Fiber Cement and Cedar Siding

Have ready

Clear the beds and the wall, cover the air conditioning unit if the repair is above it, and move anything stored against the house. If you know when the wall was last painted or stained, and with what sheen, that helps the match. The technician checks the fastener heads first, looking for corrosion and for nails driven tight instead of flush, then the cut edges and whether they were back-primed, then the clearances above grade and above any roof or flashing below.

• Match the profile
• Back-prime the cut edges
• Fasten with stainless
• Paint or stain the repair

The visit

A fiber cement and cedar siding visit starts by naming the failure, not by selling the fix. We check what the problem touched, protect the floors and the rooms below, and leave a written scope. The work is done in one sequence by the same company, so the trade that caused the damage is the trade that closes it.

What fails first on the Shore is what we look at: salt-rotted fasteners, water finding the soft spot, and the 'quick fix' that never dealt with the cause. For fiber cement and cedar siding, the tell is usually visible on the first visit, and we say what it means in plain English.

Permit

Replacing individual fiber cement or cedar boards is repair and normally does not require a building permit in New Jersey. A whole-house re-side generally does require one. One practical point on fiber cement: cutting it makes fine silica dust, so it gets cut outside or with dust collection and the area stays clear. The permit line follows whether the wall covering is being repaired or replaced across the house.

On the Shore

Cedar drinks salt-laden moisture, and the end grain at a cut wicks it fastest, which is why rot starts at the bottom of a board and at the joints. Fiber cement handles salt better, but an unprimed cut edge or a board sitting too close to grade will soak and swell. Freeze-thaw then works on whatever is saturated. Back-priming cut ends, keeping six inches of clearance above grade, and using corrosion-resistant nails are what make a repair last in this air.

When we leave

When the boards are up, the technician checks that the reveal is even and the board sits flat, then looks at the paint or stain for full coverage and a uniform sheen. A hose test at the top of the repair shows water running off the face and out at the bottom rather than behind the board. The care note covers cure time for caulk and coating, and any touch-up that should wait until the material settles.

Built with

Fiber cement lap siding is hung with corrosion-resistant ring-shank nails, and cut edges are back-primed before installation. Cedar repairs use clear or knotty clapboard to match the existing grade, with end grain primed and the board stainless-nailed. Paintable urethane caulk goes at the joints that need it, Z-flashing at the head, and a primer plus an acrylic topcoat or a penetrating stain, matched to the sheen on the rest of the wall.