Hardie Plank Options

[Brian in sunny FL]

Just wondering if anyone has any good and less expensive alternates to Hardie plank.  I would start with a detached building that is 14' of block plus roof trusses and is 40' x 50'.  The quote I got for Hardie was about $28K and I figured there may be other alternates out there that are similar in style but less expensive.  Really didn't want wood or stucco and have vinyl now.  I assume there are some wood furring strips already attached to the block for attaching the vinyl.

[rudedan60]

I live in WI near the twin Cities. When, I did my house 22 years ago I used Certainteed Weather Boards. You have to follow the same rules as Hardie board. At the time it was a lot less than Hardie. I now see that Menards has a brand called Allure. A 12" x 12' piece is $20.98.  before the 11% rebate. My buddy who did his block house insulated it with 2" Foam board and furring strips. His only mistake he made was to not use long enough nails to go through the insulation into the firing strips. He needed a 3 1/8" nail. You need to use full round head nails and a air nailer. He used my 2 1/4" nails that went through a 3/4" Sheathing and the weather board into my studs. Get the Gecko Siding spacers and a Fiber Cement Shear and a Clever (No dust for most cuts.
When working with the Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, MS rehabing houses they only use Hardie Board and the pre painted as well.

[Brian in sunny FL]

Thanks for the info, I’ll check those options out.

[R Clark]

I have three buildings with lap siding: Two are Hardie plank built in 2004; one is LP SmartSide built in 2020.  You have to get up close to determine that the lap siding on the newest building is different from the Hardie plank.

I am a fan of the Hardie Plank.  It has been very durable through severe weather.  We have suffered hail and wind damage to roofs, gutters, windows, and screens.  Accessories like hose hangers have been absolutely destroyed by hail and ripped from the house.  But the Hardie plank has held up very well.  I would be hard pressed to find a hail dent in it if I went outside right now to look for one.

When we had the third building built in 2020, I could have used Hardie plank.  However, cost was a factor, and the LP SmartSide looked almost exactly the same, including the embossed cedar lap grain on the surface.  I haven't been disappointed.

[DieselDennis]

My shop is sided with Nichi boards. Just another fiber cement board.

[Brian in sunny FL]

My shop is sided with Nichi boards. Just another fiber cement board.

I've seen those in my travels.  One thing Hardie does that others don't seem to do is sell primed.  Maybe that defeats the purpose of this material but would like my own color.

[Cabinet Monkey]

Lots of substitutes out there.   You asked for “cheaper” and I think you’ll find that a tall order to fill if your compared like for like.  

Hardie started as ( or is) the cheaper/faster /better product.   If you need / want cheaper cheaper than that , you ‘ll need to consider something else like vinyl.

[Just_Dave]

I have used the LP lap siding, Hardie, and Allure.  I put the LP on my garage probably 27 years ago.  The LP can warp so it is not unusual to have to face nail it with a finish nailer to get it to lay flat.  For obvious reasons that hole needs to be caulked to prevent moisture getting in to the wood.  It has held up well but I have noticed some slight separation at the edges on the south side when it is getting close to time to paint.  The south side takes the brunt of the weather so maybe that is expected?.  LP being a wood product offers no added fire protection.  
I put Hardie on my shop 18 years ago and then we did the house about 12 years ago.  The first thing I noted was that it was a dream to paint, and given I hate painting that was was the best part.  It has held up great.
Roughly 5 years ago my daughter needed to reside her house.  She wanted Hardie primarily because of how easy it painted, but also for the durability and added fire protection.  When I was shopping for pricing I discovered the Allure product.  It was about 1/3 less than Hardie, and had a better warranty (50 year versus 30 as I recall but do not hold me to that).  In researching the Allure product they have a recommended cut pattern that gives a fantastic look to the finished product and the best part is the joints do not repeat until the 9th row as I recall.  The cut pattern could be used for any of the products but at the time given the better warranty and lower cost it was a no brainer to go with the Allure.  The even better part, I just had to help get it installed, no painting for me on that.  FYI It did paint as well as the Hardie from what I was told.

[Brian in sunny FL]

Thanks Dave, I have never heard of Allure so that's worth looking at.  I have read the LP is harder to paint.  My designer helper wanted me to get primed Hardie and paint but I think Allure might have a color that will work.

When you said you heard it was easy to paint did they paint over the factory color or can you get it primed?  I didn't see a primed option on the website.

As far as trim, did you hear of any shortcomings in trim options for Allure?

[Just_Dave]

Brian,
I have used primed on everything.  As for painting the Allure that was all on the daughter.  Like I said I hate painting, I helped get it installed, she can paint it.  She said it was just like painting the shop and house.  For our house I recreated the original window trim since we had the windows replaced prior to doing the siding.  It all looks great but I still question my sanity in doing it.  
The shop, garage, and daughters house all have LP Smart trim.  It has held up surprisingly well on the south side of the garage.  I say surprisingly because it is a wood product and it still looks as good as the day it went up 27 years ago.  I would not hesitate to use it again.  I don't know that I would buy the pre-finished siding.  There is a house not far from us that they put the prefinished on, it looked great for about 2 years then a discoloration (for lack of better description) started showing up at the joints.  It took me a few trips past the house before I realized it was dirt that had attached to the caulk at the joints.  What made it worse was that the installers had wiped left and right so it was more than just the joint.  It looks really tacky.  I keep saying I am going to get a picture just because but the light has to be right for it to really stick out and I don't think fast enough when I am going by to stop and take a picture.  
I have used joint covers on all the siding I have done so I do not worry about caulking the joints and what that might look like down the road.  Of course the joint covers are not perfect in certain light either.