Lumber and Siding - Hardie Board Help!
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FairwayFatty
09-07-09, 07:41 AM
Hello - My house is approximately 1.5 years old with Hardie Board siding.
The "builder" in his infinite wisdom used some cheap improper product to "Seal" each butt joint of the siding. This product is fading and is discernible from the road and looks horrible standing in front of the house. I have tried a very soft brush with mild detergent in the areas with no luck removing. I am afraid if I get to aggressive I will start to fade or remove the hardie board surface color. Water beads slightly on this stuff so I assume it is some form of latex or silicon base. The really sad part is that there is none of the material actually left in the joint but just the remnant smeared on the face of the siding.
Any advice as to what I might try to remove without discoloring the pre-painted hardie board.
Photos here
Untitled (http://www.fairpoint.net/~lochlomond/)
Thanks FF
The "builder" in his infinite wisdom used some cheap improper product to "Seal" each butt joint of the siding. This product is fading and is discernible from the road and looks horrible standing in front of the house. I have tried a very soft brush with mild detergent in the areas with no luck removing. I am afraid if I get to aggressive I will start to fade or remove the hardie board surface color. Water beads slightly on this stuff so I assume it is some form of latex or silicon base. The really sad part is that there is none of the material actually left in the joint but just the remnant smeared on the face of the siding.
Any advice as to what I might try to remove without discoloring the pre-painted hardie board.
Photos here
Untitled (http://www.fairpoint.net/~lochlomond/)
Thanks FF
ray2047
09-07-09, 08:43 AM
Any advice as to what I might try to remove without discoloring the pre-painted hardie board. Most hardie board I have seen does not come pre painted, just primed. The house has had a coat of good qualoty paint hasn't it? Last resort you might want to use a stain blocker on the problem areas and repaint.
XSleeper
09-07-09, 09:42 AM
Prepainted Hardiplank is very common so I don't doubt that it is a factory finish. But the contractor apparently had touchup paint at some point to cover up that caulk. I agree the best solution is probably priming with a shellac based primer to seal the caulk, and obtain some of the factory touchup paint and repaint those areas.
FairwayFatty
09-07-09, 10:29 AM
It is factory pre-finished hardie board.
The builder used some sort of tinted caulking product which he said would match the hardi color "perfectly". Which it did for about a year until its first full summer. He apparently wiped away with his hanky as he plodded along.....thus the time influenced sun bleach smeared look.
Unfortunately for me (maybe the opposite for potential others) the builder is no longer in buisness.
A touchup with paint in these areas would be difficult to match whatever weathering has taken affect in 1.5 years to the overall color an afraid it may look worse in time as it weathered.
I was hoping to find a method or mild cleanser that might remove it verses the extreme option of painting a 1 1/2 year old house so soon.
Thanks.FF
The builder used some sort of tinted caulking product which he said would match the hardi color "perfectly". Which it did for about a year until its first full summer. He apparently wiped away with his hanky as he plodded along.....thus the time influenced sun bleach smeared look.
Unfortunately for me (maybe the opposite for potential others) the builder is no longer in buisness.
A touchup with paint in these areas would be difficult to match whatever weathering has taken affect in 1.5 years to the overall color an afraid it may look worse in time as it weathered.
I was hoping to find a method or mild cleanser that might remove it verses the extreme option of painting a 1 1/2 year old house so soon.
Thanks.FF