Replies

1. 
   MojoMan | Jul 31, 2004 05:28am | #1

   In the long run, the easiest way is to start at the top and take it ALL off. This stuff is notorious for falling apart. I think there was a class-action lawsuit over it.

   Try ripping off as much as you can, and then stick a flat bar up under the first soild course right at the nails and try to pry up the nails enough to expose the heads and then draw them out with the bar or a claw hammer using a block to protect the piece you're trying to save.

   If the nails won't come out without damaging the siding, you could try punching them in with a nail set. Fill the holes later.

   Al Mollitor, Sharon MA

1. 
   Luka | Jul 31, 2004 07:57am | #7

   This is the stuff that I told an employer, was going to cause them a world of hurt if they used it.

   They went ahead and used it anyway, and it nearly cost them the company.

   The best solution here is to hit all of it with the garden hose and watch it fall off. Then replace all of it. LOL

   "Criticism without instruction is little more than abuse." D.Sweet

2. 
   DanH | Jul 31, 2004 05:32am | #2

   It's not too hard to work a bar under and pry the courses loose. Start under the top course you plan to remove, vs the first course you're leaving, and work at it until you get the edge of the "staying" course loose enough to get the bar under it without damage.

   This all works out best if the siding is face nailed. If it's blind nailed you'll probably need to loosen two "keeper" courses, and you may want to invest in a shingle thief.

1. 
   MojoMan | Jul 31, 2004 05:40am | #3

   I love the term "Shingle Thief." I first heard my mother use the phrase many years ago. It's got to be one of the all-time great tool names.

   Al Mollitor, Sharon MA

3. 
   Fonzie | Jul 31, 2004 05:47am | #4

   This solution doesn't apply to every situation, but I have had success in some cases by cutting the course horizontally (just below the good course) with a circular saw set just short of full depth through the siding.  When the defective siding is removed (below the cut), it is fairly easy to reach up under- first with a flat bar- then with a long fine recriprocating (bimetal blade) saw and cut the nails. 

   (Might want to just try a small run until you have a working model.) 

4. 
   dIrishInMe | Jul 31, 2004 06:05am | #5

   Replace the bad courses with cement board siding.  There is a good chance that you can find a cement board (Hardy?) that is very similar to the hardboard siding you have.

   The thing about this hardboard siding is that the paint job must be meticulously maintained and re-paints are needed often.  It's all about water penetration.

   Matt
1. 
   DanH | Jul 31, 2004 06:57am | #6

   Yeah, the failure of this siding is partly the fault of the siding manufacturer (most often NOT Masonite -- the term "Masonite" is erroneously applied to all hardboard siding), and partly the fault of the paint.

   The earlier hardboard siding generally was tempered at least on one face, and reasonably impervious to water. But ca 1970 they began producing a non-tempered siding. It held up pretty well when painted with oil paint or with conventional latex paint, but about the same time flat latex "stain" was introduced as an alternative to regular paint.

   The flat latex (eg, Olympic Overcoat) was easier to apply and didn't (supposedly) require a primer when applied to hardboard siding. But unfortunately, it didn't shed water either, but let it soak right through. The combination of the two -- low density, non-tempered siding combined with flat latex -- resulted in a disaster.

1. 
   dIrishInMe | Jul 31, 2004 07:46pm | #8

   >> Yeah, the failure of this siding is partly the fault of the siding manufacturer (most often NOT Masonite -- the term "Masonite" is erroneously applied to all hardboard siding), and partly the fault of the paint.  <<

   And partly the falt of the homeowner who is not willing to buy a repaint every 3 to 4 years.  Not that I would want to paint that often, but it's the old pay me now or pay me later - less expensive to install (there-by keeping the cost of the house low), but high maintenance costs.Matt

1. 
   DanH | Jul 31, 2004 10:06pm | #10

   The houses on our block were built between roughly 1970 and 1978, and were all sided with low-densitiy hardboard. In fact they all were sided with what appears to be exactly the same stuff -- 10-in wide "rough sawn" hardboard. One house (probably the oldest) way at the top of the block was painted, close as I can tell, with conventional latex (and possibly primed first). The rest were painted with Overcoat or some similar flat latex. That one house still has it's original siding, while no other house on the block does.

   When we resided 11 years ago we put up Masonite tempered "Woodsman" siding. Painted with BM's exterior paint (Mooreguard?). Repainted last year, and didn't find any signs at all of deterioration anywhere. (For several years after residing we kept finding small scraps of the new siding in the bushes up next to the house, where we'd used them under the scaffolding legs. Even though they had been laying in the dirt for 2-3 years they were still in good condition.)

   Of course, due to the disaster of the 1970s low-density hardboard siding (and flat paint), hardboard siding in general has gotten a bad name and is hardly used any more (except on really low-end homes) even though you can find houses that were sided with the stuff in the 40s and 50s and are still in good shape.

2. 
   rjw | Jul 31, 2004 09:14pm | #9

   Don't forget to mention that it is/was rarely installed according to the manufacturers requirments.

   I don't think I have ever seen a composite wood siding where they installers left the nail heads proud of the surface, and there is almost always swelling around the sunken nailheads from moisture penetration

   A few sites on siding class actions:

   http://www.masoniteclaims.com/

   http://www.weyerclaims.com/qa.html

   http://www.lpsidingclaims.com/

   "It is as hard for the good to suspect evil, as it is for the bad to suspect good."

   -- Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE)