Why Hardie – Low Maintenance
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The problem:
Let’s dream for a minute.
You hire a contractor to replace your current siding with a generic fiber cement. Because their material is not prefinished, the contractor pays a painter to paint the siding after it’s installed.
Fast forward five years.
You walk outside to get your mail and you realize that your siding does not look as good as it did the day it was installed. Who do you call? Most likely, the contractor. The contractor comes to your house and agrees with you. Who does the contractor tell you to call? Most likely, the siding manufacturer. The siding manufacturer comes to your home (good luck) and says “No, no, no. It’s not the siding. The siding is great. The paint is failing. Call the paint manufacturer.” The paint manufacturer stops by your house and tells you “No, no, no. It’s not the paint. The paint is great. It’s the way the paint was applied. Call the contractor.” You call the contractor again to get the phone number for the painter. Guess what you find out after you call the painter? They are no longer in business!
While this sounds eerily similar to the plot of your favorite horror film, we have seen this story play out with homeowners entirely too often during our years in the industry. You may be thinking to yourself, “There must be a better way.” There is!
The solution: Hardie’s Color Plus Technology
James Hardie offers factory finished materials that provides homeowners with two primary benefits.
Single source warranty – If anything were to happen to your siding, there is one neck to strangle. Hardie offers a streamline warranty process designed to protect the investment of homeowners.
Superior paint finish – You would not want to paint your car in the driveway. Why would you paint your siding once it’s already on the wall?
Here’s how it works:
- Hardie’s factories set the perfect conditions for paint adhesion. No dust, no dirt, no wind and ideal humidity levels.
- After the environment is perfect, they manufacture the fiber cement.
- Time to paint! Two coats of primer are applied to the siding. The primer is specifically formulated for fiber cement adhesion. You can’t buy this primer on the market.
- Next, three coats of paint are applied. The paint is specifically formulated for both adhesion to the primer and to fiber cement. You can’t buy this paint on the market.
- Now we have painted siding. Time to supercharge the finish! They subject the material to a poly-annealing process, in which the siding is heated to 250°. The color is literally baked into the board!
The final product is the lowest maintenance siding in the world. Color plus comes with a 15 year warranty and it lasts around 20 years. For comparison, cedar siding needs to be repainted every 5 to 8 years, generic fiber cement needs to be repainted every 6 to 9 years, and primed Hardie needs to be repainted every 10 to 12 years.
Re-siding with Hardie allows you to spend less time maintaining your siding and more time enjoying its enduring beauty.