You should post this on the discussion side, for better response. This side is for photos. Also ask the professionals at SW. Good Luck

Not certain if you are speaking about painting for the exterior or interior. Hardi Plank is, I believe, a concrete product. Therefore pretty unafffected by mositure and a quality latex paint should be fine. For the interior, I always provide rather contrary advise for new construction. That is to select a neutral paint which will please you for the first year. During that time you can get a feel for the lighting, furnishings and personal preferences for your new home to repaint - which will then be necessary. Reason it will be necessary is that during the first year your home will settle and the materials will dry. Accordingly you will begin to see nail pops and taping seam splits. These are inevitable and is why your builder will provide a 1-year follow-up inspection to repair these issues. But they won't repaint - that's your job! That's when a quality paint will be your best investment because better paints generally cover more area per gallon, cover in fewer coats, clean better and maintain their appearance for more years. Truly a $40 per gallon paint is worth the difference (and quite possibly less costly) unless you're planning to move shortly after completing the paint job. Personally I like SW Duration but many here like BM Aura - both top-of-the-line products. I'm not a fan of Behr, though I used it in our basement. I felt is was unusually thick and applied differently, and after about 5 years I notice it getting a chalky surface. Where in Iowa? I grew up on a farm near Newton and went to college in Iowa City. Know the climate well! Enjoy your new home.

I'm not helpful about colors but just wanted to say to not worry too much about breaking from the dominant colors in the neighborhood. Maybe everyone else is feeling like they'd like something different, too, but are too afraid to break out. You may start a trend!

I think there is some level of I don't know..common sense? For example that custom made tile that ends up not being used doesn't go in the garbage bag? Or that you don't throw out 20 perfectly good dimmers or bulbs, just because you used your subcontractor's account to purchase them, and had too many? Or if you take out the old door, and there are two surfaces in front of you that you can lean that door against, one of them being a wall, other- a living bush with flowers-wouldn't it make sense to lean the door against the wall? I can't assume, that's right..obviously operational systems sometimes are very different. Sometimes I can't even imagine things that I can't or can assume.