What is objectionable about the existing trim? What kind of windows and what is the frame material? Is the window flange (if there is one) mounted over the T1-11 or under it?

We used treated wood with our hardi plank siding.

Thank you for the responses. I'll start again here w/ a better description of my situation since you've shown a willingness to give me some ideas.

My mother lives in a manufactured home. It's sided in something I think of as T1-11, but I may be mistaken. It's not like the T1-11 I remember from the 80s when we built our first home. It's more of a pressed type product (possibly a combination of wood chips, etc). She did not like the original window trim which appeared to have been cut from the siding panels (made a faux grain feel to the texture); she didn't mind the texture - she just thought the trim was much too narrow for the windows.

Husband & I offered to redo her trim when we painted the house. We used a composite product the big box store said would be ideal. I don't remember now what it was called, but it was for outdoors & reminds me of the primed pieces we used for interior trim (baseboards & door/window trim).

It looks to me like the trim on my mother's house has shrunk up some because there are now gaps at the mitered corners despite the caulking. The trim is very smooth & shows brush strokes & even the caulked nail holes.

Mom is wanting to re-do the trim once again & because I feel responsible for the problem, I wanted to offer her the hardiplank we have left from our project - that is if ripping it is an option.

Her windows are white vinyl w/ the flange on the outside of the siding.

Let me apologize for this wordy post & my mediocre explanation/description but please accept my thanks for any help you are able to provide. Just trying to help out my mother. Thanks again.

p.s. I love your windows....Mom would have probably been really pleased w/ something like that.

No one's mentioned one important thing, which is that hardiplank is a cementious fiber which requires special blades to cut (whether you use a saw or shears). I would expect the blades to wear just as fast per running inch for ripping as for a cross-cut, which means there would be an awful lot blades required.

It might be an idea to temp-trim one window with the as-is width, to be sure that it's uncomfortably wide, before going to the trouble and expense of ripping. With the use of additional moulding for a crown [as Brutuses'], the present width might be satisfactory.

meldy_nva: I'm not sure about your point. If you use one of the blades that's intended for Hardi (diamond), yeah it's going to wear faster. But it isn't going to wear out from trimming out some windows. The dust is still nasty/hazardous, but if you're cutting anyway, you already know that.

My only concern would be that the planks are skinny relative to the trim. Won't give you much of a profile next to the windows. The Hardi trim is a full 3/4", IIRC, and is available in widths such that you wouldn't need to rip it.

Unless the existing trim is leaking I would consider adding a narrow band molding to the jamb and top edges. There's nothing wrong with a smooth trim; use a better quality paint and brush. In the future it is best to avoid mitered corners in exterior trim. If you filled the nail holes with caulk drive a nail set into them and fill them with a material made for that purpose.

Thank you everyone for your comments/suggestions. And Mightanvil - I think your comments really made me question our original choice. I'll talk w/ my husband or the next installer about avoiding the exterior miters and I'll find a better products for filling the nail holes. Live & learn - but just hated to have my mother be the recipient of our learning experiences....altho' guess that's what happens when you hire 'cheap' labor. Ha!

Thanks again.

I like MA's suggestion to add molding; that would provide great definition for little expense.

Thull ~ ripping is lengthwise. In terms of blade use, to rip one 8' board lengthwise is roughly equivalent of sixteen 6" crosscuts or twenty-four 4" crosscuts. That's a big difference. The extra wear-use isn't going to be because of cross-cutting standard-width window trim, it's going to occur as a result of ripping the original width in order to get the trim.