Hardie Pictures

[Joe Carola]

I went to a lumberyard today and saw that they installed Hardie on their walls and saw that a lot of the joints were opened and the bottoms of the courses were all opened and wavy. I measured it and the courses were 7".

I'm trying to figure this stuff out do to the last thread on this stuff and what I saw today. Now I realize it's only one place but this place raised a big red flag as to WHY this is happening.

1) Why are the butt joints opening? Maybe because there not nailed on the studs?

2) Why are the bottoms opened and wavy? Could that be because there not nailed on the studs or crooked and bowed walls?

We'll never know because we weren't there when they installed it but is this what happens when not nailed on the studs?


Has anyone seen Hardie look like this before?

The Hardie on this building was installed 1-1/2 years ago. I'm working down in south Jersey in Rumson and the guy I'm working with knows a lot of houses that have the Hardie on it and I will go look at some of them.

[Tim Uhler]

Re: Hardie Pictures

I went to a lumberyard today and saw that they installed Hardie on their walls and saw that a lot of the joints were opened and the bottoms of the courses were all opened and wavy. I measured it and the courses were 7".

I'm trying to figure this stuff out do to the last thread on this stuff and what I saw today. Now I realize it's only one place but this place raised a big red flag as to WHY this is happening.

1) Why are the butt joints opening? Maybe because there not nailed on the studs?

2) Why are the bottoms opened and wavy? Could that be because there not nailed on the studs or crooked and bowed walls?

We'll never know because we weren't there when they installed it but is this what happens when not nailed on the studs?


Has anyone seen Hardie look like this before?

The Hardie on this building was installed 1-1/2 years ago. I'm working down in south Jersey in Rumson and the guy I'm working with knows a lot of houses that have the Hardie on it and I will go look at some of them.

Joe,

That is horrid. I've never seen Hardi in person that looked that terrible. I'll try and get by the houses we sided with Hardi about 10 years ago. I think I remember the first house we used that stuff on and I can get pics. I was just graduating high school in 1996 when we switched over to Hardi from LP Hated the dust, short lengths, dried out my hands, heavy, etc. We just finished siding a house with LP and man what a dream that was.

If it was my house, I'd probably do cedar or board and batten. I like craftsman style :-)

[Joe Carola]

Re: Hardie Pictures

Tim,

I couldn't believe what I was looking at when I saw it either. I went inside and was asking the guy at the lumberyard what the hell happened and asking a million other questions and he started getting pissed at me. So I told him that what are you going to do if customers start asking you why it looks that way, your selling this stuff and it's right there on the front of the building and the entrance way.

I took a picture of the siding running up the roof also and just the 7" exposure.

[James Eggert]

Re: Hardie Pictures

Just a quick guess or two.
Currently Hardie does not support 7" exposure without bottom nailing.
I do have 7" exposure without bottom nails installed in 97 and don't have this issue. At the time we used ring shank roofing nails, per Hardie, which provided more holding pressure than small siding nails.

I would suggest a call to the Hardie Rep who would want to see this corrected.
Hopefully Mark Pardee will jump in here, he's installed a lot of Hardie and has answered a few questions for me and others!

[teasea]

Re: Hardie Pictures

joe
I have had this problem with hardy plank as well
it would seem to stem from the way it is stored
it retains a memory

[Carl Sperry]

Re: Hardie Pictures

The joints are form not nailing on the studs or the nail has pulled through.

The gaps are from over nailing & not shimming. I have blind nailed 7" FC siding many times & never had a problem.

I find it alarming to hear that Hardie is now recommending face nailing 7" exposure. It's too bad that they did not do some research with their product. They say one method is "ok" then a few years later they change their minds. Take the roof exposure. It was 1". Then it was 1 1/2". Now it's 2". Pretty soon they won't allow roof installations. Hey Hardie make up your mind.

[Andrew R.]

Re: Hardie Pictures

I find it alarming to hear that Hardie is now recommending face nailing 7" exposure. It's too bad that they did not do some research with their product. They say one method is "ok" then a few years later they change their minds. Take the roof exposure. It was 1". Then it was 1 1/2". Now it's 2". Pretty soon they won't allow roof installations. Hey Hardie make up your mind.

I used the beaded 7" exposure and facenailed it on my own house. Due to having the bead, a 1/4" above the groove was the likely place to nail and was barely catching the lapped piece. If you nail in the groove then the bead can break off. If you nail on the bead then the bead almost always breaks off. If I had to do it all over i would drop exposure to 6 1/2". When the nail slips up above the lap it generally includes your hammer hitting yor fingers.

[TSJHD1]

Re: Hardie Pictures

It's obvious that Hardie has been adjusting the methods of installation. It used to say right on the package to use a nail with a .375" head when blind-nailing. Now they allow smaller.

This stuff is not as problematic as some are making it seem. But it has to be done right, and that includes many things: Storage, Framing Quality, Nailing, Gapping, Flashing, Exposures, Painting. Learn and implement proper techniques, and it will perform very nicely.

Tom

[ARMHAMMER]

Re: Hardie Pictures

I will agree with tease and Carl on their points. I had a lot of trouble on a residing job when we removed the old siding and tried to install Hardie siding with a roofing gun over "builders board". Could not get it to set even and made the wall look like crap. Removed and then hand nailed, was a pain but looked good and no call backs. 7 1/4 exposure and blind nailed.

[TSJHD1]

Re: Hardie Pictures

A couple of pics from an older job. Very old farmhouse-wavy walls, inconsistent stud layout, etc. Still turned out nice, but it's not perfect.

Tom

[TSJHD1]

Re: Hardie Pictures

Since this stuff will not always lay tight against the previous course, I don't like how the paint looks when you look up the wall. The paint only bridges the smaller gaps, so you see inconsistencies, which I personally don't like. I was just the siding sub on this job, so it wasn't my call. I would vote for the pre-finished product, unless you were going to face-nail.

Two shots of the same wall. This was the worst wall framing-wise on the whole house, but I still think it turned out well. And no I did not do the kick-out flashing like I should have. But I do now. (Hmm, the G.C. never got that return like he said he would. Progress got stopped due to divorce.)

Tom

[Bill Robinson]

Re: Hardie Pictures

http://www.fortifiber.com/other_solutions_products.htm

Fortifiber has a couple of products that will straighten out walls.
I use them and see them in quite a few homes.

Sure helps to get the Hardie to lay flat.
Bill R

[TSJHD1]

Re: Hardie Pictures

http://www.fortifiber.com/other_solutions_products.htm

Fortifiber has a couple of products that will straighten out walls.
I use them and see them in quite a few homes.

Sure helps to get the Hardie to lay flat.
Bill R

I got a product too. It's called an electric plane. It was used on that house. Old 7/8" random-width boards for sheathing.

Tom

[Tim Uhler]

Re: Hardie Pictures

It's obvious that Hardie has been adjusting the methods of installation. It used to say right on the package to use a nail with a .375" head when blind-nailing. Now they allow smaller.

This stuff is not as problematic as some are making it seem. But it has to be done right, and that includes many things: Storage, Framing Quality, Nailing, Gapping, Flashing, Exposures, Painting. Learn and implement proper techniques, and it will perform very nicely.

Tom

We used to use roofing nails to fasten Hardi and bottom nail with hand nails when it wasn't flat. Then we hired a guy to do our siding in house and then he quit and I've never seen those roofing guns since.

We are having a blast with LP
though :-)

[TSJHD1]

Re: Hardie Pictures

Tim,
I think you need to be doing a little less standing around and talking, and a little more working. :>

Tom