Siding - Old School Meets New School

With winter approaching I needed to get the back of the house sided ASAP. Up to a week before I took on the project I still didn't know what materials I would use for the clapboards - cedar or cement board. I had talked to a few people who used the Hardiplank siding and were very happy with it. You get the best of both worlds, looks like clapboards unlike vinyl siding, has a fire rating, holds paint better than natural wood, and has a 50 year warranty. I located a Lowes not to far that actually stocked the hardiplank in the reveal I needed and at around $5.00 for a 12 ft. piece I was sold. Plus it is pre-primed too.

First step was to trim out the windows, corners, etc. in pine. Next I had to find where my starter would go and mark this line around the addition, then nail on strips to kick the piece out at the bottom - the first piece doesn't overlap anything, so would lie flat if the strips were not installed. I was now ready to start installation. Special blades are required to cut the boards, and found that multi purpose blades worked just fine and cheaper then the recommended blades. This stuff will kick up a lot of dust so mask and glasses are a must. My neighbor hooked me up with some scaffolding which definitely cut the install time in half, especially working by myself. I had to fabricate holders since I was doing this myself, and with long pieces that will easily snap, found that no way could I hang it accurately holding it from the middle. Here is what I came up with:

I would nail these at both ends, the first upper lip holds the piece being installed and the lower lip catches on the next piece down giving me the correct reveal every time without measuring each time.

I used standard roofing nails for the install and actually was not to challenging a job. I had taken pics of the process but some dumb ass left the camera on his truck bumper and drove to the store later that night! So here are the final results. All primed, just need to caulk and paint, which will be my first outside spring project. Manufacturer says you have 120 days - I may clean and do one more prime coat over everything though. Then bottom drip board will get done when I figure out what to do with stucco bottom, it's not level all the way around and sticks out further then the siding since all the layers of siding have been removed. I'm thinking of removing the stucco and doing a brick veneer. The deck will cover most of it.