# Hardie siding and J channel



## Colton (Jul 29, 2010)

My brother in law is building his personal home and asked me to do the hardie siding and soffit. I'm a finish carpenter and the company I work for does mainly tract home stuff, so work has been very slow (at best). I'll be trimming the inside, but till then he has given me this work to help keep busy.

I've done small side jobs with hardie plank, but nothing like this. I'll be putting hardie shake panels on the porch gable that has an arch window. The window has the intergrated J channel and he wants the shake to just terminate in the channel like vinyl siding, but i have been doing a lot of research on the correct way to install and I'm not sure that is going to work. I tried talking him into 5/4 hardie boards against the channel, but he didn't like that plus i don't think i can bend those around the the top window. The other wall with double window and arch top will have hardie plank and i run into the same problem there. Thanks for any advice and great place btw.

Colton

I cant post the picture yet becuase i have less than 15 post?


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## dave_dj1 (Mar 16, 2010)

Trust your instinct!
hardie is junk IMO and should never be in a place where there is any chance of moisture to sit, it will just absorb it and rot out in no time.
Follow ALL of their install directions, including painting any cut edges, it might help at warranty time!
I once saw 5 Hardie reps heading to a ski development for total failure (this crap can't take any moisture which I find odd for a siding that is exposed to the elements)


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## Fmgseven (Jul 28, 2010)

Make it easy, it is arched so water wont sit there, keep the siding 1/4 short and seel the cut and you will be fine.
Hardie is junk, but this area will be the least of your concerns.
The hardie shake is the worst of them all.
Good luck


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## Colton (Jul 29, 2010)

Thank you for the adivce. My brother in law said the same thing about the water not sitting in the arch and to paint the cut edges. I rode around today and saw a few houses with the same situation and it looks like there is flashing inside the window channel and a drip cap on top, but they were all square windows. Hardie is pretty popular around here and I havent noticed anything that would make me think it was crap?


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## woodworkbykirk (Sep 17, 2008)

we do a lot of harti installs and havent had issues as of yet other than getting color match caulking when the siding shows up.

i wouldnt set the siding into the J'd out window keep the brick mold intact and butt into it.

its the same as putting a jchannel on a roofline and tucking siding into it. the j channel is going to act as a trough which will void the warrenty.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

Do you guys read?


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