Fellow contractors re:Masonite siding question (1 Viewer)

[Airyaman]

probably smart side...I call it Masonite...sort of like calling drywall, sheetrock. Old habits die hard...its pressboard, cheap garbage...you are right though...their install skills were very substandard...the builder did cut a lot and I mean a lot of corners...

Actually, Smartside is really not comparable to Masonite. It has much better glues/resins/waxes that help with water shedding but it is not water "proof". Most products aren't water proof, just designed to resist. I have Hardie trim on my home and where water goes down one roof valley and runs along the trim joint, the Hardie trim has deteriorated quite noticeably. Smartside is wood and resins and Hardie is cement, sand, and cellulose. The latter is the weak point and the cellulose will break down with too much water exposure.

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

The sides and back of my house has Hardie board. Looks great 7 years after installation.

 

[Ginger Ale]

I put in for a materials quote this morning for both. I actually think the aluminum is probably more expensive. The stucco for sure is more expensive...my husband is just really, really good at the stone and stucco work..(26 years experience) however, stucco lasts longer, but both he and I agree that it might not be the best solution for her due to the fact she had formosan termites in her 5 year old build...I literally used a termite resistant trim and moulding to try to keep it from happening again.. Your husband is a plumber right? Ask him what camera he uses to see inside walls and plumbing? We are looking at getting a camera to make sure that there are no live infestations before we open junk....had 2 of those situations recently....one just a few days ago and she had a crap ton of those nasty buggers with wings all over the place....and I plan on getting one before we do her project anyway to make sure she doesn't have an infestation elsewhere...(we are almost certain there is an infestation towards the front of the house but the pest control bonding agency won't let us prod it because it is outside of the hotspot area. ....a camera with verification of infestation though would be different.

LOL, sorry to tell ya but we cut walls open to see what's going on in there. We have a locator with a camera to go underground and see if plant roots have invaded a sewer but that gear is expensive and IKT it would work for you.

I think you can use a thermal imaging camera for stuff that's alive. Ick. lol
I know you can see rodents with this, I'm not sure if it works for termites but it might.

Yeah, we're the delivers of bad news I'm afraid. Oh, so sorry you just had that new wall done, but we're going to have to cut that bitch open and see where this leak is coming from. It's even worse when we have to jackhammer up a fresh new floor. We try to make the closest guess so that we don't have to damage too much.

 

[ClaraD]

LOL, sorry to tell ya but we cut walls open to see what's going on in there. We have a locator with a camera to go underground and see if plant roots have invaded a sewer but that gear is expensive and IKT it would work for you.

I think you can use a thermal imaging camera for stuff that's alive. Ick. lol
I know you can see rodents with this, I'm not sure if it works for termites but it might.

Yeah, we're the delivers of bad news I'm afraid. Oh, so sorry you just had that new wall done, but we're going to have to cut that bitch open and see where this leak is coming from. It's even worse when we have to jackhammer up a fresh new floor. We try to make the closest guess so that we don't have to damage too much.

yep, me too..and I try to do minimal openings to make sure that I am right..and yes, a thermal image camera is what I am referring to. I need to make sure stuff aint crawling all over the place before I yank open a hole in drywall...crawlies spread when you do that...Also, it may save us time etc because I can confirm for them that there are indeed live termites and where they are active (which means there will be damage.) I just talked to builder support today at the Pest Control company we do bond work for..he is sad....because this damage is at a bay window and has a custom bench seat in front of it...an expensive one...and I found a mud tube there as well as wings from the swarmers. I also found live buggers but they were in the wall. I hate disturbing their nest until they are all dead. I really hate messing around in a master bedroom of a client and doing that chaos.
I am guessing you are familiar with Orangeburg pipe? lol stuff was awful.

 

[ClaraD]

Actually, Smartside is really not comparable to Masonite. It has much better glues/resins/waxes that help with water shedding but it is not water "proof". Most products aren't water proof, just designed to resist. I have Hardie trim on my home and where water goes down one roof valley and runs along the trim joint, the Hardie trim has deteriorated quite noticeably. Smartside is wood and resins and Hardie is cement, sand, and cellulose. The latter is the weak point and the cellulose will break down with too much water exposure.

cellulose is a fancy term for press board. We are working with their HOA on what is acceptable and the colors she is allowed ....they were pretty agreeable, thank goodness. I think they are aware of some of the installation issues....some of it may be more of a contractor error causing the issues, because I saw it on multiple homes where the boards were warped, lifting up and actually falling off.