Hardi plank can't burn or be eaten and will last forever. Vinyl on the other hand will not. We just intalled HP on our new house and everyone comments on what a smart decision it was. Not to mention how nice it looks.

We used a fiberboard siding on an outbuilding where we currently live in the desert and would never go that route again even though it is holding up well. I personally think it's one of those peroducts that should be banned. It's a masonite product that is higher grade than others but would not recommend it,especially in humid,wet areas. From what i understand, there are current lawsuits binding on fiberboard sidings, various companies. I personally dont care for vinyl as well, but thats just a personal preference and like brutuses, you might consider fiber cement.

Uh....Sierra....Brutuse said Hardiplank, which IS a fiber cement siding product, not a fiberboard siding product.....

Personally, after installing about a million miles of each; I think it all comes down to looks. FiberCement most DEFINITELY can break, just as vinyl can (when it's cold or brittle). Vinyl is probably one of the most forgiving products for vapor retention, yet fibercement is probably one of the most stable.

I think it really depends on the area of the country you're in too, for example, if hail is a common thing in your area then fiber cement siding would be better than vinyl. Vinyl doesn't require painting though. Fiber cement siding doesn't need painting as often as wood, but it will eventually need it too. I replaced the wood siding on my old house with Hardiplank except the garage and painted everything at the same time. 4 years later the Hardiplank looked freshly painted and the wood looked like next year it would need painting again.

We used Hardiplank on our home and it is gorgeous. Probably the best decision we made.

I just posted a pic of the front of our house under the farmhouse plan thread.

jason, "like bruteses, you might consider fiber cement". How did you get that the mention of fiber cement,(hardie board) as fiber board. Sorry, not getting it. Brutuses was recommending hardie plank,(fiber cement), in which case i simply seconded the motion. Read the reponses!

Ok i got it. I should have stated "like bruteses advised,you might consider fiber cement". That was my intention. I wouldn't recommend fiber board to any one even for use on an out house. I dont think bruteses would as well!

I thought the OP was asking about the Hardi Plank and just calling it the wrong thing. I'm sorry, what is fiberboard?

Vinyl doesn't seem to do as well as HP in hurricanes. I have heard that there are some high-end vinyls that are better (and more expensive) than HP. I don't know anything about fiberboard.

Fiber boards as i understand them are basically press board or particle boards with exterior resins and adhesives with the facing pressed or molded to form grains resembling wood. There are different types. The masonite brand has a backing that resembles the pegboard product they came out with long ago only it has exterior glues and such for exterior use. Another type by georgia pacific is more of a density board backing and the absolute worse i've seen is the type that has a loose fill particle board that is veneered with a paper substance. All are generally pressed or molded with graining to look like wood similar to the graining on fiber cement that isn't smooth and fiber boards are available in 4x8 sheets as well as 16' lap planking 8" wide and also 16' x 14" wide lap sidings that have different width lap patterns. You really dont need to know as it's something that should not be used, imo. I will never use it on any project again even though it has held up well, it doesn't come close to being a longevity material and im sure will have a short life span even here in the desert. Apologies to jason for leaving out a word above. Measure twice, cut once!

Another example of fiber board is around the late seventies, early eighties , mobile home mfgrs switched over to fiber board siding replacing the aluminum siding used on days of old. When you see a mobile home w/ what appears as a wood or t-111 type siding, you are looking at fiber board. The extreme newer mobiles might be using fiber cement these days, i dont know but they are commonly referred to as manufactured or even modular homes. I always called them trailer houses like texas!

my sister built a new house in the mid 90s. it has light blue vinyl siding which, in recent years is now a much lighter blue. it looks terrible. if we ever get to build our house we're using nichiha fiber cement shakes.