Hi Guys.
Have a look at this:
http://dekrail.ca/privacyoptions.htm
…and scroll to the bottom.
A friend of mine is considering this, but I think it’s a bad idea. FC is a great advancement in siding, but in this case the panel will be sitting in a channel that will eventually fill with water. Once FC is in direct contact with water it eventually turns to porridge. Not good.
Thoughts?
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Replies
With enough drain holes in the channel it shouldn't be that wet. Won't last forever, but what does? Certainly will hold up a lot better than many wood options.
My thought is ... how does that material resist a lateral load? Seems like code may require a minimum structural standard for safety railings/ballusters (it's acting as a balluster, really). The issue would be if a short person fell against it, would it simply break and allow them to fall through?
Like other thoughts ... no issue of water and such as the piece of wood holding it may have more issues than the material itself.
>>>The issue would be if a
>>>The issue would be if a short person fell against it, would it simply break and allow them to fall through?
Good point. FC isn't very resistant to lateral loads.
>>>no issue of water and such as the piece of wood holding it may have more issues than the material itself.
It's actually aluminum, but I have no idea if there are drain holes.
I threw a scrap piece of Hardi into a bucket of water years ago. The strip of Hardi was about 2in wide & 18 in long. Half in, half out of the water. It was there at least 5 years, through many cycles of freezing / thawing / baking in the summer heat. Never got the least bit soft. It looked like the wetted part of the strip might have swollen a little bit, but it was really minute. Never put a caliper on it to measure the difference, though.
Isn't that interesting? My scraps of Hardi left out in the rain last Fall turned to mush after two weeks in the rain, laying on the ground. The only reason I know this is that I had the job of picking up scraps after the crew left. I could easily fold pieces up for putting in garbage bags.
Mine is the genuine Hardi product with the Weiss factory paint.
Maybe it's a difference between Hardi five years ago and Hardi now.
Can't imagine why that would be. I still find small scraps of Hardi around my shed that I sided with Hardi 4 years ago. They've been buried in leaf mulch since then in hot, humid, wet south Florida and are as hard as they ever were. About 6 months ago I tried to break a piece about 4 feet long that has been under my garbage cans on a concrete slab for the same 4 years. Just about hurt myself breaking it.
Is there a difference in material between hardi siding and hardi board? Even the displays of hardi board are small pieces submerged in water. I have a few scraps of hardi board sitting in an old trash can full of water. I don't notice any difference in them. I've also got a piece of hardi board covering the crawl space access on the back of my house. about 3 inches of it are in the dirt. It's been there for about 5 years now, and it's not deteriorating. I'd be more worried about it being strong enough to not break in half if someone leans on it.
>>>Is there a difference in
>>>Is there a difference in material between hardi siding and hardi board?
Good question. I'm wondering the same thing.
It could work but...
I'd be inclined to sandwich some plywood between two layers of the siding panel. Leaving the ply just shy of the Hardy edges would give a good channel for loading up with your favorite 'forever' caulk (might be a good way to test). It would answer lateral strength questions as well as be much less likely to break or have someone punch holes in. Granted it would be thicker but with the right frame around it, the 'panelwich' could work...