In trying to avoid the jigs and jogs:) guess we ended up with a large flat side to the house! There is definitely a pergola going in, as we need something to shade us from the summer noon sun. I hadn't decided if it would be a separate structure away from the house, but if it was attached, it would definitely break up the wall a bit. There will for sure be a deck. It will start at the door, and extend to the back of the house. I also like the idea of making the dining room window more of a feature by making it a bay or a slight bumpout... (the dining room window is the large center one on main floor.) The windows may appear haphazard from the outside, but they are definitely not haphazard on the inside. Not much we can change there.

Honestly I’d like to see people working to renovate the houses with an eye towards the overall age of the neighborhood, taking architectural cues from those buildings that exist that do have more in the way of details to work with. There are old buildings dotted around the city that could easily be used as inspiration to spruce up an older house, even if all the details aren’t actually original to that house due to the socioeconomic status of the original owners. This is a city with a lot of history and a lot of architectural variety, we shouldn’t lose that because people want to flip houses quick and dirty and so line the streets in ‘popular’ areas with whatever they could get a deal on for materials or installation. Plus, there’s nothing wrong with standard lap siding if it belongs on the house style. Just because McMansions have seventeen billion finishes including at least one stone and one brick it doesn’t mean all houses have to. A house with properly done lap siding and repaired and freshly painted trim and good landscaping can have plenty of curb appeal. (That goes back to taking cues from the neighborhood. Make it what it IS, just in better shape, all cleaned up from the residue of however many years of steel mill pollution.) In some cases, where a house can’t be salvaged, putting up a modern design can work, but it needs to be done sensitively with an eye towards creating a good contrast with the old housing stock in the area. The British can be quite good at this - they’re dealing with buildings that quite frequently are MUCH older than what we have to work with, and where you really can’t sensibly add on and have it look original - or doing such an addition would be artistically dishonest about the original building - so you’ll see homes and other buildings which are quite old paired with unashamedly modern construction that still WORKS because they’ve gotten the lines and the proportions and textures of materials right. And usually being UNASHAMEDLY modern is part of it - all the new parts are modern and they all go together, there’s no ‘well, we did this part modern, but then we had this door from 1993 hanging around so we’ll just use that, and eh, just put regular siding on the sides.’ I mean, we’re talking about housing stock that has history. We shouldn’t be trying to slap a bandaid on so we can pretend it’s all trendy new-build. They can be perfectly nice homes for people starting out in life without trying to pretend the houses and the neighborhood have always been a hub of nightlife and drunk college students. It’s disrespectful. Plus I personally think it’s way more interesting to live in a place that has History and doesn’t try to pretend otherwise, even as it lives in the present.

Wouldn’t the warranty kick in then? No product is perfect. But most have a way out. Read the warranty carefully because most of them state that if their is a problem and it's not caused by 10,000 different things, they'll replace the product. However they won't pay to remove the bad product or pay to put up new product. Basically most warranties are almost useless. Primed hardie with the intention of painting defeats the purpose of hardie. It’s a fabulous product and I don’t regret it at all Yes it's also fine as long as you are happy with their limited choice of colors.

those nails should never be done like that. I posted a huge PDF installation file link. did you ever read it? I mean, you keep coming here to us asking for advice, and we've advised you. Not sure what else you want us to say? From where I sit, the install isn't done up to specs. Have you talked over the last issues w/the installer?? Why not call and speak to a Hardie rep. I'm sure if you sent him these pics, they could advise you about their products. those corner pieces don't look right. as stated previously, nail heads should not be exposed. This is just wrong. here is a corner like yours. do you see any nail heads??? Nope. I've posted diff corner finishes: Hardie Mitered Corners. Hardie Corners This just looks like water damage waiting to happen Here's how a properly done window/siding looks: what happens when water gets in between this gap and just sits there or seeps in behind? have no idea if proper flashing was used. Does this one look like yours? nope. This is a Drip Cap. Not sure if that's what was used w/yours I don't know what to say except I'd report all of these mistakes and issues to whomever is in charge. And I wouldn't pay a dime until all of these are fixed