Just started a new thread with pics of timberbark hardi- somehow I missed this one when trying to respond. i am almost certain that we are going with the pre painted timberbark- a much darker brown than the autumn tan shown here but that looks great too! If pre-painted hardi can survive Wisconsin winters than NJ should be fine. The houses that I looked at in our area to see the color were all less than 5 years old though so it is tough to know if it will stand the test of time but I agree that painting seems like a lot of work!

Interesting idea...I like the unusual and inventive in flooring alternatives. I would think that HardiePanel would be susceptible to powdering if used as a walking surface. However, if it was sealed with a quality waterborne, clear nonyellowing floor finish (either permanent or sacrificial), it might make for an attractive and serviceable walking surface. As with any flooring project, you must start with a flat, sound and smooth substrate.

Well, Duration is clearly the best coating for Hardiplank, but if you were going to actually rate them, then you can do this easily by using price. Emerald is the most expensive, then Resilence and Superpaint is the cheap stuff. One coat of Duration isn't like cheating either, because the film build of that product is so high, it's easily equivalent to applying two coats of regular acrylic paint. Best coating for Hardiplank

I will hand draw the rough floor plans and elevations so that I will not violate the contract. It will take a while and might not be to the exact true scale of it, but hopefully is close enough. I love the floor plan, it was made with a lot of our feedbacks, but hate the curves put in the master bathroom - seems pointless and expensive. I deeply dislike the exterior and interior detailing (not just cost matter, I feel it was pushed on us against our interests), and I also am feeling very unsure about our roof line and gables (can it be simpler or fewer? does it matter to reduce cost?). I am annoyed that we have to spend almost 30K on a fake chimney. We don't want to trigger structural review if possible (6 months delay + 20K structural eng fees), but given how bad I feel about it, we are discussing that maybe it is not too bad if we delay the project for a year while trying to fix the design issues and looking at the housing market for alternatives. And who knows, if we are ok with triggering structural review, the additional saving could be substantial that we care less about the 20K structural redesigning fees. We started the design process years ago when we were of more limited means. Ours is a building designer, not an architect. cpartist, I do think the yellow house look like a farm house. Our started out as a Tudor, and we keep most of it when the city wanted craftsman instead. I think it only look like a forced G&G, and the only thing that might fool some people into thinking it's G&G is the brick/rock work and excessive detailing. But then again, reasonable G&G homes I look at have much quieter exterior. The house on the left of our lot is "supposedly" a craftsman, but doesn't look like it at all. I think the city wants the craftsman "flavor". We are not purist, I don't mind some modifications to craftsman, but don't want a loud expensive exterior and interior. Thanks to the veteran architects in this thread, I am learning a lot from you.