Identifying Hardie Board?

Just reading about the various challenges to washing Hardie Board. I can’t tell from pictures how to differentiate it from vinyl siding. Any tips?

Hardie is made out of concrete. Vinyl is made out of vinyl

9 Likes

On Hardi the outer/interior corner boards are 1 inch (typically). Here in GA they are painted white, like trim. Vinyl will have casing the same color, again, typically. If you look at the bottom of each lap, Hardi is very thin roughly 3/8. Vinyl overlap is thicker.

Sheesh, Go to a building supply store and look around. Ask questions there. You shouldn’t be washing anything if you don’t know the difference.

14 Likes

Yep. If you tap Hardiboard you can tell what it is. It’s truly thin cement board.

When your looking at it and your like that’s not vinyl, that’s wood siding, then your like naw that vinyl…then your like naw that’s wood.

That’s hardi / LP smart siding is what new construction calls it now.

7 Likes

Just saw they make a smooth LP siding now too.

Edit: maybe they always have, but just saw it recently

1 Like

Hardi siding has cement and wood fibers in it. LP Smart siding has wax, expoxy, and wood fibers in it. Smart siding is similar to OSB I believe.

If you’re unsure push on the siding, Hardiplank will be firm and vinyl will flex. If your just looking at pictures on the internet your going to have a hard time telling the difference. Very easy to tell the difference when looking at it in person.

5 Likes

Thanks guys, wasn’t aware it was made of a different material. I thought it was a different kind of vinyl siding. I have never seen it around here, and I would definitely be able to tell if it was concrete or vinyl. I’m guessing it just isn’t very common where I’m at.

2 Likes

Or I could just ask questions here. Way faster than going to the store.

But you would learn more going to store and actually studying the product and talking with rep about the pros and cons of the different products, thereby being able to speak knowledgeably to your clients. But that would entail an hour of your time to become more professional.

4 Likes

This advice has been sufficient. The fact is most people don’t need to hear the specs of their siding, they just want it cleaned. This thread was sufficient.

Getting really tired of the elderly folk on this site claiming that people shouldn’t be doing this or that because they aren’t fulfilling some completely subjective prerequisite. In what universe, under what system of logic, does not knowing what hardi board is disqualify me from washing vinyl, a completely unrelated substance? Lunacy.

1 Like

https://images.app.goo.gl/9Q9quqy8zxWcNa8f6

2 Likes

More completely irrational statements. Asking for advice here is wanting to be “spoon fed,” yet asking advice somewhere else is not.

Research is research. Doesn’t matter who is being asked or where. You may not like it, you may think your dislike means I am objectively wrong for doing it… That is not the case, sadly for you.

1 Like

If you don’t like how you’ve been treated here, there are plenty of other places to research. Try some of the pressure washing Facebook groups. They’re a treasure trove of accurate information and friendly help.

/sarcasm

7 Likes

That is laziness to the max…
Thus the spoon feeding gif.
https://images.app.goo.gl/G7m6eVt5F3z8vbin7

4 Likes

I have been treated fine here. I have received lots of helpful information. It does, however, seem that every other thread contains one if not several old timers spewing baseless assertions that are nothing more than an attitude on what people “should” do. It gets irritating.

Hey, if you and those who agree with you like to spend more time/money to do something that could be done for less time/money, be my guest. If efficiency is called laziness, I will gladly submit to such accusations. The alternative would be irrationality, and few things are worse than that.

You call efficiency asking others for…

Wow…$%$^^&#@

We will remember your so called being efficient next time you ask, because we are lazy.

1 Like