Stevoh57 Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Hi Everyone, I just had a question on hardie plank and the proper installation. A home inspector brought to my attention some very tight joints on a brand new hardie plank install on a property I am selling. Do the joints in this picture look too tight and how much does Hardie Plank expand? Would this cause issues down the road? Thank you for anyone's input on this discussion! Click to Enlarge 57.83 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Hi, The instructions change on almost an annual basis. What year was the siding installed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Hockstein Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 If it is a brand new install it is wrong. Look up the installation specifications on the Hardie website. Unless of course "Brand New" means five years old (a common description in the real estate profession). One day I want to sell my "Brand New" four year old car to someone and see how they react. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 I don't see how it could be right. Temperatures have been moderate in Oregon City lately. With the joints butted tightly like that, problems may arise when it warms up in the summer. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Hi Everyone, I just had a question on hardie plank and the proper installation. A home inspector brought to my attention some very tight joints on a brand new hardie plank install on a property I am selling. Do the joints in this picture look too tight and how much does Hardie Plank expand? Would this cause issues down the road? Thank you for anyone's input on this discussion! Click to Enlarge 57.83 KB The instructions say to install the planks "in moderate contact," whatever that means. So far, I have yet to see tightly butted joints cause problems. As long as there's flashing behind the joint, I predict that the joints will be just fine. The gap, which Hardie used to recommend, was there to accommodate a caulk joint, not to leave room for expansion and contraction. Hardieplank does expand and contract, but not much. In your installation, the movement will happen at the ends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 I don't see how it could be right. Temperatures have been moderate in Oregon City lately. With the joints butted tightly like that, problems may arise when it warms up in the summer. Marc I think it'll be the opposite. We don't get hot & humid here. It's either cold & damp or hot & dry. If the seams are tight now, they'll tend to open up in the summer. At least that's what they do on my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevoh57 Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Thanks everyone, I contacted the Hardie rep. he said he was on the fence about it. He said it would probably be ok but try to fix the really extra tight joints if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Oh Yeah, There it was in the first post. Guess my reading comprehension is slipping. Like Jim says - in moderate contact. How does on measure that? put a nono scale in the butt joint to determine the amount of force being exerted? Hmmm. The instructions do warn you to pay attention to the expansion characteristics when working on large projects and refers you to their thermal expansion characteristic bulletin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Oh Yeah, There it was in the first post. Guess my reading comprehension is slipping. Like Jim says - in moderate contact. How does on measure that? put a nono scale in the butt joint to determine the amount of force being exerted? Hmmm. The instructions do warn you to pay attention to the expansion characteristics when working on large projects and refers you to their thermal expansion characteristic bulletin. Interesting. The longitudinal co-efficient of expansion (with humidity) (30 RH to 90RH) is nearly twice as much as the same for a 40 degree change in temperature. Moisture expansion is this product's weakness. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Thanks everyone, I contacted the Hardie rep. he said he was on the fence about it. He said it would probably be ok but try to fix the really extra tight joints if possible. How, exactly, is one supposed to "fix" the extra tight joints? My opinion is that screwing around with it is going to make it worse than it is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlparham Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Thanks everyone, I contacted the Hardie rep. he said he was on the fence about it. He said it would probably be ok but try to fix the really extra tight joints if possible. How, exactly, is one supposed to "fix" the extra tight joints? My opinion is that screwing around with it is going to make it worse than it is now. I agree. In so many cases the repair causes more trouble than the original problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 To the OP, that siding contractor needs to be more aware of what he is doing. Maybe a few callbacks will smarten him up, if he survives at all. Contractors here have learned to get it right if they want repeat business. If they are slow to learn, gone in a year. [:-thumbd] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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