Replies

1. 
   DDay | Dec 16, 2007 07:50pm | #1

   I only have experience with the hardie lap siding but I seriously doubt you would have problems with rattling. The siding is so stiff, if installed correctly it would not move. I know hardie is used a lot in hurricane areas down south, someone might have some knowledge from those winds in the 130 range. If you had any concern, you could put a few dabs of caulk behind them. Only dots, don't do a continuous bead and create a drainage issue.

   If you have not looked into them, the hardie shingles are very expensive, I've heard they're around $400 per sq.

1. 
   badlybent | Dec 16, 2007 08:54pm | #2

   Yeah, expense is a consideration, and we have looked into it. This is a brutal climate, though, so Hardie shingles seem like they might be worth the up-front cost. Everything that can rattle around here will. I lie awake at night and listen to the various sounds the bunkhouse (read "shack") we're living in now makes. The garage doors bang, windows whistle, the dryer vent opens and shuts, siding creaks (antique barn siding, in this case), and so on. I heard a rumor (unverifiable) that a neighbor's garage door imploded on a recent windy night. We're talking SERIOUS wind. The caulk sounds like it might help in the short run--but what happens down the road when it dries up?

1. 
   Jim_Allen | Dec 16, 2007 09:04pm | #3

   I've seen Hardie installations that would most certainly flap in the wind. They were improperly nailed. The most common nailing mistake is to place the nail too high up on the hidden plank. This results in a loose installation that will flap in the wind. The installers do this because they are trying to make sure that their fasteners won't be exposed but they get too sloppy with their placement to effectively hold the siding tight.Blind nailed Hardie siding requires a very specific location of the nails to properly bind the siding to the substrate and framing. In your case, I would require a wider headed nail than normal and also require that the fasteners be placed in every framing member. I'd ask for the exact specifications of the nailing pattern be written in the contract.The reason I'd be requesting that is because I attended a Hardie installation seminar and was told that fastening to the sheathing satisfies their warranty. Your conditions are considered "high wind" conditions and you need to be a little more demanding than "meet warranty requirements". Hardie may have some high wind warranty requirements that I don't know about. Maybe others will chime in. Repeat for emphasis: get the exact nailing pattern, including fastner specs and location, in writing. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07

1. 
   badlybent | Dec 16, 2007 09:22pm | #4

   Thanks for your input. We will certainly contact Hardie as to nailing patterns, fasteners, etc. We'll most likely be putting this siding up ourselves (we're GC's, building our own house this time around). We've got experience with Hardie-plank--it's the shingles that are new to us, and the @#$%ing wind. Also, being new to town, we don't know who to ask for advice. Folks at the various lumber yards haven't been overly helpful.

1. 
   Jim_Allen | Dec 16, 2007 09:41pm | #5

   Please, I don't want to steer you wrong. I thought we were talking about 8" lap siding. I don't have any experience with Hardie shingles but I suspect that the same ideas would apply. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07

2. 
   MikeSmith | Dec 16, 2007 10:42pm | #8

   we've done about 10 installations.... all blind nailed...

    no flapping

   if i were concerned, i'd increase the lap

   say... go with 5.5" exposure instead of  6"

   we use a 1 3/4" HDG Maize roofing nail for all our blind nailing, and we hand finish any that look suspect

   we also snap ( mark ) all our stud locations so we attempt to make our nailing fall on studs  ( 16" )Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

3. 
   Jim_Allen | Dec 16, 2007 11:06pm | #9

   Mike, I pondered the suggestion to decrease the exposure. I then remembered that it yielded unsatisfactory results for me when I attempted your suggestion on various applications where I needed to adjust the exposures on lap siding. The steeper angle caused the gap at the bottom of the siding to increase and gave it a look that seemed to indicate that it wasn't well nailed. Your suggestion merits a little experimentation. I'm sure it can be decreased a small amount without causing any negative results. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07

2. 
   WayneL5 | Dec 16, 2007 09:53pm | #6

   I had Hardie shingles on a home in upstate New York.  Though we do not get winds over 60 mph or so, the shingles never rattled.  Recently I moved into a spec home in another location.  Of the dozens of homes and apartments I've lived in throughout my life this is the first home (believe it or not) that has vinyl siding.  One of the things I noticed very early on is that vinyl is the noisiest siding of any I've ever experienced.

