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    • Fiber Cement siding in New England Best Practices: Hire a professional Fiber Cement siding installer September 9, 2009
      The old cliché, judging a book by its cover, often times is true when it comes to siding on a home. If it looks cheap and fake it probably is, and if it looks beautiful and expensive it probably is too. But the question is this. “Is there a siding that looks beautiful and expensive, [...]
      Roy Melnick
    • Fiber Cement Siding Review- SHould I do it myself or hire a professional Fiber Cement Siding Installer? September 9, 2009
      There are many projects homeowners can do themselves, if they have a basic carpentry knowledge. Some are more ambitious than others and are capable of a lot more than the typical homeowner. Some homeowners install vinyl siding on their own and from the looks of it, may be a good job. But there are many [...]
      Roy Melnick
    • Winchester MA: Fiber Cement Siding or Cedar Siding, That is the question. July 8, 2009
      This beautiful property in the heart of Winchester MA had old cedar siding that simply would not hold paint. This home owner, like many, was planning to sell their home and wanted to update the failing siding before listing the property. Maximizing the value was the most important thing for this Winchester homeowner. Replacing windows, [...]
      Roy Melnick
    • A Shrewsbury MA Fiber Cement Siding Makeover July 2, 2009
      This Shrewsbury MA homeowner had 60 year old wide board siding that was just not holding paint. They also had no soffits leading to roofing failures as well. We had to approach this project as a full exterior shell conversion, replacing windows, roofing as wells as the siding. We were able to fully insulate the [...]
      Roy Melnick
    • Cedar or Cement?? The Great Fiber Cement Debate June 25, 2009
      There is a battle between purists and realists regarding the choice of using fiber cement siding or cedar siding. The purists want to preserve the natural beauty of wood and use the natural product on homes all over New England. The realists are looking for long term low maintenance. Done properly, you should be able [...]
      Roy Melnick
    • Stow Homeowners choose between Vinyl Siding and Fiber Cement Siding June 4, 2009
      The owners of this colonial in Stow MA, were not sure if they wanted high quality thermal core vinyl siding, or premium fiber cement siding to replace their current siding. Often times we find homeowners in this same predicament. Many houses in New England have vinyl siding for the sole reason of low-maintenance. It is [...]
      Roy Melnick
    • Going Green with Fiber Cement Siding Products May 27, 2009
      Going Green with Siding- Going Green with your home means being energy efficient, , using long lasting durable products and environmentally responsible. When it comes to your siding, you can take a large step in the right direction.  Today, the most popular options for siding are vinyl siding, wood siding or cementitious siding also known as fiber [...]
      Roy Melnick
    • How to make an Old Cape in Medford MA look Brand New using Fiber Cement Siding May 27, 2009
      In Medford MA, this family bought their first home with the intention of replacingthe exterior wood siding with new Hardieplank fiber cement siding and trim. They did a ton of research on products and companies and narrowed it down United Home Experts and another company. The problem was the current wood siding contained lead paint andthey just [...]
      Roy Melnick
    • Hardieplank shingles match up perfectly on this Natick MA Cape house May 13, 2009
      In Natick MA, a local siding installer used hardiplank shingles or fiber cement shingle siding on two sides of the house and blended into existing cedar shingles resulting in a seamless fiber cement and cedar shingle sided house. This solution saved thousands of dollars for the customer and created a long lasting beautiful cape home in Natick MA.
      Roy Melnick
    • How Fiber Cement Siding in Andover MA Transformed this beautiful New England Colonial May 11, 2009
       Another Fiber Cement Siding project completed by United Home Experts Inc, This time in Andover MA, where the existing Masonite siding was doing more than failing. This “pressed hardwood,” should be renamed as cardboard sponge siding, was rotting, swelling and collecting an unattractive amount of mildew. The rot was so bad it went right through [...]
      Roy Melnick
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Cedar or Cement?? The Great Fiber Cement Debate

There is a battle between purists and realists regarding the choice of using fiber cement siding or cedar siding. The purists want to preserve the natural beauty of wood and use the natural product on homes all over New England. The realists are looking for long term low maintenance.

Done properly, you should be able to attain the look and beauty of a western red cedar clapboards, by using a product such as Weather boards by Certainteed. They use 30 different pieces of actual western red cedar when making the molds for the clapboards. this means that if you were thinking of the repeat pattern you get with Hardie Plank, you are wrong. The other secret is choosing not to have the fiber cment siding installed pre painted, but pre primied. That way you can acheive the natural look of a freshly painted clapboard without the factory looking finish of the pre-painted products.

Now the question is what do you get with cedar that you don’t get with fiber cement siding? Cost for one. The price of cedar is throguht the roof and only going up. You get to repaint every 5 years or so up here in New England, (Massachusetts specifically).

Cedar gives you beauty, done right, so does fiber cement siding. cedar gives you high maintenance, fiber cement gives you low maintenance, cedar gives you any color choice in the; same with fiber cement sding. Cear gives you future rot, termite damage, pealling, blistering cracking, splitting; fiber cement gives you new looking cedar in 15 years. Cedar you repaint every 5 years, fiber cement you can repaint every 20-25 years. In the end their is no logical reason to choose cedar over fiber cemnt sidng, unless you are very stubborn. then by all means, go with the headaches of cedar siding. Check out this post from a collegue in weschester.
Cement Vs Cedar Breakdown

Roy Melnick can be reached at RAMelnick@UnitedHomeExperts.com in Massachusetts. United Home Experts is a local family owned and operated home improvement contractor located in Ashland MA. We serve North Shore, South Shore, Blackstone Valley, Nashoba Valley, Worcester County, Rhode Island, South County RI, Southern NH.

One Response

  1. Roy: Thanks for the tip on Certainteed and for the thanks for the link to Living Well in Westchester.

    Mark

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