Hardie plank siding help!

[rafew50135]

Any hardie plank siding experts here? I have a 10 year old house with hardie plank siding. I've recently noticed some issues along some of the edges of the siding. In case it matters, it's mostly on the north side of the house (which gets less direct sunlight). It could have been this way for years and I only noticed now or it could be recent. But is this normal for 10 year old siding or is something going on here that needs attention? See pictures please.

 

[Sparky617]

Off hand it looks like you're due for a fresh paint job. How long has it been since you had the house painted? Is this the builder's paint job? Your joints between pieces of siding and between the siding and the trim all need caulking. The joint between two pieces in p7 has no caulking. When you get the house painted, they'll need to power wash it and caulk all the joints. As to the edge damage once it is clean you could close up the edge with a little caulking. For paint I'd highly recommend going with a satin finish instead of a flat. That cleans better and provides a bit more protection.

 

[rafew50135]

It's never been repainted in the 10 years since the siding has been installed. The original siding was pre-painted. I appreciate the response. It sounds like it's not much of a concern and can be resolved the next time I get the house painted.

 

[Sparky617]

It's never been repainted in the 10 years since the siding has been installed. The original siding was pre-painted. I appreciate the response. It sounds like it's not much of a concern and can be resolved the next time I get the house painted.

Factory finish, not site painted? I'm not sure how long the factory finish lasts. Longer than a builder's special though. I'm coming due for a paint job on my 23 year old Hardi-Plank. I had the original builder job repainted after 8 years and it has now been 15 year with a better quality paint, hand applied versus spray.

 

[rafew50135]

yeah it was factory finished. I know there was a special term for it but can't seem to find what they called it 10 years ago.

 

[jjredmond71]

yeah it was factory finished. I know there was a special term for it but can't seem to find what they called it 10 years ago.

James Hardie Color Plus comes with a 15 Year Labor and Material Warranty. This would be more a manufacturer issue than labor, but good luck in JH admitting to the issue you have. I can almost promise you that they will push the responsibility on the contractor who installed it, and it is not their fault. Only fault the contractor has here is they should have been a bit more diligent in choosing what panels made it on the wall.

The issue you have looks to be the result of straps holding the siding on the pallet it was stored on before it was installed. Not much you can do other than make sure those areas are properly painted to seal water from intruding further.

 

[Sparky617]

James Hardie Color Plus comes with a 15 Year Labor and Material Warranty. This would be more a manufacturer issue than labor, but good luck in JH admitting to the issue you have. I can almost promise you that they will push the responsibility on the contractor who installed it, and it is not their fault. Only fault the contractor has here is they should have been a bit more diligent in choosing what panels made it on the wall.

The issue you have looks to be the result of straps holding the siding on the pallet it was stored on before it was installed. Not much you can do other than make sure those areas are properly painted to seal water from intruding further.

I think you're on to something, the damage looks like that was a top piece on the stack and the strapping damaged the end. All the contractor had to do was install the edge up and it would have been covered by the piece above. I'd probably just caulk the damage to seal it up and call it a day. You might be able to get a small test sample of paint color matched to the siding to touch it up so it isn't so glaring.

 

[jjredmond71]

I think you're on to something, the damage looks like that was a top piece on the stack and the strapping damaged the end. All the contractor had to do was install the edge up and it would have been covered by the piece above. I'd probably just caulk the damage to seal it up and call it a day. You might be able to get a small test sample of paint color matched to the siding to touch it up so it isn't so glaring.

James Hardie does make Touch-up Kits for all of their Color Plus colors. I would reach out to your nearest Hardie supplier and a grab a tube.
Hard to see accurately in the photo but it looks like either Arctic White, Navajo Beige, or Cobblestone.