Raleigh Durham Remodel Auction

A lot of people want to know what Masonite or hardboard siding really is. The short answer is garbage……..Here is the long answer. Masonite is the name brand of a wood based siding that begin its tragic tale in the 1970′2. Georgia Pacific paper company produced a very good version of it up until the late 1980’s. The early version was easy to cut, and easy to paint, and would last for 20 years or so. Changes in the product were made about 1990. The more recent version is basically produced by mixing wood byproduct with glue, and compressing. Humidity in the southeast is not a good mix with hardboard siding. Hardboard’s biggest issue is a phenomena know as wicking. The product acts like a sponge, absorbing moisture from the inside out. By the time hardboard shows degradation (wrinkling, rotting) the backside of the hardboard is saturated, and molding. To compound this problem, most homes built with hardboard have it installed on a backer known as blackboard. Blackboard is a paper building product that is a less expensive alternative to real plywood. Plywood is much more tolerant of moisture then blackboard. It is imperative that hardboard issues be addressed right away, to prevent messy and expensive structural issues. My preference is to install Crane-board solid-core siding on Masonite homes. http://www.vinyl-siding.com/Exterior_Portfolio/craneboard.aspx

We also offer to remove hardboard siding and replace it with Hardiplank or CertainTeed Weatherboards FiberCement siding. We prefer the CertainTeed version, because of its superior price point, and realistic appearance. Check it out at http://www.certainteed.com/certainteed/undefined/fibercementsiding/

Because of Hardiplanks high silica count, it is quite green unfriendly. Craneboard offers an extra R 5 insulation value to your walls, and needs NO maintenance for the lifetime of the home.

and as always call us for a free estimate, and an installation brought to you by factory trained, VSI certified technicians.