hardipanel as exterior

Has anyone used Hardipanel as their main exterior finish? And, if yes, would you do it again? Does anyone have pictures of homes with Hardipanel on the exterior?

I'm in the process (almost finished!) of installing smooth Hardipanel on my home.
I guess it remains to be seen if I would do it again...depends on how it weathers, holds paint, and looks in 10+ years. For the price, I think it's great and I love that it can be used in so many different ways. We're leaving the horizontal flashing and fasteners exposed, and the vertical seams will be covered with strip metal.

I posted pictures of the initial stages of installing it on my blog here, Modern in MN. We've got a lot more up now but I haven't taken any more pictures. I can email or post additional pics in a day or two if you're interested.

I had a similar question, so if you wouldn't mind posting or e-mailing that would be great.

I also wonder about this. You can see this used in the book Great houses on a budget by james grayson trulove on page 128. It is used both on the exterior AND interior and looks pretty cool but I also wonder how easy it is to use and how well it holds up ect. Please, if anyone else has more info or examples/pictures of this I'm sure there are a few more of us who would like to see it.

Sorry. I should have replied in the post instead of just emailing. I have a bunch more pics but I'm too crazy busy to blog them. Hopefully I can get an update up this weekend.

I've heard it holds up well. It's NOT easy to use in comparison with lighter materials. We're using 4x8 panels, but it also comes in 4x9, 4x10. Each sheet weighs maybe 80lbs, similar to drywall, and getting those babies up high is somewhat awful. Would be great on a one story

You need a dust collecting saw with a diamond or Hardi blade, masonry bits, etc. to cut, but it does cut easily with those tools.

Keep in mind the panels are dusty in the pictures. We painted all of them prior to hanging to avoid having to paint around all the fasteners so the gray is the final color. We're going to have to pressure wash or something once we're done.

We're using the horizontal flashing as a design detail, and the panels are attatched with stainless 1 1/8 washers and screws (holes needed to be pre-drilled) that will remain exposed. Of course there are lots and lots of other variations of these details.

Images aren't showing up when I preview. Not sure if this is a LM problem or mine...

Hey splat, the posting was set to plain text and not html, so your codes were not working. I substituted BB codes and the images show up.

Looks great!
Do you have a cost for this material with installation.

Thanks Greg...stress induced brain fart...

I am the installer, so I can't comment on that cost. I can say that we've worked out butts off putting it up and I'm SO over painting and moving those heavy panels around.
As far as the raw materials go, the 4x8 panels we're using are ~$25 each (special order) at the big box store. Add $200 for 10 gallons of paint, $400 for 2000 stainless washers and screws and about $300 in flashing.
Also factor in ~$250 for the dust collecting saw and forty bucks for a diamond blade.
I'll also have the expense of window flashing and some kind of strip material to cover the horizontal joints.
Overall, it's got to be one of the least expensive siding options avaliable.

I didn't even bother getting estimates to have someone else install but as I understand it, there are siding crews that specialize in fiber cement jobs exclusively. This probably means they do the plank stuff all the time and have never seen smooth panel, much less installed it already painted and in the manner we are. I'm just too tired of trying to convince contractors that the world will not implode if they do something that varies from their norm.

we used hardipanel on this house, we then ran horizontal strips of 1x2 as a detail...i think i like splatgirl's installation better...

Splatgirl, thanks so much! Wow this is exactly what I wanted to do. At the very least on the exterior, and even possibly on part of my interior. I think it looks great. Very inspiring.

If I might ask, what store did you get it from. The ones I've seen were 3x5 if I remember correctly? Also, what did you use behind the panel?

Take a look at the Friman or Kercheval/Suino residences by Fred Stelle (stelleco.com) for other examples of fiber cement panels in use both indoors and out.

magicash,

the 3'X 5' panels are hardi-backer. What you want is Hardi-Panel or Hardi-Soffit, in a smooth finish. It is generally readily available at the big-box stores.

Mark

Mark, at lowes the only hardi panel they had was looked like wood or vinyl siding. I am looking for stuff splatgirl has in her pic. Does HD carry that kind, I don't have one in my area.

Thanks

Other than the size of the sheets and the fact that one side has a pattern, is there a material difference between Hardibacker and Hardipanel? James Hardie says hardibacker is not for exterior use, but I've had sheets stored outside for months without any visible damage or deterioration. What gives?

Anyone that carries Hardi products can get it, but I have yet to find anywhere that stocks anything other than the wood grain plank stuff. At either Lowe's or HD, you need to have them special order it, and it will be a pita because no one at any of those stores seems to know anything about anything. Just make sure you have a spare couple of hours.

There IS a difference between hardi backer and hardi panel. The tile backer is a lot harder, stiffer and more dense. It's also textured to hold thinset. Definitely not the same material at all.

We must just be lucky in Austin then because almost all of the building material supply places carry smooth Hardi-SOFFIT and Hardi-Panel as well. If I remember correctly ALL of th Hardi-soffit material is smooth. The difference between the panel and soffit material is that the hardi-soffit is slightly thinner (for redued weight in sitalling overhead on soffits), but I've used it many simes as siding with no ill effects.

Wow, that really looks terrific. Good Job!
We are planning on using it on a shed that we are going to rehab next year, so it is nice to see some pics of it going up.

Splatgirl - thank you for sharing the photos. I was able to let my builder have a look at them and he liked what he saw! I never expected buy-in from any builder on an application like this, but I think this one is really starting to get it. Hopefully the design will be suitable for this style of siding.

