10 Most Common Install Errors with James Hardie Siding …

Experienced Edmonton Hardie board installers know that messy caulking is the easiest and fastest way to ruin a perfectly good Hardie exterior.

You probably know that Hardie siding is made of fiber cement, which requires installers to take care when cutting to make sure that they dont breathe in small sand (silica) particles. Continued exposure to these particles can lead to severe long-term health issues for workers if it isnt managed correctly. Once the Hardie siding is installed, there is no health risk for the homeowner from silica.

The other issue with James Hardie dust is that it sticks to ColorPlus paint. James Hardie developed ColorPlus paint so that it sticks very well to fiber cement. That means that if installers dont wipe dust off the Hardie right away, the dust can settle and start to stick to the paint. The longer the dust sits on the board, the tougher it is to remove.

Luckily, this issue is pretty easy to solve. Contractors should make sure that their cut station is outfitted with a clean cloth so the cutter can wipe the dust off right away. Another option is to suggest that the contractor use a dust free fiber cement tool, like a shear or a guillotine.

Reducing cut dust is good for the health of the workers as well as the look of your home!

Almost all nails and screws have some kind of rust-resistant coating, but they are not all created equal. Hardie board comes with a 30-year manufacturers warranty, but that means you need the nails to last at least that long too. James Hardie recommends that nails be hot dip galvanized or stainless steel. Anything less and the nails may start to rust, leading to stains on your beautiful siding. Even worse, siding could start falling off!

When your installers are getting started, make sure you take a look and confirm that the nails they are using are at least hot dip galvanized, not electro-galvanized. It should say right on the box.

This one isnt a mistake so much as a pet peeve of mine, but it still can make a big difference in the look of your home.

Most of the Hardie Trim installed across Canada is flat and smooth, and installed with finish nails. If the installers do a perfect job of driving the nails flush and touching up, Hardie Trim with finish nails looks fantastic.

In practice, this is very difficult for installers to do. Hardie Trim has grooves on the backside to give it more strength when workers are carrying it. This means that in some places on the board, the nail has about 20% less material to get through. This can lead to the finish nails sinking into the board.

When the nails countersink, it leaves a hole that the installer either has to fill or paint. Since every full Hardie Trim board should have at least 18 finish nails, you can expect between 5 and 10 nails per trim to countersink and leave a mark.

To solve this issue, James Hardie came up with a hidden fastening system for their trims. Installers can staple aluminum tabs to the back of the trims and then nail the tab to the wood sheathing on the wall. They will still need to use the odd face nail to make sure everything sits tight, especially around windows, but Hardies trim tab system can eliminate about 90% of all face nailing on a normal house.

There are a few reasons why a contractor shouldnt use tabs. For example, if you are planning to replace your windows a few years after replacing your siding, tabs will make the trims much tougher to remove. For most people though, trim tabs give a more predictable result with smooth trim.

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10 Most Common Install Errors with James Hardie Siding ...