Rich,
I'm using the residential Hardie Soffit product right now under my
balcony instead of stucco. In my case, it is much lighter, cheaper, and
a do it myself product. I have the 12" x 12' Cedarmill and like it.
With the sheets of vertical siding on the Hardie Commercial site, you
will have seams, so need to plan how you cover them. If you have
imperfections in the building, they will also stand out more with a
uniform product like the siding. A skilled stucco person can make a bad
wall look good, so that may be a consideration. You also need to line
the edges of the vertical siding sheets on studs, which might be
wasteful depending on your framing. This wouldn't be an issue with
horizontal siding. Stucco doesn't care about uneven stud locations.
The commercial product you are looking at is 5/16" thick vs. the 1/4"
residential soffit product I'm using, but I'd be concerned about
durability/damage at a rental location that may be abused. If a stucco
wall takes a baseball hit or gets bumped by a car, I think there is less
chance that anyone will know compared to the Hardie siding. Hopefully
someone else on the list can speak to the durability of the specific
products you are looking at. One option might be to use the siding on
the upper level and stucco on the lower level. That way, you could run
the sheets vertical and not have any horizontal seams. You might even
be able to get higher rent if the place looks architecturally interesting.
The fiber cement product is brittle and needs to be carried on edge. I
snapped the first piece I tried to put up. I then used a long strip of
plywood to support the pieces as I lifted them into position. This
probably will not be a problem with siding, especially if two people are
doing the install.
They say you need to buy a special blade if you use a circular saw, but
I use an old fast framing blade. It makes lots of dust. I did wear a
respirator and safety glasses and recommend anyone sawing fiber cement
product do the same. I used a diamond blade in my jig saw for neat
rounded cuts around electrical boxes.
I ordered the primed, but not painted product. It paints nice, but
takes two coats of Behr Masonry/brick/stucco paint to cover it nicely.
The first coat really soaked in, so I think the claims about the paint
lasting are true.
Call around if you have an option with multiple dealers. I had very
different prices and delivery times. It turns out, the cheapest could
also have it is stock in two days vs. a week and 30 percent more for the
first place I called.
Brian
On 9/5/2012 7:08 PM, Rich White wrote:
> I know this isn't shop related, but Mark seems OK if we stray a little... My
> wife and I own a two story, four unit apartment building.
>
> It is currently stucco over lath. Due to years of neglect the stucco and lath
> are
> pulling free of the framing and we have been told everything will need to
> come
> off.
>
>
>
> We want to keep the "look" of the building. I found two types of vertical
> siding and what seems to be an updated version of stucco.Does anyone have any
> experance any of these
> products?http://www.jameshardiecommercial.com/index-all.shtmlhttp://www.certa
> inteed.com/http://www.dryvit.com/systems.asp?country_id=1
> Rich White Central, IL USA
> '63 TR3B TCF###L
> That ain't a scrap pile, that is my car!
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