Pine siding?

[Mel Fulks]

Concerning the engineering specs,those decisions are not just made by engineers. There are always others at the table including contractors and sales reps for competing products. I just googled it to be sure. In the decades I have worked I haven't seen any change in it and I believe some of the mentioned comparisons may be to long leaf pine which is sometimes found in houses of the 20th century.Some civil war period church paneling and such looks much like yellow pine available now.I think the biggest change is just in how it's used.Like slab cut locally produced YP siding listed in catalogues as "beaded on one side ,and can be be turned either way". There is one useable side ,the bark side.

[Chris Padilla]

Stucco...or is that just here on the west coast? It is spendy to put up but it sure lasts. Lots of new apartment buildings going up near my work and they are all stucco. However, I guess stucco is pretty closely related to cement siding.

[Todd Burch]

Stucco doesn't do so well, long term, in a humid, wet climate.

[Curt Harms]

Stucco...or is that just here on the west coast? It is spendy to put up but it sure lasts. Lots of new apartment buildings going up near my work and they are all stucco. However, I guess stucco is pretty closely related to cement siding.

I'd guess stucco is pretty fire resistant though I don't know if that's an issue in the bay area.

[Peter Kelly]

Stucco doesn't do so well, long term, in a humid, wet climate.

Seems to have worked well as an exterior finish on homes in Britain. No shortage of wet weather there...

[Jim O'Dell]

I did my shop with the Hardi board planking 7 years ago. It takes paint very well, and is holding up just fine. I installed it myself. I tried to follow the installation instructions pretty close, except that I caulked where the next board touched the one it was installing against, and I used screws counter sunk slightly right above that joint as well as at the top of each new board per the instructions. It's amazing how you can hide the "holes" with some caulk and a putty knife!!!! Paint over and they are gone. The real wood trim at the entry door....not so much. Rotted out at one lower corner the second year. Need to take it out and replace it with the plastic stuff. Jim.

[Art Mann]

Stucco doesn't do so well, long term, in a humid, wet climate.

Several years ago, we had friends in Miami, whom we visited often. That is a very humid place. There were vast neighborhoods of houses constructed of concrete block and stucco. It was rare to see any other type of exterior construction. Many of these houses had to be 30 or 50 years old. They appeared to have held up pretty well to me.

[Jim Andrew]

I installed prefinished hardie board siding on my daughters house about 6 years ago. Problem is cutting the stuff. Borrowed a shear and it worked well, but sawing it with an abrasive blade is a real pain, the dust is horrible. I top nailed it, so the only nails that show are the top piece below a window, and the top row against the soffit. The lumberyard recommended roofing nails, which worked very well, think we used 2". I cut pieces of felt to put behind the joints, just stapled them on so they go between the courses, to make any water run to the outside that leaks between the joints, also put caulk on the end of the joints before putting up the next piece. Also put caulk on the corners and windows before installing. Then caulked again afterwards. That way you have caulk between the corner or window and the siding. Nobody has complained about the siding I installed. And still looks like it did when I finished.

[Todd Burch]

Several years ago, we had friends in Miami, whom we visited often. That is a very humid place. There were vast neighborhoods of houses constructed of concrete block and stucco. It was rare to see any other type of exterior construction. Many of these houses had to be 30 or 50 years old. They appeared to have held up pretty well to me.

Ah, stucco over concrete block is not what the issues have been with here. Stucco over stick framing here is the issue.

[Ben Hatcher]

I miss my stucco over stick frame house. It was so quiet inside. Do any of you have comparisons between the sound deadening of stucco versus fiber board? The vinyl I have now drives me nuts when it rains hard. It is like being in a tent.

[Alan Bienlein]

Forget the pine. Why not go with acoya?http://www.accoya.com/

[Thom Porterfield]

Todd,

I sided my house and shop with Hardie plank siding, and Hardie board panels (to simulate stucco). The shop was built in 2000 and the house in 2003. To date, I have had absolutely no failures of the exterior envelope of my buildings that can be attributed to Hardie cement fiberboard products.

My previous buildings (on the same site) had beveled pine siding. Unfortunately, they were installed with the planed (smooth) side out, rough sawn side in. There was no way paint would stay put on the south facing walls. I repainted that stuff so often I could write a treatise on which paints do not stick on planed pine siding. It'd be a short treatise; one word: "none." I believe that had the siding been installed rough face out, paint would have lasted longer than a year, but how much longer is hard to say.

In the 10 years since installing Hardie siding products, I have had NO paint failures anywhere. Okay, so the red cedar trim needs repainting now. I can live with that.

I can't say enough good things about cement fiber siding. In your climate, warm and humid most of the time, installing the stuff over stick frame, I would provide a ventilation path behind it in front of the building wrap. This means furring strips, but worth the effort for a nearly maintenance free product.

[Jason Roehl]

What Thom said ^^^--with one addition. Furring strips are an excellent additional step for ANY paint- or stain-grade siding in a warm and humid climate (including the MidWest).

[Jamie Buxton]

Forget the pine. Why not go with acoya?http://www.accoya.com/

Can you actually buy the stuff? How much does it cost?

[Alan Bienlein]

Can you actually buy the stuff? How much does it cost?

I have no problem getting it and there are numerous houses and commercial buildings using it here in Houston.