Got my quotes back for my build and the exterior seems really out of line. I am building a 1809sf single story house. Using Hardie lap and hardie panels in the garage with EZ Trim for the near rimless look. The cost for the roof, and siding is 95K labor and materials. Seems really out of line. My HOA does not allow Vinyl. Is this cost reasonable? Location is in Michigan rural, but not remote.

Hi there! We are looking at an install of Hardie board siding and wondering if the approximately $60k + cost makes sense? They will be removing the old siding, installing hardie board, and painting it since I don’t like the colors that they can pre-paint. I have been doing some research on Reddit and other forums and see that the highest level of cost should be around $35k for 2500 sq ft for material and labor costs. Does this sound right? I am located in the PNW and realize it may be more expensive here than other parts of the country. Thanks for any help or advice!

Hi all. I own a 1850 sqft home in Colorado, and I am in the process of collecting multiple bids to get the old wood siding removed, and hardie board siding installed. While I am waiting on the bids to come back, I’m curious if anyone knows what the average ball park price would be on a project like this.

I assume hardie plank is twice the material cost vs. average Vinyl siding?

For a 1,500 square foot new construction ranch vinyl siding came in between $13k-$15k.

What do you think I would cost for James Hardie Cement siding?

Mike

My wife and I had a contractor out yesterday and for our 1600 sq/ft house he quoted approx 30k for the James Hardy siding. Is this normal?

We live in the Denver Metro area.

We live in Michigan. We are about to bite the bullet on a siding job. House is only 20 years old, but the builder skipped house-wrapping the back of the house and everything was done as cheaply as possible, so the cost of repair is nearly the cost of all replacement. My options are:

1. Basic housewrap and vinyl - $55k

2. Upgraded, foam board backing, trim around existing windows - $65k

3. Hardie Board, all new windows - $85k (existing windows are cheap and have built in J-Channel, so keeping them isn't a great option without going vinyl.

I feel like from an upgraded look and a long term value perspective, going full replacement just makes sense. Our goal is to live here around 20 more years, and I'd like to make this a one-and-done kind-of project. With the Hardie board, it sounds like I'll just have to worry about painting it once in that time span, but otherwise it will probably outlive the house.

Anyone with experience on this? I am hesitating because I wasn't planning to have to do all this exterior work, but I want the house to be water-tight and stable going forward and not have to consider doing something like this again in 10 years.

My builder added $9000 to the price of my farmhouse-style build when I told them I wanted all Hardie board (board and batten) instead of brick. He said "board and batten is expensive." Any thoughts?

Got 5 quotes for re-siding our house (colonial style, ~ 2800 sq ft, eastern MA; older house, though not particularly old for the region).

Three of the quotes were in the 30 thous. 2 were in the 60s.

There wasn't really any pattern in terms of the quality of the reviews of the five, insofar as one of the two expensive ones had some pretty negative reviews on Yelp. The only pattern I can see is that the two more expensive ones seem to be bigger firms. Their quotes were also far more detailed (created by a computer program).

Is there any reason why the quotes could vary so much? I did notice that one of the expensive ones had thousands of dollars for demo, including lead abatement (house has painted cedar shingles, and it's a reasonable bet that there's a layer of lead paint underneath).

I have no problem paying more for a better job; the problem I have is that paying more isn't itself a guarantee of a better job. (Doesn't need to be perfect, but on the other hand I'd rather pay more for a good job than pay less for a really bad one.)

Hi! We are trying to get new siding for our 2030 square foot, two-story home in the Pacific Northwest with Hardie Board. We got a quote from a certified installer for $65,000 for Hardie Plank color plus, install drain shield, trim all windows and corner boards, trim tabs, caulking, flashing, blocking, and venting. Is this in line with what others are seeing now? Oh....we live on an island, too. Thank you!!

I was just quoted $21sq/ft to install 2000sq/ft of Hardie lap siding in Northern CA. Does this seem high? I am still waiting for one more bid, but it's taking forever and I am wondering if I might find a cheaper option on a few of the walls if this is going to be the average rate. Heck, I got a bid for stucco that was only $10sq/ft for roughly the same area. I would rather go all mostly stucco if it's going to be half as much.

I recently received bids for some big ticket items on an older home. The house is currently wrapped in 4" reveal painted cedar siding. This siding is approaching the end of its useful life. It's been repaired numerous times in the past, but there are signs of water infiltration in a few areas. Additionally, there is no vapor barrier / wrap under the siding. Beyond the siding, most of the trim and the soffits on the house are rotting and must be replaced.

