Compare HardiePlank Fiber Cement and Vinyl Siding
When it comes to your home, it’s a balance between cost and the old form of home improvement. That’s right, for example, you’ve been eyeing the gorgeous quartz countertops at a kitchen design showroom, but the high cost of quartz will take you back to the point where both quartz and laminate seem like good choices. The same goes for fiber cement and vinyl siding.
In many categories, fiber cement may be the better choice, except for one reason: the large gap between the cost of fiber cement and vinyl siding. Vinyl siding is a cheaper choice for many homes, but it also has a number of other qualities that can put it on par with fiber cement siding.
Siding Thickness
Fiber-Cement Siding
HardiePlank is significantly thicker than vinyl siding. Just like real wood siding, HardiePlank is thick. Although thickness varies, HardiePlank has an average thickness of 5/16 to 1/4 inch.
Vinyl Siding
Vinyl siding is much thinner than HardiePlanks, ranging from 0.040 to 0.046 inches in thickness. This means that vinyl siding is significantly thinner than HardiePlank. Vinyl siding can be sheathed with foam or insulation to provide greater exterior thickness. Once vinyl siding is installed on a home, it is difficult to determine the overall thickness of the product.
Combustibility
Fiber-Cement Siding
HardiePlank consists of cement-like materials and 5 to 10% cellulose (wood) fibers. When cut, HardiePlank fiber cement panels create clouds of cement dust. Be very careful as inhalation of dust can lead to acute silicosis.1
A happy byproduct of all this cement is that HardiePlank is very difficult to burn. James Hardie Industries believes that HardiePlank and all of its fiber cement products are not “explosive or flammable.” HardiePlank is considered fire rated only, not fireproof.
Vinyl Siding
Vinyl siding is more susceptible to fire and extreme heat than HardiePlank. Vinyl siding is treated with fire retardants, but this only slows or slows the spread of fire. Homes with vinyl siding located next to a burning house are severely deformed by the surrounding heat. The fire usually involves a neighboring house that has vinyl siding. Lattice placed too close to vinyl siding will warp the siding. Even concentrated light from a mirror can warp or melt vinyl siding.
Texture and Realism
Fiber-Cement Siding
Because HardiePlank is thicker, it provides a deeper texture than vinyl siding. HardiePlank’s thickness allows for deep embossing, making it look more like real wood than vinyl siding. At the same time, the embossed lines on fiber cement siding are fairly uniform, so they can rarely be confused with real wood.
Vinyl Siding
Vinyl siding often has a wood-look finish. However, the product is too thin to create the deep texture seen on HardiePlank, other brands of fiber cement, or natural wood siding.
Value
Vinyl siding is almost always cheaper than fiber cement siding in both product and labor costs because it can be installed more quickly. However, any cost savings may not be reflected in the final sale of your home: for resale value, HardiePlank is the best choice.
Fiber cement siding
A 12-foot long, 8-1/4-inch wide (5/16-inch thick) HardiePlank from Cedarmill’s Primed Lap Siding line costs $10 to $12. The wide-format HardiePanel (HZ5 series, 4 by 8 feet) costs about $43.
Vinyl siding
A piece of Georgia-Pacific Vision Pro Double 4 Dutch Lap vinyl siding costs about $9. This board is 150 inches long and 8 inches wide: 6 inches longer than the HardiePlank.
Reliability
HardiePlank and vinyl siding are very durable and outperform wood siding (which requires frequent painting) and cedar siding (which requires frequent refinishing).
Both HardiePlank and vinyl siding attract little to no destructive insects, most notably carpenter ants and termites. Insectivorous birds are rarely interested in either product because none of them contain insects that attract woodpeckers. If termites begin to infest a home on any side, they will become interested in organic materials found in other building components, such as wood studs, sawdust, wood chips, and OSB 2 sheathing.
Fiber cement siding
HardiePlank is essentially a long, thin slab of concrete that cracks when struck. HardiePlank will not warp or melt.
Vinyl siding
Vinyl siding can be damaged when struck by a lawn mower or shovel. Cold temperatures make vinyl siding more susceptible to cracking. Heat deforms it. Place an oven too close to vinyl siding and it will warp beyond repair. Often, replacing the panel is the only solution to the problem of vinyl siding warping.
At the same time, vinyl siding is much more flexible than fiber cement siding, so it can bend without breaking or cracking.