James Hardie siding in Houston.

HardiePlank goes on in overlapping rows. The boards are commonly 12 feet long, in several widths, so the exposure can match a ranch in Sugar Land or a taller wall in Memorial. HardieTrim finishes the corners, windows, doors, and the edges that make the wall look finished. We do not use HardiePlank as trim or as fascia. ColorPlus comes with James Hardie's factory-applied baked finish. Primed HardiePlank is painted on the house. We install these boards on your wall. That is what you are hiring us to do.

Fiber cement is cement and cellulose fiber. It does not rot the way pine does when the bottom row stays wet, and it is not food for termites the way wood is. That is why people ask for it in this humidity. It does not make the house termite-proof, and it does not replace flashing or a water-resistive barrier. We look behind the damage before we order a match.

Soft wood at a hose bib, a swollen bottom course, or paint that keeps peeling on the west wall is a reason to open the wall, not only to cover it. We look at the sheathing and the wrap. If they are wet or rotten, that layer is the repair. New HardiePlank goes on after the wood is sound, the flashing is right, and water has a way off the wall. Covering rot with new fiber cement repeats the failure, usually at the same bottom row.

Hail can crack fiber cement, and wind can lift a course. We photograph that before we cover it. A section can be replaced when the profile still exists and the color can be blended. South and west walls fade, so a new plank beside a ten-year-old wall often will not match. We say when a patch will show. The same storm may have marked the roof. A CertainTeed roof is one of the shingle options, and it is a separate look.

The local problem is water that stays: humidity, irrigation splash, mulch on the lowest row, and a deck or a roof the siding touches. James Hardie's instructions call for clearance off finished grade, typically at least 6 inches, and a gap at a roof, a deck, a step, or a path. We keep those gaps. A sprinkler aimed at the wall will wet new fiber cement the same way it wet the wood. A new board will not fix that.

The wall behind the board needs a water-resistive barrier and flashing at windows and doors. Cut ends and the bottom edge are where water gets in. James Hardie recommends stainless fasteners in very humid climates and near large bodies of water. Houston is that climate. We use corrosion-resistant fasteners, and stainless where the wall stays damp. Termites can still be in the framing of an older Bellaire or West University house. Fiber cement does not feed them. If we open the wall and the wood is damaged, you see it before we close it.

Primed HardiePlank is painted as the wall goes up, including the cut ends. Raw cuts in this humidity are how the next peel starts. The color is matched to the boards on the house now, in daylight, not to a chip from the year it was built. A whole-house color is chosen the same way: outside, against the brick, the roof, and the light on that street.

ColorPlus arrives with the finish baked on. Cut edges get the edge treatment in the instructions, or they die into HardieTrim. We do not caulk ColorPlus butt joints or exposed nail heads, because caulk and the factory finish do not weather the same way. Each plank is set where it will fasten. Sliding a new board across one that is already up scuffs the face. If the factory sheet cannot blend an older wall, field paint is the honest option, and we will say so.

If wind or hail opened the wall, we photograph the cracks, the lifted courses, and what is behind them if we have to open it. We can meet your adjuster on site. The estimate is the price of the HardiePlank, the HardieTrim, the flashing, and any sheathing that has to come out. It is not the claim payment. You file. Your insurer decides coverage and payment. We are not public adjusters, and we do not give legal advice.

A planned re-side, with no storm, is construction, and we describe it that way. We do not rename a worn wall as hail. Hail marks and ordinary age look different up close, and the notes say which one we see. Photos of the damage and of the repair are yours to share.

A matched section is often a day or two once the boards are here. A one-story house with HardieTrim is often several days after the material arrives. Two stories, many windows, and rotten sheathing add days. A ColorPlus color that must be ordered is a lead time before those days. A whole-house re-side in the City of Houston can require a permit. A small repair often does not. Bellaire, West University, Sugar Land, Katy, and The Woodlands are different counters. We check the address.

The office is at 511 Crestwater Ct, Houston, TX 77082. Scheduled visits are Monday through Saturday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Call (713) 909-0034 for a free estimate, or text the same number if you cannot talk. We are family-owned here since 1993. The visit is at the house, in Houston and in the cities linked below, including Katy, Sugar Land, Bellaire, The Woodlands, River Oaks, Memorial, and West University.