully learn from them in the process. Need another quote to lock this down.

Many thanks for the advice

[intakexhaust]

Paslode nailer with soft bump end work fine. Tools are cheap to buy these days and I don't mean HF junk. CL, pawn shops are full of bargains.

Regardless, you can get by with cutting Hardie board using an ordinary circular saw, carbide blade 24T but used in REVERSE. You will need to wear a mask. Building a temporary saw jig / sled to support the heavy siding is another easy thing. Basically a 2 X 12 x 12 with a few 1 X 2 scraps nailed to the 2 X 12, and parallel and to width of the piece of siding. A guide bridge is made by having two pieces of 1 x 2 set 90 degree to the 1 X 2 scraps (above) and the circular saw simply is moved along the guide for perfect rep cuts.

James Hardie products are tops. I've worked alone with it but with some tricks to do so. I would highly advise to have a helper for the heavy siding. The homemade jig / sled is ideal for using up high on scaffold and plus have the stock temporarily up there.

BTW: Foam board razors and snaps clean. Should have no problem getting nice joints. Joints and seams with the proper and specific tape work just fine, quick and no messy spray foam. Good luck!

[rick-l]

My wife and I did this a couple of years ago. I thought I could do it myself but holding a 20 pound flimsy brittle 12 foot long piece of siding was more than I could handle so wife had to get used to standing on an aluma-pole 30 feet up and holding / nailing.

We installed 500 pieces. It used to cost $5.25 at the big box and all of a sudden it went up to $8.25... WTF? Use a siding nailer and galvanized ring shank nails, you can't use a hammer to punch a hole with a nail, it will just disintegrate. The "hardi" blade for your circular saw only has 4 carbide teeth to reduce dust because the cement will cause cancer if you live in California. I bought some aluminum flashing and cut it to length and put it behind the end joints under the caulk.

To keep with the low maintenance theme the pvc trim (AZEK) gets very expensive. I built framing for Hardi-soffit. I would do something easier.

It looks great. We installed new windows at the same time.

The reverse the blade trick is to cut vinyl. I'm not sure I would install this over foam, it is hard enough to find the studs. You want the nail to be just snug but not depressing the surface.

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by matt711

If you plan to use the foam board as insulation between the studs I would buy many cans of spray foam. You will never cut the foam boards to fit exactly so you want to fill every gap with spray foam to creat a real thermal break.

Typically, you would fit the foam tight at the joints, and then use tape on the seams. Dow makes Weathermate tape for this. Canned foam would be used on the bottom edge or the top joint.

We typically put a ledger of fir at the bottom of the sheathing to protect the foam and hold it straight in alignment during installation. We also use furring strips over the foam to attach the siding to the house, but this might not be needed if the foam is only one inch thick. It is a must for the two to four inches that we typically install.

There is an installation manual for Hardie siding, which I highly recommend. The dust contains silica and and glass fibers, so using a respirator and a Rigid Hardie siding saw is the way to go, as well as having a large fan blowing the dust away from the operator. There is a guillotine type of chopper that is ideal for the end cuts on the siding, and this will make the majority of cuts a dust free operation.

Gekko gauges clamp to the wall, and hold the board in position, as well as setting the spacing.

I have trimmed a few houses with Hardie plank, and it is a real pain to work, if you are doing it. I prefer a pre primed exterior siding board for all trim.

[dad911]

Just an FYI Hardie post-sale support is terrible.

Had to match some HardieShingle 5-6 years old, no longer in production, new materials are different size and texture......

Why offer a 30 yr warranty if they no longer make the product?

[Robert Adams]

For the $3400 I would have the contractor do it. Yeah, you could do it yourself but as others above have indicated, lots to think about while you carry on with a full time job & family; been there! The stuff is quite brittle in long lengths and hard to move around so it's a two person process. The eaves are a B-T-H. Having all the right tools and equipment will set you back a few $ in addition to the material. The 'correct nails' aren't cheap either nor is the caulk which you need to do at all your corners and seams. I also don't advise doing flat cut joints either when joining two lenghts, they should be beveled and sealed at installation.
Lastly if you want to save some money and time, order the material primed with a couple coats on it from the factory. This saves so much time and no matter how good you are, it will look better in the end. This way also gets the entire board painted before it's put up rather than just painting what you can see once it's up. I've also painted/stained myself prior to installation; definitely like the factory job better. As I mentioned this product is a bit unwieldy and moving it around is a royal pain so moving it around on many saw horses while painting it is very time consuming. Hardie used to offer extended warranties if they do the primer & two coats and the owner does a 3rd coat within 6 months or something, so that might be another incentive to go factory with the finish. Awesome product, but not in my opinion a do it yourself friendly project, unless you have all the time in world and lots of friends to help out. Good luck!

[rick-l]

wait a minute now

400 sq ft is about 57 boards at 7 sq ft / board. get an extra 5 so 62 boards at $8 each (wait for a sale) is $500. A siding nailer ( a roofing nailer won't drive long enough nails) is about $200. I forget what a box of nails was but I think < $50 It sounds like a single level so pole jacks and ladders are not an issue. The hardi blade was $40 but any carbide blade would work. I got them 20 sheets at a time on a 2 x 10 x 12' in the back of my compact pickup and it would keep me busy for a day.

Get the installation guide for your climate from the JH Hardie web site. The big box store sheets come primed. You can buy colors from Hardie but be prepared for some big bucks to special order. Some suppliers of this just paint the "special order" before delivery.

Nowhere did I see to bevel the joints. I butted them over a stud but that is just me. Like I said, flashing, the required gap and caulk at the joints.

If the project is like I described and you have a helper (significant other?) to help $3400 is easy money.

A gang of helpers might be detrimental since you can only put up one sheet at a time and you have to be thinking about small adjustments for the windows and using a hose level to establish position. A bored gang going Lets go, Lets go, Lets geter done might not be beneficial.

[rick-l]

I still have yet to sell the aluma pole. I got attached to it thinking I would do this again (to a friends house).