What does the house look like?

The smooth and textured are completely different products, that is, the difference is not one is smooth and one is textured, but the are manufactured from different materials.

I understand the differences in how they are made, one's a 'fiber' vs a 'strand' products. House is a tudor (that we are trying to eliminate) with 1st floor all wrapped in brick. I understand that most are using the cedar product for both trim and siding. Looking for advice if smooth shows imperfections more so than the cedar

I'm struggling with same problem...but I think smooth is it for my project--but my builder is having trouble ordering it.......Apparently everything in Oklahoma is "rustic" with the cedar texture...but I just see that red Oklahoma dust settling in all the grooves. Someone said "Think about the old wood lap siding they used long ago.... It was planed smooth. The texture only developed over years of weathering." but the LP texture is very nice. However, my building is a large plain tall rectangle so I'm trying to keep the finishes simple. Any idea which way you'll go? or did you already decide?

I've worked with both.

The smooth (11" exposure) being a fiber product seems to need face nailing to keep it flat. A more typical 7" or less exposure should lay down without problems. It also is prone to sagging during storage, and taking a set. It's often set on several boards on the ground and if not enough boards are used, tends to sag between them, and slightly deform.

The strand based textured product is much more rigid, and stronger. From an installation perspective, I prefer it to the smooth fiber product.

We've ordered 8" smooth lap and smooth trim and I' m taking time off from work to be on site as QC as needed during installation. "No rework....just fix it now"

I'm tired of settling for different materials because of workmanship levels!

I am very concerned because we chose the LP smooth siding and it looks very wavy, lots of gaps underneath. The contractor works mainly with the textured and I can't tell if it is an installation problem or something else. The boards were out in the rain and sagging on the wood horses they placed them on. Could this have permanently bent the boards? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

You shouldn't see gaps even if the siding was blind nailed (nailed only at top with lap covering the nails). Yes, the storage methods can effect the final quality. I would let your contractor know you are concerned and ask them what they intend to do to fix...at no additional cost to you..

My smooth siding was installed on vertical furring...so it would have been even more likely to go wavy because there is a 1/2 inch air gap behind the majority of the siding. My contractor focused on shimming the furring strips so that the boards stayed true and installed flat against the bottom piece. A slight waviness can be seen if you stand on the corner and hold your head just right but it so slight... and hardly noticeable as you walk/drive around the structure.

Tmpurdue how did it turn out? we’re going through the same decision right now.

Are people getting the primed more vs the ones already with color? Not liking the colors so want to do custom paint. Anyone have any problems with painting them.

Mine is painted and it looks beautiful. I didn’t like the colors that were offered.

So LP has recently come out with smooth lap siding that is strand not fiber. The old fiber smooth was not marketed (or warranted) in my Pacific Northwest region but the new smooth strand is. Does anyone have any experience with it? We definitely want smooth for our project and Smartside would have some advantages over HardiePlank which has dominated the region (in particular the 16' lengths will avoid need for butt joints for most of our project - we have lots of 14' to 16' straight runs). But the smooth variant of LP strand being so new gives me pause.

Thanks Bill for posting this. We are in a similar situation with our project. Hoping to understand durability and quality of smooth strand.

Can't say any more, ended up going with HardiePlank but mainly based on the 8" exposure we wanted to align with other aspects of the project, LP has fewer exposure options.

I'm also looking to go the smooth, apparently they discontinued the fiber smooth so strand smooth only now. What's also frustrating is they don't have the "series 76" any longer, only the "series 38'' in smooth which is thinner so less shadow lines. .315'' vs .375'' in the older series 76. When looking at the photos above it's impossible to know which series (thickness) is used.

Hi there - any further thoughts on the newer smooth product vs textured For smartside? Thanks!