I had Hardie lap siding installed less than two years ago. Our installers made a special point to tell us to not caulk the joints. Although, my siding is the primed version in which my understanding is that Hardie says flashing behind the joint is preferred because it looks better and doesn't require maintenance, but caulking is acceptable.
Anyway, recently a painter caulked the joints in my siding. The twist...I didn't hire the painter, he started work on my house by mistake (he was hired to paint another house on my street that looks similar). The people that hired him caught the mistake before more work was done.
Since then, I have reached out to siding companies, including the one that installed our siding and have not gotten any answer other than the caulk can maybe be removed, and no interest in providing an cost estimate for what they think it would take to address it. I have also contacted Hardie to ask about the warranty, they said this would not void the warranty. I also asked about the possibility of warranty voiding damage caused by removing the caulk, in particular if a knife damaged the flashing, and the Hardie guy only said he had heard of that happening.
So, right now, it looks like I'm stuck with either accepting the caulk and likely future increases maintenance and/or degraded appearance, or risk having the painter remove the caulk (assuming he is still willing) and risk the possibility of underlying damage being done and also the possibility of incomplete removal still causing future maintenance issues and/or degraded appearance.
If I had hired this painter, I could live with this because much of the fault would be mine, but I didn't, and I want the cost of replacing the siding+painting it. I don't want to take on any risk, no matter how small. Am I wrong for this?
Asking the painter to remove the caulk and repaint would probably cost him a day of a work and maybe a few hundred bucks, if that. Asking him to pay for replacement would cost him probably at least $10k and probably $15k+ (he claims to be insured, so the real cost to him is probably much less). Im well aware that is a big ask for an honest mistake, but I believe it is the only solution that guarantees my siding is just as good as before. This could also lead to a lawsuit, which I'm not sure I can afford, and am not confident the facts will support my case for replacement cost rather than "try to remove the caulk and hope for the best" cost.
Anyway, recently a painter caulked the joints in my siding. The twist...I didn't hire the painter, he started work on my house by mistake (he was hired to paint another house on my street that looks similar). The people that hired him caught the mistake before more work was done.
Since then, I have reached out to siding companies, including the one that installed our siding and have not gotten any answer other than the caulk can maybe be removed, and no interest in providing an cost estimate for what they think it would take to address it. I have also contacted Hardie to ask about the warranty, they said this would not void the warranty. I also asked about the possibility of warranty voiding damage caused by removing the caulk, in particular if a knife damaged the flashing, and the Hardie guy only said he had heard of that happening.
So, right now, it looks like I'm stuck with either accepting the caulk and likely future increases maintenance and/or degraded appearance, or risk having the painter remove the caulk (assuming he is still willing) and risk the possibility of underlying damage being done and also the possibility of incomplete removal still causing future maintenance issues and/or degraded appearance.
If I had hired this painter, I could live with this because much of the fault would be mine, but I didn't, and I want the cost of replacing the siding+painting it. I don't want to take on any risk, no matter how small. Am I wrong for this?
Asking the painter to remove the caulk and repaint would probably cost him a day of a work and maybe a few hundred bucks, if that. Asking him to pay for replacement would cost him probably at least $10k and probably $15k+ (he claims to be insured, so the real cost to him is probably much less). Im well aware that is a big ask for an honest mistake, but I believe it is the only solution that guarantees my siding is just as good as before. This could also lead to a lawsuit, which I'm not sure I can afford, and am not confident the facts will support my case for replacement cost rather than "try to remove the caulk and hope for the best" cost.