1. 
   Jim_Allen | Dec 16, 2007 10:02pm | #7

   Vinyl allows wind to get behind it and it can grab loose bits of Tyvek and make it buzz in a very annoying fashion. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07

3. 
   alwaysoverbudget | Dec 16, 2007 11:08pm | #10

   i think hardi is a great siding and in your case the fire resistantance would make it my #1 choice. i  would think about doing the 8.25 on a  6-6.5 exposure or the 12" on maybe a 9.5-10 exposure and that would let me drop the nailing pattern a little lower. i was thinking someone sells a screw to put up hardi also that would tighten it down!  also  you could face nail it maybe  every 4' and dab a little caulking on it. larry

   if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?

4. 
   jigs_n_fixtures@icloud.com | Dec 16, 2007 11:14pm | #11

   Absolutely avoid wood shingles and shakes if you are trying to build fire resistant. 

   Also, please fill out your profile so we know where you are. 

   In the high wind a board and batten approach might actually work better as a means of attaching the siding. 

   
   

   ---

   Edited 12/16/2007 3:20 pm ET by Jigs-n-fixtures

1. 
   badlybent | Dec 17, 2007 01:15am | #13

   We're in lovely, windswept, Livingston, Montana. It doesn't rain a lot here, so wind driven moisture is not our biggest concern. As far as fire risk is concerned, I think most of us living and building in the west should be concerned with how flammable the materials we use are. That is the number one reason why we're looking at Hardie. I wouldn't be surprised if fire insurance becomes a big issue out here. We'll be using a metal roof, also.

1. 
   ANDYSZ2 | Dec 17, 2007 01:51am | #14

   You know the foam board between the runners may be a bad idea with fire possibly melting or igniting it.

   What does code say about your installation methods?

   ANDYSZ2WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?

   REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST

    

5. 
   ANDYSZ2 | Dec 17, 2007 12:21am | #12

   If I was dealing with that much wind I would be concerned mostly with water driven in the cracks.

   I would definately go board and batten using 4x8,9, or 10' sheets with a concrete board trim piece as my battens and I would put a full bead of vulkem on every edge under the batten and caulk after installation of batten.

   I would also run nailers horizontally with a 1' gap which I would fill with foam board and then a rain screed before putting on the panels.I would lay out my nailing pattern so that all fasteners are hidden behind battens.

   ANDYSZ2

   WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?

   REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST

    

6. 
   fingersandtoes | Dec 17, 2007 04:57am | #15

   Since seeing a post by NEXTLEVEL I have started using deck screws to secure Hardieplank siding. It snugs up the overlaps and eliminates waves. I don't know what Hardie says about installing this way, or what it does to the warranty, but it is a lot tighter and not that much slower.

7. 
   larrainez | May 19, 2013 07:26pm | #16

   Yes.... siding rattles in the wind

   We have just build a high quality modular home, and we have Certainteed lap siding, (cement board siding like Hardie).   It DOES rattle in the wind.   We are also in the west and have terrible winds, like you have reported, and just this afternoon when standing in our master bedroom, you could hear the freight train sound of the siding rattling on the side of the house.   We haven't closed on the house yet, nor moved in, but this is a problem tha twe need to get rectified.    If we had it to do over again, we would STUCCO the house.   We had stucco on the last home and had no issues.

1. 
   semar | May 27, 2013 11:47pm | #17

   Hurraahhh for stucco.

   Never  had a problem with that exterior finish. Qiet, no firehazard problem, longlasting

   It is a timeless fashion.

8. 
   ranchello | Oct 26, 2023 02:25pm | #18

   I have some sort of cement siding on a duplex that I bought and it rattles SO loudly in the wind I cannot sleep in the bedroom. I'm wondering what anyone would suggest as a remedy? Someone in this thread mentioned using Vulkem caulking for another reason but I'm wondering if caulking on the underside of each siding board would hold and help?

9. 
   dmacavoybuilder@aol.com | Oct 26, 2023 05:56pm | #19

   I would most definitely get someone that is certified to install Hardie siding and a representative from the company will in fact come out to check the process that way you made sure you get your warranty. I'm sure you're getting the pre-painted.siding and remember any cuts have to be sealed with the paint Hardy sells it to match I just finished doing 35 square and there seems to be no problems. Just make sure you caulk around your windows and doors and gabel ends and most definitely they make sure they hit the studs