PVC (Azek) vs Cement Board (James Hardie)

**gioberg11** · 05-07-2010, 09:00 AM

I am building a house in the Cleveland, Ohio area. I am debating between PVC and James Harding siding. One subcontractor told me that Azek absolutely shrinks at the joints, 1/4 to 1/2 inch over time.

A supplier told me that James Hardie shrinks and that Azek does not. The supplier sells both Hardie and Azek board.

Has anyone seen a third party review of these products? Links? Websites?

Thank you in advance,

Brian

**Greg Di** · 05-07-2010, 08:09 PM

Wow....Anyone????

**JMS BUILDERS** · 05-07-2010, 08:25 PM

Originally Posted by gioberg11

I am building a house in the Cleveland, Ohio area. I am debating between PVC and James Harding siding. One subcontractor told me that Azek absolutely shrinks at the joints, 1/4 to 1/2 inch over time.

A supplier told me that James Hardie shrinks and that Azek does not. The supplier sells both Hardie and Azek board.

Has anyone seen a third party review of these products? Links? Websites?

Thank you in advance,

Brian

Brian,
being we are rather close to your vicinity feel free to give us a call and perhaps we can point you in the right direction. We would be happy to help if we can.

My bet is we will be more helpful via phone than you will receive in these fora.

**RooferJim** · 05-07-2010, 08:41 PM

Azek is great stuff, we use it all the time. just glue your joints.

Rooferjim
www.jbennetteroofing.com

**J.Buesking** · 05-07-2010, 09:16 PM

Azek will shrink before Hardie any day. Hardie has came along way since the early days. Most of the other fiber cement's have fly ash and are more prone to shrinking. The Hardie contains no fly ash and is on there 7th generation of board. Most of there competitors are using the same formula as there 3rd generation.

Both are good products if installed properly.

**ThingOfBeauty** · 05-09-2010, 10:23 AM

I don't get it. Siding with Azek?

**Joe Adams** · 05-09-2010, 10:33 PM

I wondered the same thing.

**gioberg11** · 05-10-2010, 06:40 AM

Thanks for all the replies.

Not "Azek Siding" but Azek board used for soffit, fascia, and frieze board.
James Hardie makes an "Exterior Trim" product for soffit and fascia too.
So I wanted to compare Azek's trim products to Hardie's trim products.

**gioberg11** · 05-10-2010, 06:41 AM

I realize I wrote "siding" in my first message but I meant exterior trim.

Brian

**mike maines** · 05-10-2010, 11:44 AM

Cellular PVC does not shrink over time--it shrinks when the temperature drops. Sometimes pretty significantly. Properly glued and screwed, it's fine.

**JMS BUILDERS** · 05-10-2010, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by mike maines

Cellular PVC does not shrink over time--it shrinks when the temperature drops. Sometimes pretty significantly. Properly glued and screwed, it's fine.

Introduce moisture into that scenario and can't say for sure its fine. Had a corner of a 1x8 break off at a 45* angle due to moisture behind and a dead spot. Not a lot of fun to remove your own installs ;( Roofer ran the ice and water behind the fascia and then put drip over it. Water ran under the drip and behind the fascia froze and snapped the sucker off. Sounds elementary but a fun head scratch-er with 3 foot of snow back in 08.

Bottom line is the install of anything is in the details. Each circumstance is the same and different making our trade the true oxymoron of professional tradesman-ship. Learn something new every go around, or you just aren't paying attention.

**ThingOfBeauty** · 05-10-2010, 09:34 PM

I also cracked an Azek fascia board by nailing through it with a gutter spike, I think the rafter tail was a bit soft so the azek bounced around a bit.
However, on the bright side, all my Azek made it through the 3' of snow including the gutter in question.
Live and learn.

**joedavis** · 05-11-2010, 06:42 AM

It's not fine....up here in Minnesota (-30 to 100 F) there have been instances of "properly glued and screwed" azek blowing apart due to extreme contraction on long runs of fascia. As with any material, you have to understand it's limitations, and how they relate to your particular situation and climate.

As an additional altermative, look into miratec.

**JMS BUILDERS** · 05-11-2010, 07:33 AM

Originally Posted by joedavis

It's not fine....up here in Minnesota (-30 to 100 F) there have been instances of "properly glued and screwed" azek blowing apart due to extreme contraction on long runs of fascia. As with any material, you have to understand it's limitations, and how they relate to your particular situation and climate.

As an additional altermative, look into miratec.

Nice point Joe,

Miratec is a great product for some applications

**mike maines** · 05-13-2010, 11:54 AM

I've had a few joints pull apart on long runs of fascia, and at inside corners. The problem at inside corners is that it's hard to get a good glue joint. On the fascia, part of "proper gluing & screwing" would be to use two screws every 12-16" with extras at each end and through the joints, which should be scarfed.

You also need to adjust how much extra length you use when snapping the trim into place after getting the joints fastened, depending on the weather. When it's 90 out you add more than when it's 30 out. When you get down into the single digits you don't want to add any extra length because the PVC will expand.

Installing PVC properly is a pain in the butt. We don't have the temperature extremes that Joe does; it rarely gets below a balmy -10 here or over a cool 95, and maybe those extra degrees do matter. I'd like to try Miratec sometime, it sounds like a great product, but in the meantime we've stopped trying to trim houses with PVC and gone back to good old real wood. It has its own limitations but everyone is familiar with them.

Jason, that does sound like an interesting head-scratcher.

Thread: PVC (Azek) vs Cement Board (James Hardie)

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