It's a good product. Most people install it incorrectly. Whether or not it's worth it is completely subjective. No house is water tight no matter what siding you use. More on reddit.com

Hardie & LP Smartside are the industry leaders in clapboard siding. Hardie is more brittle than LP, but does better with moisture. In my opinion I would use a different trim product like LP, Miratec, Boral, or cellular PVC. Depending on the style / location LP trim tends to be used frequently with Hardie siding installs. LP is cheaper to install due to weight and the material is easier to work with (osb vs. fiber cement). Regardless, Hardie (when installed correctly), is a great product. Just ensure proper flashing and caulking methods are followed by your installer and you should have no issues. Remember you're purchasing a siding that requires maintenance. Paint and caulk every 7-10 years and it will outlast you. More on reddit.com

Built about 8 years ago. Wanted wood siding look but am way too lazy to properly maintain it. We used Certainteed and have been very happy: Post-build: http://imgur.com/d8Drj0N 6 years later: http://imgur.com/aBPGhmE (still looks good to me) We've actually had all sorts of problems with our Azek fascia (not fiber cement) popping nails after warping in the sun, but the fiber cement has been great. I compulsively researched fiber cement before choosing it, and, at least 8 years ago, the installation quality really matters. I read a lot of horror stories that were essentially some contractor who had never done fiber cement before ignoring all the instructions and installing the siding improperly (often just pretending it was vinyl). They'd then tell the homeowner that the product was bad when things inevitably went wrong. I should also note that I compulsively researched the look of the installed siding as well. We actually drove 90 minutes to the nearest install site with the colors we wanted. We had planned to use WeatherBoard Redwood but that ended up looking almost traffic cone orange to us, we used Weatherboard Mahogany instead and it worked very well. The site we visited was a school and noted that we shouldn't use adhesives on the siding, they'd taped a big ad hoc movie screen for a show and the tape had stripped some of the finish from the siding (just an aesthetic issue, but good advice nonetheless). Whatever stain we have on our siding can be purchased seperately and refinished later if desired, assuming you can still find the color. I'd suggest you find an experienced installer whose previous work you view before selecting them. Our GC had a specific team that he always used and they banged everything out in under a week, they were like fiber cement installing machines. More on reddit.com

Get a few more bids. Depending on what type of siding you currently have you may not want to remove it. $60k for 2500 square feet seems high. More on reddit.com