LESLIE: Claudia in Alabama is thinking about doing some remodeling and we’re going to see if we can help her.
Claudia, what are you doing?
CLAUDIA: We’re going to replace the masonite siding on our house.
TOM: That’s a good thing to do, Claudia. The masonite siding doesn’t stand up too well, does it?
CLAUDIA: No, that’s what we found out.
TOM: Yeah, do you have that Louisiana Pacific product?
CLAUDIA: I believe it is.
TOM: Yeah, that was part of a big class action suit; that compressed, composition siding material. You know, if it was installed perfectly it was OK but the problem is that it usually got over-nailed and the paper surface would rupture and you would get water in there and the whole thing would turn to oatmeal.
CLAUDIA: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
LESLIE: Oh, no.
TOM: So what are you going to replace it with?
CLAUDIA: Well, that’s what I was calling about. We had checked on vinyl siding and my father was telling me about a product, and he didn’t know what it was, that supposedly had replaced the masonite siding. And he said it was about the consistency of concrete.
TOM: Yeah, that’s called hardy plank and it’s great stuff. In fact, I have a pallet full of hardy plank sitting outside my house, as we speak, to go on my garage. It is a concrete siding product, it’s s cementitious product, and it’s available in a lot of different styles. It’s available in clapboard that kind of looks like old-fashioned clapboard, which is what vinyl siding is designed …
LESLIE: So it’s pressed to look like something else.
TOM: Correct, yeah. Yeah, I say concrete siding but it really, literally is in different shapes. And what I’m putting on my house is – mine looks like cedar shingles, where you can actually see the cedar shingle panels, and it’s pre-painted at the factory so that I don’t have to paint it after I put it up. Yeah, it’s good stuff. It’s not cheap but it’s really sturdy, sturdy stuff.
CLAUDIA: About, in price, how does it compare to vinyl siding?
TOM: It’s going to be more expensive than vinyl. How much more expensive, it’s probably going to be – oh, I don’t know. I’ll probably get in trouble if I guessed at this but I’m going to say it’s probably going to be 50 percent more money than vinyl siding. It’s certainly a lot more work to put up.
CLAUDIA: OK. Well, thank you. I have been trying to find someone locally that knew something about it.
TOM: OK, Claudia, what you should do is this. Go to JamesHardie.com. That’s James-H-a-r-d-i-e.com. That’s the manufacturer of hardy plank siding. And you can see there, on the website, all the different types of siding that’s available and that is that concrete siding that your friend told you about.
CLAUDIA: OK, then. Well thank you very much. I appreciate that.
TOM: You’re very welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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