“What is the best siding for the Pacific Northwest climate?”
Summary:
Jeremiah names James Hardie as by far the best siding for the Pacific Northwest, Greater Seattle, and Snohomish County, ahead of vinyl, cedar, and LP. His reasoning centers on the installation system rather than the material alone. James Hardie's system is designed specifically for the regional climate, allowing the siding to expand and contract with the weather instead of fighting it. He contrasts this with Washington State builder code, which directs installers to cut the siding, install it to the framing, add trim, and caulk or tool the butt joints, an approach he says is designed to fail. He states he has never seen James Hardie fail when installed to the manufacturer's standards, but that installing to code standard produces cracking, failing caulk lines, buckling, or bowing within roughly six months. His closing point is that correct installation is the key factor in any material lasting.
Answer:
The best siding for the Pacific Northwest, more specifically the Greater Seattle area, Snohomish County, is James Hardie siding. Now, there are a lot of different types of siding out there. Vinyl siding, cedar siding, LP siding, there are a lot of different types. The best by far is James Hardie. The reason why is James Hardie, and the system to installing James Hardie, is specifically designed for the Pacific Northwest. It's designed to expand and contract with our climate, not fight against it. So if you look at Washington State builder code and how to install siding properly, they'll tell you the same exact thing. Cut the siding, install it to the framing, put your trim, caulk, or do what's called tooling to the caulking in between the butt joints. All that is designed to fail. James Hardie spent millions and millions of dollars into creating a system that is specifically designed for our climate, to allow the siding to expand and contract and not fight against it. Now, I'll end with this. I have never seen James Hardie fail if it's installed correctly to their standards. If James Hardie is installed to code, it is bound to fail. I will give it six months before you start noticing cracking, before you start noticing caulk lines that are failing, before you start noticing buckling or bowing of the siding. I've seen it fail time and time again when it's installed to that standard. But if it's installed to James Hardie's very specific way to install, it will never fail. It is the key thing, the key thing to any material lasting, is it being installed correctly.