I vote SS. Curious, what does your builder propose for trim material? Let me guess.. Miratec?

Ah! I'd have to ask.. Honestly I have no idea.

I just posted a long reply on the other Smartside thread here, if you care to read it. I've had very good results with Smartside on my house, but you have a much different climate that me.

Are you concerned about wildfires? Hardiplank is fireproof. It's also bug proof. The downside is that the pieces are short at 12'. The edges turn to mush in a matter of a day or two when soaked with water. It shows every bow and dip in your walls. It needs special tools to cut.

The advantage of Smartside is that a regular saw will cut it. It's longer at 16'. It's thicker and hides wall defects better and looks like real wood on the wall. It does not fall apart when soaked in water. Downsides is that it's only fire resistant and bugs should not bother it as it is heavily manufactured but it's still wood.

I've installed both and I would take Smartside over Hardiplank any day, but Hardiplank has it's advantages also.

This post was edited by rmtdoug on Fri, Oct 24, 14 at 1:06

rmtdoug can you link to your other thread. I didn't see it. Thanks!

We have had hardi on both of our houses, and I LOVE it! It is maintenance free and it now comes in siding with a bead profile.

I have no complaints for hardi a d have never heard of smart side. I'm in Hot humid South Louisiana. Baton Rouge. Avd that is what contractors use here.

So I guess I can only vouch for hardi.

I've had Hardi on my house since it was built in 2001. It's in the Pacific NW and it rains a lot here. I have experienced none of the things that rmtdoug says it does. It's a concrete product and I have never seen it soften in the slightest, and it's dead flat with no cupping. If you have walls that are sheathed properly and flat, I have no idea why properly installed Hardi would have any problems. I also like it being bugproof and fireproof. It's true that it requires some skill to cut because it is so hard, but that's the installer's job to worry about, not yours.

Kudzu9 - Cut edges of Hardi will swell and delaminate if soaked in water, and it only takes a day or two. The face of the board, however, will look intact. I've witnessed this personally. The houses I installed it on are fine too, but my concerns would especially include the cutouts above windows. Without a really good caulking job, it's a problem waiting to happen in our wet climate. I've seen Hardi walls that have looked terrible because of poor framing/sheathing jobs. It's not the fault of Hardi but it does not make it easy to hide wall defects. That's all I'm saying. If I lived where fire or bugs were a major concern, I would use it without hesitation but I would be very careful on who I let install it.

benjesbride - Here's the link. It's the last message in the thread:

Here is a link that might be useful: SmartSide

Thank you for the replies! Sounds like both are a good choice..

We are using a new interlocking siding from royal products, called Celect. http://celect.royalbuildingproducts.com/

Celect is a 100% recyclable siding made entirely from cellular materials that faithfully emulates the appearance of wood. CelectâÂÂs patented interlocking system makes seams nearly invisible and keeps moisture out.

Not a salesman, just posting excerpt from website.

Rmtdoug,

Did you paint both front and back side of your Smartside siding? Are you still happy with the product?