Primed boards or ColorPlus: which do you have?
Fiber cement siding leaves the factory one of two ways, and it changes the job.
Primed boards have a factory primer coat and are made to be painted after they go up. If your house was primed and painted when it was built, we treat it like any other repaint: wash it, find what is failing, fix it, and put on two coats.
ColorPlus is James Hardie’s prefinished line, with the color put on at the factory. A lot of houses with it have never been painted. It holds up, but after years of sun it can fade and chalk, especially on south and west walls. Or you may just want a different color. It can be painted. We wash it well, do a chalk test with a hand on the siding, and prime where the surface needs it so the new paint grips.
Not sure which you have? We can usually tell on the walk-through.
Caulked butt joints, or not
Lap siding planks meet end to end at butt joints. Some installers caulk those joints. Others leave them open with a piece of flashing behind, depending on the product and the instructions they followed.
We look at how yours went up before we touch a tube of caulk. Where joints were caulked and the caulk has split, we cut it out and redo it. Where joints were left open on purpose, we leave them open. Caulk at trim, windows, doors and corners gets checked on every house either way.
Why fiber cement costs more than vinyl or wood
Fiber cement takes more time per square foot. The planks are thick, so every row has a deep bottom edge that gets painted by hand. Much of it is embossed with a wood grain texture that we work the paint into instead of skimming over. And there are a lot of caulk lines at trim, corners and windows to check and redo. That is why it costs more to paint than vinyl or wood.
Which paint level fits
- Essential (SuperPaint Exterior): fine for a rental or a house going on the market.
- Performance (Duration Exterior): our most common pick for homes people are staying in.
- Showcase (Emerald Exterior): the longest life and best color hold, worth it on sunny walls and deeper colors.
Since fiber cement holds paint well, a better paint level usually pays off in years between repaints.
What affects the price
Fiber cement is priced by how much siding there is and the paint level you pick, with the wash and two coats included. Walls 14 ft or taller add to it, and so does peeling paint prep, light or heavy. Trim, fascia, corner boards and soffits are priced on their own. You get a written price before we start.
Read how we price, or go back to the exterior painting overview. If your project includes doors, see doors and garage doors. We work across the Upstate, including Boiling Springs and Five Forks. Planning when to paint? Read the best time to paint outside in the Upstate.