Mramsey - I know you're in my area - let's be sure to arrange a visit at the time of installation if/when we move ahead with our projects.

LOVE it! It looks great!

I just erased a whole paragraph on getting the screws aligned. You said you pre drilled. So nevermind!

I just put hardibacker on an interior wall with aluminum flashing behind it. Just decor..Huge pain..super heavy! I pre drilled the panel AND the wall so that was a nightmare...it worked though with a little tweaking.

Hardi Panel is pre primed also..very different than hardibacker.

Did you seal over the painted surface?
What kind of paint? Plain ole exterior paint? Would you mind sharing the color you used?

Answer when you can..I'm sure you're busy!!

Just plain old exterior latex. As I understand it, latex is a must as it allows the material to breathe. The color is American Traditions Almost Charcoal from Lowes.

Good to know I'm not the only one who likes the look. Thanks everyone. The more we get done, the more I love it.

My galvalume is finally on site, and we're looking forward to hanging it over the upcoming weekend. I should have new, improved pics soon.

My latest quandry is whether I should flash the windows in galvanized or colored metal. Basically, this would cover the black, bituminous waterproofing membrane that is presently visible around all the windows. So it would be the white window frame, flashing, and then the silver accented gray siding.

As always, I will welcome your opinions!

How did you do your corners?

love the hardi panel! was it installed just over weatherproofing sheets and plywood? how did you seal the vertical and horizontal joints? thank you

I haven't gotten to trimming the corners yet. I'm either going to an L profile piece of flashing or Galvalume corner trim pieces...I have to try both and see what looks best, but I think anything that can be bent or comes in an L profile would work for our application.

Because our home is ICF, none of the typical waterproofing issues that exist with a wood framed structure are present. The exterior finish is intended to be placed directly over the exterior face of the blocks. ICF construction does not require Tyvek or exterior sheathing/plywood.
The horizonal joints are flashed with the standard profile galvanized Z flashing intended for the product (ususally covered by battens...or is is boards?), but in our case left exposed.
The vertical joints I will cover with galvanized strip material. Hardi says to caulk them which I may or may not do.

We're thinking about re-siding using fiber cement. Does anyone know of any other photos online of contemporary houses using fiber-cement planks/panels than already mentioned in this thread? Hardie and Certainteed's sites only have pics of traditional houses.

In the Oct/Nov 2005 issue of Dwell, the My House article features a home in Dayton, OH that uses lots of HardiPanel on the exterior.

We'll be using HardiPlank siding for about half of our exterior (the other half will be stucco). The City of Oakland requires a 1 hour fire rating for exteriors in our area, and we were very surprised to discover that HardiPanel/HardiPlank products are not fire rated. They are described as non-combustible, but they have no UL fire rating. As a result, we'll have to put sheetrock behind all the HardiPlank surfaces, which was a very unwelcome surprise expense.

Splatgirl,
your house looks wonderful. I love both the install and gun metal gray (one of my fav colors)...

Does anyone know the price difference between stucco and hardiplank installed? I am in the process of designing and building a home which we were planning finishing in stucco but after getting our pre-pricing back we now need to look into other options. Could someone tell me, as a percentage, how much cheaper hardi board is than stucco?

I first saw the cement board used in on a modern home in Dream House (HGTV). Where the owner used a board that came from the factory with like rust finish, which I really like but not for my house. When I looked on the hardi web site their colors were very limited (I guess most pain them) but does anyone know where to get factory finished boards?

Thanks. I had forgotten about this thread. I need to post some updated pics now that our exterior is finished. It looks really cool but pretty much every single stranger that comes over, including the building inspector, asks what are you going to put on the outside? And then when I tell them that is the siding and that it's cement board, they say Oh, so you're going to paint it then?
Sigh. Minnesotans. They just don't get it.

I priced the materials for cementicious (not acrylic) stucco that we would have DIY'd. If I remember correctly, it was going to be in the realm of $25K JUST FOR MATERIALS. Acrylic stucco is even more.
In comparison, We installed ~130 sheets of Hardipanel that cost $25 bucks each. Then add $1K for A LOT of stainless washers and screws and $150 bucks for paint. That's less than $5k in materials. It was, however, a huge amount of work to install but that was mostly due to our application and having to pre-drill all the screw holes.

Look in the phone book and make some calls. You should be able to get an installed cost per sq/ft. for both pretty easily.

Mcas, pricing for stucco varies so much regionally, it's hard to pin it down. In the Southeast, it goes for as little as $8/SF(!!!). I routinely price it at over $14/SF including metal lath (Balto/DC). I can assure you that $8/SF stucco is not high quality work.

You can go to the library and look at the RS Means books to get a good idea. Theat are flawed however in that they only come out annually. LAbor supply changes significantly throughout the year (costs go up in the summer).

Someone recently asked Does anyone know of any other photos online of contemporary houses using fiber-cement planks/panels than already mentioned in this thread?

Lorcan O’Herlihy, an Architect whose home is in one of the Dwell TV programs, talks about his design optimizing the use of 8 x 4 hardipanels. In the same town, Venice, CA, I have seen new townhomes clad in it, painted blue and yellow.

You can see Lorcan's house at http://www.california-architects.com/content/profiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profilearchitect=2309lang=e

his being the one called the Vertical House.

Peter