siding: LP smartside vs Hardie cement board?

[rundrave]

I bumped up an old thread and put this question in and didn't get any response, so I will start my own

I currently have vinyl siding and currently am in the process of building a new detached garage. I am not doing my new garage in vinyl so I am choosing to replace the existing vinyl on our home.

I am at the point where I have narrowed my decision down to LP Smartside or Hardie cement board siding.

The LP is slightly cheaper (about $1500) and that is what my installer is pushing for no specific reason.

I have had 5 different estimates and I never got consistent info between anyone of them. The guy I chose to go with was the only one that I got referrals for and I trust the sources.

What is my best option as far as quality and how long it will last between these 2 products? Are they both going to last me 30, 50 years or will one last longer than the other?

Any thoughts or recommendations to go with a pre-painted or paint after installing? Some guys push the pre painted as they say its more consistent and an even finish but it costs an additional $2500. Others suggested painting after so I can get caulk to match and its cheaper.

Will pre painted paint applied at the factory last longer than paint applied manually after installing?

[rundrave]

wow no responses?

I have done a little more research and picked a few more brains and as of now I am leaning towards the LP smart side. When I talked to the company I am choosing to install it he claims it installs better and will tuck up to house better than the cement board and have less issue with moisture getting behind it.

It also seems most of the these guys install the LP smart side on their own personal homes and I even got to see a few home first hand as references.

The other thing that also tends to drive me away from the cement board is the installation process and how you have to drive the nail in with the gun part way and then manually finish each and every nail off manually by hand with a hammer. You have to do that to not only drive it in all the way with out breaking the boards but to also get it flush with the house. To me that just leaves more opportunity for things to get installed incorrectly.

As for the paint I will probably skip the pre-finished and opt to have it painted after it's installed. The extra cost upfront doesn't seem worth it to me especially when it sounds like I will eventually have to pay to have them both repainted anyway in the future. On top of the extra labor to touch up and getting caulk to match adds even more issues to it.

I haven't committed to anything yet but was hoping to get some input.

[K_Josh87]

I have never installed the LP smartside, and have only dealt with James Hardi, and some cheap dump from big box stores... James Hardi is nice stuff to work with, cheapy stuff, not really.

[titelines]

I don't have any experience with the LP, but we rebuilt our detached 1.5 car garage last year and used Hardie Board. It was pre-painted and we love it. The guys had the old garage stripped and the new one up in 3 days. We used Twin City Siding Professionals for our job, and they were great. Very courteous, hard working, clean and efficient. Customer service was great too.

There are problems with Hardie, but 99% of them are caused by poor/incorrect installation. If the installation is done correctly, the problems are almost eliminated. If you go with the Hardie, make sure you use someone who has the experience. Could be that your installer doesn't have a lot of experience with Hardie, so he's pushing you towards the LP(?)

[morefishplease]

Just curious, but how much did it cost you total to have your 1.5 stall garage done? I'm going to start getting estimates on my garage soon to have is redone.

[rundrave]

Just curious, but how much did it cost you total to have your 1.5 stall garage done? I'm going to start getting estimates on my garage soon to have is redone.

Well considering I am doing most of it myself I am saving a ton of $$$ in just labor. For concrete I had a relative get me deal. My dad owns a garage door business so I got anything garage door related at wholesale prices and again no labor.

For the rest of the materials I am probably just over $6k so far. Will have about another $3500 for siding materials and labor to install that. Then on top of that I will have future expenses for insulation, heating, wiring, etc etc. Its going to be a never ending project I think lol.

[titelines]

Just curious, but how much did it cost you total to have your 1.5 stall garage done? I'm going to start getting estimates on my garage soon to have is redone.

For the tear-off, garbage hauling, labor, materials...everything, ours came to just under $9k.

[beer batter]

just built a home and decided to go with LP smart over the hardy board as well. May reason was the cost, but also due to the same installation issues mentioned above about how easy it could be to drive a nail too far through causing the cement board to split.

