About this blog
Hardie Siding Near Chicagoland is a small, independent blog written by a handful of people who spend a lot of time looking at houses. Some of us came from the trades, some from journalism. None of us sell siding for a living, which is why this site exists — there's a lot of marketing copy about fiber cement out there, and not as much honest writing about what it's actually like to live with it through a Chicago winter.
What we write about
Mostly hardie board siding — that's James Hardie's fiber cement product, which has quietly become the default on a lot of replacement jobs in Chicagoland. We cover installation, cost, color choices, what holds up in our weather, and what to ask a contractor before you hand over a deposit. We also branch out occasionally into related siding topics when they come up.
We try to keep things specific. National blogs talk about “the climate” in vague terms; we'll tell you what we've seen happen to north-facing elevations in Rogers Park or what the lake-effect salt does to homes in Hyde Park. That's the kind of writing we'd want to read.
Who writes here
Articles are signed by the Editorial Team or Editorial Staff. That's a small group of contributors who rotate based on the topic — some are former installers, some are home inspectors, one is a retired architect who can't stop noticing siding problems on her morning walks. We don't put individual bylines on most posts because it isn't really a personal blog; it's a working notebook.
What we don't do
We don't sell siding. We don't take payment from manufacturers or contractors to write favorable coverage. When we link out to a local installer, it's because we've watched their work and we'd be comfortable recommending them to a neighbor. When something doesn't work, we say so.
How we work
Most of what's on this site started as notes from job sites, conversations with installers, or questions from homeowners who wrote to us. We update articles when we learn something new — pricing, product changes, things we got wrong. If you find an error, send us a note via the contact page.