We have had hardie plank on our current (we built new 10 years ago) home and have had significant issues with trim pieces rotting and falling apart. our builder used the hardie material for both siding and trim. The siding pieces have functioned well and the paint on them looks just as good as when the home was built (10 years ago) The trim however has been a disaster. In several places on the roof (near flash molding on dormer windows) it has completely disintegrated and fallen apart. And trim around doors at the bottom near the ground has also fallen apart. In both cases, it appears water spashing up has damaged the material. Although this problem has been going on for years, the time it took to get our builder to deal with it and the company to respond they say we are out of warranty. We have arranged to have some reduction in costs, but still we are spending thousands of dollars to get trim replaced. In short, as a personal user of this product, I would NOT recommend using it anywhere near where water will splash up against it or snow come in contact (we are in northern climate). The planks seem to work well but the trim in our experience is not reliable over what I consider a short term (home only 10 years old). Our next home (we are moving) we are getting vinyl.

Thoughtful finishing can make a mediocre house look appreciably better. Mediocre finishing can make a nice house look cheap. In my part of the world, cheap or poorly conceived finishing uglifies about 90% of the new builds.

Late to this discussion but wondering how the finish came out and if you have photos? I want to do a similar finish with the nichiha and I'm not sure how to accomplish with the primed shakes. Did your painter apply a translucent paint or stain to allow the color variation to show through? I wouldn't want to paint an opaque color and lose that variation of the "wood" texture. Thanks in advance!

Beware of MaxiTile and their product. I live in the Midwest and have been through a nightmare with this company and its product. First of all, the issue I had with the product was that it shrank. Yes thatÂs right, almost 3/16 at every seam. It was installed by a Maxi Tile recommended installer as well. Then when I called the manufacture I was given the run around for nearly a year and a half. One rep came out, inspected the siding, agreed to replace the inferior product and reimburse the labor cost, but soon left the company. Then it took nearly a year to get someone to tell me the status of my claim. Once I was able to get a hold of the regional business development manager I was told that my settlement would be for half the cost of the labor and no product. When I asked how they arrived at that settlement I was told take it or leave it. So after their offer I am out $5500.00. By the way, I replaced their product with Hardi Board.