One thing that we initially were not going to do, but did in the end, was to have the LP board pre painted. I looked in to the cost of painting with a very hiqh quality paint, and it would only saved me about $400 to do it only my own. That's only 2 coats done by me instead of 5 coats done at the factory baked hard in an oven. I figured my time spent painting the house with 2 coats and 2 different colors (trim was a different color) was worth over the $400 savings. Only down side was that they were limited to about 20 color choices, but maybe 50 years down the road when it needs painting we can choose a different color.

Pre-painted or not, the LP smart siding is a good choice.

[11-87]

Just remember, If you're painting it yourself, you have conditions to worry about, they don't have to worry about "weather" in a factory.

not sure what your time$ is worth, but do your math first.. then once the siding is on, your done with the garage and don't have to worry about painting it. Then you will have more time to go fishing...

[rundrave]

I wont be painting it myself I will hire that out. Its cheaper to hire it out than to have it pre-painted from the factory.

[crothmeier]

Just make sure you install it EXACTLY how they reccommend it. If you have a product realated problem down the road and its not installed right you have no warranty.

[goose89]

Just make sure you install it EXACTLY how they reccommend it. If you have a product realated problem down the road and its not installed right you have no warranty.

Haven't used either. Went with tried and true steel.....I did ALOT of research.....I love the initial look of both Hardie and LP, but was concerned with 10,15,20 years down the road. Noone knows how it'll truly hold up, esp in our Northern environmentS.

I was also scared off by all of the changes in installation guidelines with Hardie. Seems there's as many opinions on how to "properly" install it as there are colors.....result of several changes install guidelines by J. Hardy to dodge warranty issues.....

I was gonna go with LP, and may have sacrificed some initial "pop" and "wow" with how sharp it looks, but I didn't want to worry about moisture penetration , warranty claims headaches, unproven long-term performance, ect........Good luck.....

[muskie-mike]

I put it on a garage in 1994 and have had no problems so far. I have not repainted since installation and still looks pretty good....also now have it on the cabin,very easy to install,did most of it alone...easy to paint with a pad..

[goose89]

I put it on a garage in 1994 ...

LP or JH?

[ghostranger]

I have no experiance with LP, however I installed the cement board on my house and garage when it was built and it looks great! I painted it after installation as the lumber yard told me that most prepainted still needs another coat after installation due to cutting, caulking and whatever else that could scratch the paint during installation. I've had it on about six years and it looks just as good as when it was installed!

[11-87]

If I remember right, when you buy prefinished JH,(which you're not using) the supplier should sell you a touch up kit for cut ends too!

[dougger222]

The last two bids for LP or Hardi, both chose Hardi. The one my siding crew just finished was prepainted Hardi with Hardi trim around the windows and doors, $48,000. It was a pretty good sized house with attached garage plus a 3 car detached garage. The house was only 12 years old and it had EFIS on it. We tried to sell LP on this job but the homeowners learned homes with Hardi are worth more than homes with other types of siding.

I know two G.C.'s who put LP on their own homes and the resident siding and roofing expert for a very large insurance company put LP on his home. My wife and I looked at the $1,000,000+ dream homes last parade and the ones with LP looked better than the ones with Hardi.

My own home was built in 03 with pre primed Hardi. Last year prior to paint my sider had to come out and replace about 80ft of rotted Hardi. Hope the Hardi stays on for a long long time, 50 windows to go around and 6 doors, 5100sq ft of siding...

The next 4 siding jobs are all going to be steel siding. IMO, the best siding would be seamless steel.

Plastic siding is the best for repairability however.

[LPSmartSide]

Lot of good siding conversation here relating to warranty, durability, beauty.

LP SmartSide trim and siding come with one of the leading warranties in the industry -- a 5-year 100% labor and replacement feature and a 50-year prorated limited warranty on the substrate. Our SmartGuard process incorporates zinc borate preservatives which help protect against the rot cycle and termite damage.

These engineered wood products have been tested in some of the most extreme climates.

I hope this info is helpful as you compare siding options.

Best wishes to all.

[stick]

I just installed the LP SS on a garage, and it went on smoothly and looks fantastic. I am a big fan!

[LPSmartSide]

stick,

Very glad that you are pleased with LP SmartSide siding! The beauty of natural cedar with advanced protection.

Thank you for your post,

Patrick