My HOA restricts cladding materials, so we have to go with wood, metal, brick, stone. They also allow wood-like lap siding (like Hardie Plank or LP Smartside). We eventually decided we wanted to go with Hardie for a number of reasons and we are not open to considering other options at the moment.

The issue we are having is that the bids we received for Hardie Plank were significantly higher than expected.

About the house:

• Colonial style

• Located in Buffalo, NY

• Built in late 70's

• House is a rectangle 44'x30'. Envelope is extremely simple. There are no dormers, articulations, etc. It is a simple box with flat faces and a clean roof-line.

• Below-grade basement (and therefore no siding). 2-stories of living. 1-story of attic under a gabled roof. All of the above grade areas need siding. The attic has a moderate pitch, and is about 10' high at its peak (takes about 19 courses of 6" reveal lap siding to cover, plus trim)

• Attached 2-car garage at 32'x24'. This entire thing needs new siding too.

• I hand measured each face of the house and it came out to approximately 3,100 sf. That amount ignores windows and doors (i.e. I did not subtract the area of windows or doors from the area of each face of the house).

• Soffits are 6" deep and only on 2 sides of house (the ends of the gables are flush with the siding.

• No exterior chimney or other masonry work.

• 28 total exterior windows / doors, plus 2 small gable vents.

• Exterior skin is around 30 SQ.

• Beyond the 90-degree outside corners of the rectangle, there are no articulations, or other architectural features on the exterior. It's a very boring colonial.

About the siding work we had priced:

• New siding for all above-grade areas of the house. Hardie Plank - Statement Collection (i.e. factory pre-painted, standard colors). 6" reveal.

• Wrap. Add a house wrap (HardieWrap)

• Soffit. Soffit is a ventilated hardie product (pre-painted, standard color)

• Trim. Trim is also from Hardie (pre-painted, standard color)

• Demolition. Remove existing siding, soffit, and trim, then haul-off

• No Repairs or Structural Work. The quote did not include any allowance for repair work or structural modifications for the existing home (for example, if there are rotted sections of sheathing underneath the siding, etc.)

The quotes we received from contractors did itemize the individual materials and quantities but did not provide units prices or subtotals, just a grand total. We had 2 contractors bid and both refused to break out that level of pricing detail, which felt suspect, but I'm new to this and maybe that's normal? Both contractors had done siding work for friends in the last 24 months and both of these friends were satisfied.

I reviewed the pricing for one of my friends full-replacement hardie plank siding jobs and the pricing was around the level that I would have expected, after giving effect to some of the recent cost escalations my GC buddy (see below) said he had been seeing. That house was an old victorian with a turret, dormers, and plenty of jutting facades and corners. So compared to my colonial (aka "box with windows"), it was a significantly more complex install. Beyond that, it incorporated plank, shakers, board and batten as well.

Based on conversations with an out-of-state GC friend of mine, we expected pricing to be close to the mid-teens per SF (which would be around $45k, so assumed that anything in the $40-$55k range would have been digestible). Instead, we were quoted almost $25 per sf, fully installed (around $70k).

I priced most of the materials from local suppliers based on the contractors quoted quantities and was able to get back to around $18k of materials. These were actual materials that were available for pickup locally. If that's even close to true, then the remaining $50k+ of cost would be labor, freight/handling, corporate overhead, tax, and profit. Maybe my gut is wrong, but that feels like a lot.

We are looking to have another quote or two done, but before I drive myself insane, I wanted to see if maybe I just have the wrong expectations.

Here are my questions:

• What should cost expectations be for a Hardie Plank siding replacement be in 2023?

• Should these contractors be breaking out unit cost on their itemized bids? If they refuse to break it out or provide more detail, is that a red flag?

• Any way to drive down the cost of this kind of work?

• If siding replacements (and I know this is a premium and expensive product) are so expensive, how can homeowners afford this stuff? As a % of the home values in my area, this number is absolutely nuts. That said, a number of neighbors have had their homes done in Hardie over the last 5 years, so they were able to make it make sense.

Edit 1: I messed up the measurements of the house and have corrected them above. Based on my hand measurements, the areas of the home with siding are approximately 3,100 SF; so 31 SQ. I did not subtract the area of any doors or windows from the 31 SQ number.

I keep getting quoted like $30k to do 1000sq ft of Hardie or LP siding install but online it says $10/sq ft average install not $30/sq ft… front wall only. They keep defending it as this cost includes removing old siding and cleanup, etc.

Worth the cost? I'm torn.

