Recomendations For Siding

Sgt.Grumpy

I'm planning my new home in North Carolina, north of Charlotte. I'm not sure what to use for siding on the project. I love the look of natural red cedar perfections, and they hold up fairly well up north here in NY, but I havent seen any homes in NC with cedar siding, dont know if there is a reason, as in the durability with the sun/heat? I dont really want to go with vinyl (though thats what I have now and like the thought of no maintenance), and the Hardi Boards are not popular around here, so Im not familiar with them.
What would your recomendations be. Thanks!
(This is for my personal home project, not for business)

Mr. D

wood

critter

monolithic adobe

Tom Struble

cedar shingles last forever

AtlanticWBConst

I'd have to say that I also like the look of natural Red cedar shakes.

Not the gray weathered look, tho, which is popular in New England.

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WisePainter

James Hardie comes in more than just lap board siding now.

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My advice: Hire a real painter to do it.

Rick2008

I like the James Hardie products a lot as well. I've seen it used a lot in NC and SC.

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bighammer

dumb, question..wouldn't there be a tremendous amount of staining and sealing of a true wood siding product?? I guess I look for something that is easy to install, looks nice, and it is a "once and done" type of thing. I would look at either fibercement, smartside, or insulated back vinyl because they are virtually maintenance free. Mabe I am missing something, but would hate to think of "Sgt. Grumpy" out there staining his cedar every other year.....

PA woodbutcher

And there are a ton of vinyl sidings out there to mimic cedar shakes and stone. Whit I would used would also depend on location of house and layout. Sometimes what looks good on a 3,200 ' 2 story doesn't look good on a box. I like the idea of cedar, but also don't like the idea of restaining resealing.

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EricTheHandyman

hardie or similar fiber cement product. Holds paint for much longer than wood.

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Tom Struble

no such thing except maybe stone

Tom Struble

could be down south they use cypress more

Rick954

hardi seems to be growing in popularity around here, i hear good things.

i'd at least look more into it.

bighammer

hardi is a popular siding, however, recently it has been brought up to my attention that it's make-up has changed and now they are using more fly ash..? making the product less stable and shrinking at butt joints. The last house we GC we used strips of color-matched coil behind each butt joint to help with this problem.

Sgt.Grumpy

Thanks for the input so far. I guess a simplier way of asking would have been what other options for siding are there in the southeast, that would hold up to the climate of the area.
I have Certain-teed cedar impressions on my house in NY. They are durable, good looking (for vinyl) and expensive. Cedar shingles are also expensive, and I am aware of the maintenance issues. The fiber board that I'm not familiar with will also need painting, but I'm assuming not as often as the maintenance on the cedar.
Just looking at my options, any more ideas / suggestions will be appreciated!

SLSTech

The most popular choice is brick
Stucco was frowned upon, but I am starting to see more & more stucco crews running around
You of course have your wood, Vinyl & Hardi jobs here also. (for wood siding, shakes, etc... pre stain / seal them on all sides)

If the job is done right, you maintain it properly, it will last

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Tom Struble

real cedar shingle are actually less expensive than cedar impressions they are unfinished however

Mr. D

Haven't you noticed everybody uses brick down there? The trick is finding someone who knows how to install it properly. I was down there this summer and have never seen so much hack work in my life. No offense.

SLSTech

Oh you mean work like this? At least they used Tyvek...

No offense taken, you should have seen the house I worked on after it had slid 7 feet down a hill towards the lake.

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