This is our 3rd season for concrete block square foot beds. We use the heavier (for stability)concrete ones which cost $1.00 apiece last year from a local supplier (Home depot and Lowe's were a little more expensive). First year we made 4x8 beds, 2 blocks high. To get 4x8' interior space it took 40 blocks (seven each end and 13 each side, overlapped). Also used 18 flat blocks to cover the holes at $.70 each, so a 4 by 8 bed was $52.60 total, which was definitely cheaper than plastic wood. You may only need 1 level high, depending on your existing soil. Top flat blocks are nice to sit on and easily removed to plant in holes, stick in a trellis, or set on the ground when muddy. Grew marigolds and herbs successfully in holes. You can carry a few in your car, so just depends on how many you need and how many trips you want to make. Last year we expanded the beds to 4x16 interior so had them delivered. We just hand leveled (well, fairly level!) as we set the blocks ourselves, slow and heavy, but you only have to do it once! Also rolled landscape fabric around the inside edge of bed before filling with dirt, helps keep moisture in. First year filled with bags of compost & topsoil, but last year ordered 'topmix' of mushroom compost, topsoil & sand delivered & shoveled in, mixing in a few big bags of vermiculite from Atwoods. After initial labor it's wonderful to add a little more soil, measure & plant as I'm doing now that our icy winter has finally thawed. I can email photos if interested.

debi, here's the thing: True cement board is made of non-organic "ingredients". Nothing cellulose-based, like the paper facing on gypsum board. Cement board will not degrade when undergoing long periods of water saturation. It will not degrade after repeated wetting and drying cycles like the gypsum core in gypsum board. So does cement board itself have moisture protection and mold resistance? Yes. Because there's nothing organic in it to feed mold, and there's nothing in it that will degrade from water exposure. But you'll note that it does not say cement board is waterproof. It's not. Water can wick right through it. And what's on the other side of the cement board? Your house's wood framing. Again, you'll find manufacturers telling you about their specific product, but they can't say how their product will interact with or protect materials attached to it. So cement board is essentially not affected by moisture. Your house's wood framing will be affected by moisture. Insulation can be affected by moisture. So you have to decide how to prevent moisture generated by your shower from reaching the wood framing or any insulation within the framing bays. Obviously the tile and grout will shed most of the water. But that's why a barrier of some sort needs to be included before residual moisture and moisture vapor driven through the assemble can reach the wood framing. There are a lot of people who build incorrectly. Some through ignorance, some through apathy. Two dollars worth of 6-mil plastic could have solved this before the cement board was installed. You can unscrew the cement board, hang the poly and reinstall the cement board. Or leave the cement board up, mesh tape and mud the seams, then use a topical membrane to waterproof the CBU. Based on the path this thread has taken, I'll toss this out. When you tile, don't use mastic. Don't use any premixed comes-in-a-tub type of adhesive.

Actually I have seriously considered building a home of light clay and may do so someday. Ideally we should not be building with materials that will not, when we are done with them, be able to return to components that existed in the environment before we intervened. Stone, wood, metal, even ceramic or concrete can eventually break down to ancestor substances. Many plastics will not. The ones I personally object to most vigorously are the vinyls and the styrofoam-related ones. On the other hand, plastics can do wonderful things that other materials simply cannot match. My personal code is that they should be used only when they are the best material, and not when they are merely the cheapest. But I do not make decisions for others, or even want to. You will note that I said what I would do, not what Larimie should do. (In fact, it is just now that I am noticing what an old thread this is. By now the decision has long since been made.) As always, each person must make his or her own decision. It is a wide world, and there is room for difference of opinion. Rosefolly

We actually have both -- Hardie 'cedar' plank siding in Coastal Santa Cruz-area house; and stucco on the house we just moved into on the Peninsula. The stucco seems to have held up reasonably well -- there are some cracks, but nothing too bad, and I'm sure it's not been repaired for years. It definitely gets dirty from the trees, vines that were growing on it, etc. That was unexpectedly annoying. We put the Hardie siding on about 4 years ago, and we've been really happy with it. That climate is pretty rough on houses -- close enough to the ocean for the air to be salty, lots of fog, very sunny -- and the siding is holding up really well. It *does* seem to retain a lot of heat, however! During the afternoon, it's definitely very warm to the touch; and it warms up the interior of the house. We also painted it a light grey-blue, though -- that might pull in more heat than say a white would. Overall -- if we ever do this again, I'd go with Hardie. Good luck. These fires are terrible; we get the smoke, which is bad enough; and we watched the helicopters fly over our house on the way to fight the CZU fire in 2020. So much worse to lose your house. <3