We follow hardie board siding the way some people follow baseball — closely, and with a lot of opinions about what works on Chicago's bungalows, two-flats, and post-war ranches. No sales pitch, just notes from the field.
You search for a contractor, three companies call you back within an hour, and somehow the one with the slickest website charges twice what the guy with the 2010-era site does. We wrote down what we ask installers before signing anything — and which answers should make you walk away.
Most failures we look at aren't the product — they're the fasteners, the laps, or somebody who skipped the flashing. A short list of the ones we run into most often.
Hardie holds up well, but “low maintenance” isn't “no maintenance.” Here's what we recommend looking at each spring and fall, plus the one thing most homeowners forget.
We collected real numbers from homeowners across the North Side, Berwyn, and Oak Park. The range is wider than you'd think — and a lot of it has nothing to do with the siding itself.
From the dumpster showing up on a Monday to the final touch-up of caulk a week later — what we've seen on dozens of Chicagoland jobs, and what surprises homeowners most.
Why Arctic White looks great in Edgebrook and washed out in Pilsen. Notes on color choices for our brick-heavy neighborhoods.
Freeze-thaw cycles, ice dams, salt spray on lakeshore homes. What we've watched perform — and what hasn't — over five winters of looking at hardie installs.
Drive through Naperville, Wheaton, or Park Ridge today and count the homes wrapped in hardie. Ten years ago it was different — here's how the shift happened.
It's not just price per square foot. We break down the comparison the way an honest contractor would over coffee, including the parts the brochures skip.