What exterior siding most resembles wooden planks painted white?

5 years ago

Hello all,

We lived in a historic home built in 1850 for 20 years, and the upkeep on the old wooden siding and wooden shutters was very expensive and seemed to need attention to find and replace sections of board (difficult, expensive and time-consuming to even find the timber and someone who knew how to do the work) frequently.

We finally got all of the various problem areas done and spent a LOT of money to slather the whole house with a number of coats of excellent quality white paint and sold and moved while it looked great! We agreed we'd never live in a wood-sided home again.

We then built a brick Georgian, and have loved it, but are going to move again and are planning to build another new house that looks like an old one. It will be a white Southern farmhouse style with double porches.

I'd love to know if Hardieplank is still the gold standard for exterior cladding if we want a real wood look and something that will hold up well to direct sunlight. We don't mind painting as needed, but don't want to have to deal with the rot issues that plagued us with the wooden siding of our old homeplace.

Is there some new technology that is better? Or go with the tested and true?

Thanks!

Featured Answer

User

5 years ago

My contractor (who has built for us before) still recommends Hardie. We are going with the Architectural series is smooth for some limited trim work and siding on dormers and bump outs. The rest of the house will be brick.

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Comments (9)

cpartist
5 years ago
We put Hardie up. Just make sure not to use the Hardie with the fake wood look because it looks...fake.
Nancy H thanked cpartist
jackson28
5 years ago
What about cedar siding?
Nancy H thanked jackson28
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Nancy H
Original Author
5 years ago
I'd really like to stay away from wood, even though I know cedar is very resilient.

(I also don't want to cover pretty cedar with white paint.)
K H
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Smartsiding is a wood composite. They have smooth siding prefinished in white. Their new smooth siding has the kinks worked out of it compared to their old product. One of the brands that prefinishes it in the Midwest is Diamond Kote.
Nancy H thanked K H
shivece
5 years ago
We used Everlast wood grain siding when we redid our old Colonial. We have several farm buildings and associated maintenance and didn’t want house painting added to the list. Most people think it is wood. Our restoration contractor was initially horrified when we suggested it, but once it was done he thought it looked great and said if he had known how good it looks he would have used it to redo his farmhouse.
Nancy H thanked shivece
Wren
5 years ago
Can I ask you what you decided on and do you like?
Joe Black
5 years ago
Maybe you could find some plastic panels? It is quite convenient in usage
res2architect
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Describe what you mean by "wooden planks".

Is the "architectural series" Hardie siding the Artisan Collection?

Artisan Hardie siding is smooth and 40+ % thicker (5/8 vs 7/16) than the regular siding so the corners can be mitered and the plank-like styles have a horizontal locking joint. The lap siding has a T&G end joint.