We have prefinished certainteed lapboard siding are are really happy with it. The only difference I know of ( at least 2-1/2 years ago it was different) between certainteed and hardie is that the warranty for certainteed's prefinished siding is longer than hardie's warranty for its prefinished--that is the warranty for the finish itself. We had cedar siding at our old house and really like the lowmaintenance of the fiber cement as compared to the high maintenance of cedar. Also, we had a BIG problem with woodpeckers at our old house (only 1/2 mile away from our new house). Every now and then a woodpeck will try to peck our fiber cement siding, but quickly goes away!

With the popularity of fiber cement, you have a lot of bent beaked woodpeckers with attitude flying around these days.

Both products have great reputations. Your concern should be with proper installation including the underlayment/flashings behind it and making sure the siding is back primed before install.

Sierraeast:

You're recommending that I backprime factory painted fibercement siding?

Hi Princeton, Only if it isn't already from the factory. Im not familiar with the factory pre-finished. The primed fiber cement typically comes primed all four sides, just make sure the factory pre-finished is because it's a good idea to get the back side sealed as well as ends, rips, and notches that are cut.

Sierraeast:

I've been reading the Certainteed install instructions - and they specifically state NOT to prime or seal the back of the siding - so that it can breathe. The DO recommend that the cut edges be painted/caulked.

My mistake. Always go by the mfgr's recommendations to keep the warranty's intact. Thanks for that info and possibly im wrong about the primed being on all four sides as well.

Our installer took a class on installing certainteed fiber cement siding before he installed our siding. We caulked our joints, but did not prime the cut edges. However, you are supposed to put flashing behind the joints. I attached a picture showing the flashing.

Here is a link that might be useful: flashing behind joints