3 Common Installation Issues with James Hardie Siding

Owner, Clifton Muckenfuss, answers the question: What are some critical first steps that contractors miss when installing James Hardie siding?

1. Caulking above hose bibs, light blocks, etc. - THIS IS A NO-NO, and traps water behind the cladding!

2. Clearances - proper clearance for Hardieplank siding above blocks, doors, etc. 1/4" (some markets / geographic areas may be different, so check your local installation guidelines)

3. Pin-Backs / Touch Ups - pin back are used for aesthetic purposes only and designed to reduce bowing caused by irregular wall framing. Touch ups should be done using a James Hardie supplied touch up pen and in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications.

[davidhughes]

To those familiar with the cement board product this video was spot on but to someone trying to understand you need a visual comparison of acceptable vs unacceptable on same video to simplify the educational process! Some of us have no clue without yet another visual!

[brendencarlson]

Notice this install…it is against Hardie specifications to not use authentic James Hardie nails and specialized James Hardie plastic shims and James Hardie authentic caulk and James Hardie flashing and James Hardie touch up paint and James Hardy contractors and James Hardie houses located within the perimeter of a James Hardy owned municipality. The violation of any of these requirements will void your warranty. Thanks for using James Hardie. We reserve the right to change or augment our specifications at any time. Or, you can use cedar or brick. Thank you for your time.

[mkl]

It's great when a product comes out and has to revise itself 20 different times throughout the years, it's so helpful.

[madcowusa]

I have 19 year old Hardie plank and Hardie individual shingles (old pattern) on my house. I caulked the butt joints and caulked above the trim blocks of the hose bibs and lights with OSI Quad and have had very little issues. The butt joint caulk needs a little touch up every 7 years or so, but otherwise I see no problem at all. Live in western WA with 55 inches of rain a year and often have weeks of winter with 99% humidity outside. I paint it every 10 years with Sherwin Williams Duration. Good product, even when not installed to ever-changing specs. edit: I face nailed many planks and shingles to get it to lay flat using 15ga. finish nails set deep and caulked over - no issues nearly 2 decades later.

[brianliebel]

I’ve been installing siding for 42 years, vinyl and cement fiber. I install aluminum strips behind each butt joint and overlap the row below, just like they use to do with the old cement shingle siding. (Tar strips) No caulking of but joints necessary, and no water penetration possible.

[Sailoralso]

The Hardi Plank siding, , pre coloured, , was originally sold with both the touch up paint AND the broad nose applicator. that Hardi applicator left touch up marks exactly as you see there. The new applicator is a tiny tip. It delivers a single drop of paint for the nail heads. Throw the old broad applicators away.

[indirabayne]

Would have been great to have a pic of what it should look like.

[DownTheRabbit-Hole]

I am pretty sure, outlets, vents, bibbs, should all be treated with flashing on the top edges, just like a window. No cauliking on flashingThe flashing should be under WRB. This allows water in liquid form to escape from behind cladding and WRB fullfills its function. The colorplus has touch up paint with exact match. Pinning is sometimes necessary. If between nailing surfaces I use very small stainless wood screw which holds well to underlayment. And yes I pilot hole and countersink. This allows for fine adjustment. I cover with Dri dex or acrylic cement to hide.

[cutator]

I have James Hardie Siding and Trim. I have been very happy with it. Its been on for 17 years. I had it painted after 11 years. I have replace after 15 years some of the trim areas with AZEK.

The Trim and Fasica boards as well as the Hardie siding will succumb to moister and water or snow over time if it cannot drain off and dry. Its not an install issue or issue with caulk. Its just an issue with the way these few areas sit and now snow and moister hit those areas. For example its around copulas and dormers. The left side that faces the sun and warms and dry's has never had an issue, the right side of all three both the plank board and the trim had to be replace from water damage. Really its was just accumulation of snow and it sitting up there on that side for days, weeks and this year about a month, but over several years it finally caused the boards to chip and expand and start to fall apart. Keeping out the moisture like in all products is key. Once moisture finds it way into the board it will deteriorate. Expecting it to happen again, I replaced the trim with AzerTek, it appears identical.... and made sure I really sealed up the Hardei board so I know I get at least 10 years .. but more this time...

[pouchy]

Great video. I’m planning on doing the switch from vinyl siding to James Hardie. My question is do you have a video of a project home with those 3 issues being correctly done?

[darrenromig]

My wife and I are actually looking at a log home that has Hardie Plank on the outside to preserve the logs and cut down on the maintenance of the logs. Is there things we need to look for or should catch our eye when looking at the siding? We want to make sure it was installed properly. Thanks.

[alexanderdeclercq]

That siding looks to be the same as mine with the terrible touch-ups, I use iron grey JH90-30 touch up on those spots and then used a magic eraser to take off the slight shine to match my 5 year old siding. The spots are now almost invisible.

[cdawg]

So 1/4 inch clearance and then caulk? I think with my experience with hardi plank is sometimes they dont lay flat against wall. So the only thing that can be done is put a nail / screw in towards the bottom of the plank to pull it in. I admit it looks bad but It is either that or have some of the planks sticking out when you sight down the wall. Have you had any problems with wind getting under the plank and blowing them off? I live in a high wind area, 50 - 90 mph santa ana winds in so cal, . is common

[jamesfox]

Great video, Clifton. Excellent info. I believe I have James Hardie Siding and I am getting a lot of cracking at the butt joints and also many planks are cracking where they have been nailed on the corner. Was this perhaps an improper nailing method or improper nails used? I have this issue on just the east and north side of my home. West side and South side appears to look good. I am in Interior Alaska as well. House is 10 years old. Perhaps the extreme cold does play a fact in this as well. Thank you.

[wendyjaramillo]

What about the cocking in the joints. I think you Miss out made a mention something about it. To me needs to be cocking too.

[kennethvaught]

So an installer told me that JH says they should also face nail when on 1/2 OSB. Is that your understanding? I certainly do not want touch up paint over nail heads at every joint area

[bonnenaturel]

In my state professional installers are never used. They pick up undocumented people from other countries with no training and they are shown briefly how to use nail guns, etc. Therefore there are no good installations. I spent a fortune and had people who could not speak the language so I could not communicate with them. I showed them how they missed studs completely for siding because my interior wall was down for repairs. I was ignored and the row of nails was finished missing the rest of the stud entirely. I try to do all my own work because of this because at least I watch YouTube videos before I attempt installation.

[ThreePhaseHigh]

Mine was installed by the best people, but they’re long gone and no one around here has been able to answer my questions

[barbaradykema]

Have any of you used ben moore 100% acrylic exterior paint on your Hardie board? Did it hold up well? Or did you have any problems?

[denoca]

What do you recommend for attaching Comcast cable to exterior of Hardie Plank!