LP Smart Side and Smart Trim Opinions?
cargin
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
All
Have any of you used LP Smart Side or Smart Trim?
I will be doing a garage addition and I was planning on using hardie lap siding.
For the corners I wanted to use Azek trim boards. The yard estimator said most guys around here are using LP Smart Trim. (OSB type product with special resins so it doesn’t swell like OSB.)
Anyway I would appreciate any comments based upon your experiences.
Edit. I also have a lady who wants us to replace 4′ x 9′ sheets of Masonite siding with 8″ dados. The masonite has gone bad. Options are LP siding with wood grain and Hardie panel with wood grain. I’m thinking LP siding would be a hard sell to someone with swelled Masonite.
Thank You
Rich
Edited 6/2/2008 10:38 am ET by cargin
Replies
I have a hard time with any LP products, given their past problems!
frammer
I have read posts about problems but i don't have any experience with smart Trim in the past or present.
Thanks for the reply.
Rich
Rich,
I've used the trim product for shadow boards and things like that. It's nice to use, and I haven't seen any sign of decay or swelling at all. A neighbour sided a garage with smart side a couple of years ago. It looks perfectly fine, too. A lot like Hardi. He liked using it, no special tools, no dust.
Todd
Qwkbrnfox
Thanks for the input.
Like i told frammer, i have no experience with it.
I have used 5/4 cedar for trim boards in the past when I used Hardie lap siding.
Rich
there is a vinyl product like azek, but less, I thing it is a forest product co. product.
Comes in corners to 20', preformed, works well. I will try to find.
Universal Forest Products, look under trim.
frammer
Thanks, I will look it up.
Corner pieces here are a Certainteed product or Azek. All special order.
But again no 1st hand experience.
Last few years most siding jobs have been vinyl siding, or Hardie with cedar trim.
Rich
Rich
I used this product 6 years ago when they started making, good product, does expand and contract, simular to azek.
Universal forest is a good co.. On the web site they will tell you the closest dealer to you.
The Universal Products are also sold underthe Veranda brand names at some Home
Depots. There is another company that some guys up here (Northern Ohio) use
thats basically the same stuff as Azek and its Vesatex. Heres a link
http://www.versatex.com/
We used "PrimeTrim" for our fascias when we resided about 18-20 years ago. It's similar to Smart Trim and has held up well -- far better than wood.
If the hardboard has enough resin in it it will hold up very well, and the stuff is much easier to work with than Hardi. No experience with PVC, so can't compare to that.