Whether you’re having an air conditioner or residing your home, the same rule applies: You can’t finish right something that was started wrong. Your choice of an installer determines not only how well a job is done, but how well the finished project will hold up over time. Here are five tips from Advanced Home Exteriors to help ensure your Hardie siding is installed correctly.
Easily avoided residing mistakes
Make sure the measure is right. It’s not a good idea to order your siding based solely on the square footages or trim by linear footages. Because Hardie needs to be broke on studs, it will result is slightly more waste. That’s why you shouldn’t subtract for entry doors, garage doors or windows.
Get off to a good residing start
Before your old siding is taken down, the contractor should check howe well the siding matches up on corners all around the house. If it was hung correctly and matches well, it’s easier to get a quick level line from the existing siding for your starter course—even if the previous siding is a different size. It’s a good idea to make reference lines after several courses just to make sure corners come out right.
Residing with Hardie takes a careful cut
Cutting Hardie with a circular saw generates a great deal of silica dust. You should plan on wearing a protective breathing mask. This dust can be minimized by using blades made specifically for Hardie. Of course, you can score and break. But, it takes longer and take a great deal of practice to get right.
Residing, caulking and butt joints
It’s not a good idea to avoid hanging cut ends in the middle of a wall. Instead, use factory ends-to-factory ends. A piece of flashing should be used behind any butt joints to minimize water intrusion. Treating butt joints with caulking is not a long-term solution.
Proper nailing for your residing project
Nails should be placed between 3/4’s of an inch to an inch below the top of the pieces of siding. Any closer and you’ll risk cracking or shattering your Hardie. Nails should be driven flush, but not countersunk in your Hardie. Whether your Hardie is hand-nailed or installed with an air-powered nailer is a choice of your installer just so long as they’re hitting every 24” on center stud.
The best way to get a proper residing project
Chances are you won’t be hanging your own Hardie. But, knowing how your installer is doing it is one way to make sure your residing project is done correctly. The best single thing you can do to ensure a smooth residing project is to choose one of our HomeShow Hardie Pros. They’re both Hardie Elite Preferred contractors with years of experience with residing projects just like yours.