New home owner in need of some guidance. We need new siding for our house. We are looking to do James Hardie. We need 26 squares. We got a quote today for $58,000 which would include the siding, soffits, gutters, etc. Is this reasonable? Thank you!!!

Edit - we will be getting a few more estimates, just wanted to know if what I was getting was in the ballpark of what to expect in the mean time.

Honest opinion, how difficult is it to put on hardie siding yourself? My husband and I are pretty decent DIY’ers. We got a quote for siding for our 2600 sq ft house in western TN for hardie siding at $60k. Windows and doors would add roughly $25k. Plus $90 per each underlying OSB board that would have to be replaced. The boards cost $15 each at Lowe’s. We are considering the board and batten look. Is one style easier? I’m wondering what the true difficulty in replacing the siding ourselves is. Anyone with any experience on this? Regrets?

I have a customer who wants a bid to install new Hardie lap siding. They said they will handle the demo of old trim and siding. Anyone have a ballpark on what they charge for straight up install on Hardie siding, labor only? I have explained to this homeowner that it will be my first run at it and since I've worked with them in the past they are confident in my skill set and ability to figure out the system. I am just having a hard time deciding on a price per sq ft. Thanks!

I know this isn't the first "should I replace my x siding with Hardieboard?" post here, but I wanted to see if my reasoning, in my case, makes sense.

So James Hardie has very complex/strict installation rules, nails have to be a certain size and material, and nailed in specific parts of the siding, joints must be sealed a certain way and be smaller than a certain size, etc. I have read many horror stories about installers who don't do it right, and the warranty is void, and it is discovered that water has been getting behind the siding and there may or may not be a water barrier there. So I understand the importance of not cheaping out on the installer.

But if my T1-11 siding were held to these standards, would it not have a similar service life to fiber cement? I realize fiber cement is more durable and water-resistant than wood, but both will fail relatively quickly if not painted, so as far as I'm concerned, both have the same maintenance "needs". Both need to be caulked and painted every ~5 years if I'm not mistaken.

Between most installers not installing to James Hardie standards, and the cost consistently coming in at $25k for my (2 story) house, it seems like a bad investment.

Most of my siding is in good shape, but the previous owners did not ensure the bottom edges were painted, and so around about 1/2 the house, the bottom 2-3 inches are soft. I painted the bottom edge with mold killing primer (Killz) and painted over that, where the wood was still mostly hard, and applied wood filler where it was just too rotten.

All companies who have given me estimates have said that they will put the Hardiewrap water barrier and Hardie siding *on top of* the existing T1-11, and replace the rotten parts with OSB as needed. This seems to be a relatively common practice, however I do not totally trust that any installer will find 100% of the wood rot in the T1-11, and I am not sold on the idea of having more layers between the studs and the outside of the house. I realize this may sound counter-intuitive, but if for any reason we need to get to the studs (e.g. water leaked in slowly over 10 years and now mold is showing through the drywall), this will be much more expensive as the specially-installed Hardie siding would have to be removed, then the Hardiewrap, then the T1-11, and finally the water barrier that the house was built with. Once the mold has been dealt with, I can't have just anyone replace the Hardiewrap and Hardie siding....

I'm not sure if this reasoning makes sense. On one hand, this house does not have an OSB layer, and so the T1-11 is providing structural integrity, hence the need to keep it on and put the Hardie siding over it. On the other hand, the house has made it 30 years without an OSB layer, and without Hardie siding, and I get "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" vibes.

As I research siding more, I have learned that all siding fails within a person's lifetime, and while some are better than others, they all suck in Florida except for fiber cement and brick/concrete. I also learned that siding companies will tell you that fiber cement siding has a ROI of about 75%, somehow more than a kitchen or bathroom remodel. I don't believe that, I would guess it's closer to 50% on a good day.

So would it not make more sense for me to stick with the T1-11 and replace the $40 5'x8' sheets as needed/hire people for the 2nd floor? Or hell, buy scaffolding for $1k and do it myself?... and then use the $25k to pay down the principal on the house?

Hoping to get a gut check on the upgrade cost for vinyl (included) to hardie for my new build.

My build has approx 40-42 squares of exterior surface to cover. The home is pretty tall... approx 38ft tall to the ridge and has some minor complexity in the front with dormers.

I received a quote from the builder for +$50k to upgrade from vinyl to board and batten pre-finished hardie siding.

I am not too familiar with costs... so I am rough estimating the vinyl job is approx $25k ($600 per square, but is this accurate?) which would mean the total cost of the hardie job is approx $75k or ~$1800 per square.

Does this seem about right for the difference between the vinyl (included) and hardie cost?