Hardie Board installers added extra trim. It looks awful.
October 8, 2023 9:58 AM Subscribe
We are in the process of having the asphalt shingles on our gable ends replaced with Hardie Board. Instead of running the angled ends up to the existing wooden frieze board, the installers added an extra frieze board and notched it to fit around the windows. It looks terrible (photo 1 photo 2). I'm asking it to be redone, but I want to know if there was any justification for the way they did it.
Our contact with the roofing/siding company is telling me it looks fine, they did a great job, and that it had to be done this way. He's not a very convincing liar.
His explanations were:
a) the original frieze board was not straight, so they had to add the extra board.
The boards look straight to me. It they aren't, it's not hard to cut each siding piece to fit, and it should be caulked anyway.
b) Hardie Board has to butted up against Hardie Board trim, not wood.
The Hardie Board is currently butting up against the wooden window trim.
c) They couldn't remove and replace the wooden frieze board.
He might have a point here, since removing the existing frieze might mean cutting roofing nails. The same company did the roof in May, but with a different crew.
The way I'd want it done would be to skip the extra board and run the Hardie Board up to existing frieze board. Second best option would be to use an extra board that's thinner, to avoid the windows. I'm expecting a call from the boss on Monday, but the crew might show up before that to work on the other side of the house. I want to be ready to counter any pushback I get.
Our contact with the roofing/siding company is telling me it looks fine, they did a great job, and that it had to be done this way. He's not a very convincing liar.
His explanations were:
a) the original frieze board was not straight, so they had to add the extra board.
The boards look straight to me. It they aren't, it's not hard to cut each siding piece to fit, and it should be caulked anyway.
b) Hardie Board has to butted up against Hardie Board trim, not wood.
The Hardie Board is currently butting up against the wooden window trim.
c) They couldn't remove and replace the wooden frieze board.
He might have a point here, since removing the existing frieze might mean cutting roofing nails. The same company did the roof in May, but with a different crew.
The way I'd want it done would be to skip the extra board and run the Hardie Board up to existing frieze board. Second best option would be to use an extra board that's thinner, to avoid the windows. I'm expecting a call from the boss on Monday, but the crew might show up before that to work on the other side of the house. I want to be ready to counter any pushback I get.
My daughter is building a house and the hardie board is installed exactly how you describe, not as your installers have done it. It's obviously more exacting work to cut the boards precisely, which is probably why your installers dodged it; the man doing the work was previously a cabinet-maker so he's excellent at precision.
Did you see what the board ends looked like before the frieze was out on, and what the frieze is hiding? I agree either of your alternatives would be much nicer; I'd probably use a thin frieze board if I was doing it as I'm not very precise, but my daughter's house has none with the siding going right to the underside of the roof overhang.
posted by anadem at 12:08 PM on October 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Did you see what the board ends looked like before the frieze was out on, and what the frieze is hiding? I agree either of your alternatives would be much nicer; I'd probably use a thin frieze board if I was doing it as I'm not very precise, but my daughter's house has none with the siding going right to the underside of the roof overhang.
posted by anadem at 12:08 PM on October 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: anadem,
Our first thought was that the new frieze was covering up sloppy cuts, but in fact the siding is butting against it the new frieze board.
sepvia,
Nothing in the Installation Guide about wood trim, but I've seen other sources that say it's best to pair with fiber cement trim to minimize shrinkage and expansion problems. Of coarse, I still have wood trim against cement fiber with the old and new frieze boards.
posted by hydrophonic at 1:33 PM on October 8, 2023
Our first thought was that the new frieze was covering up sloppy cuts, but in fact the siding is butting against it the new frieze board.
sepvia,
Nothing in the Installation Guide about wood trim, but I've seen other sources that say it's best to pair with fiber cement trim to minimize shrinkage and expansion problems. Of coarse, I still have wood trim against cement fiber with the old and new frieze boards.
posted by hydrophonic at 1:33 PM on October 8, 2023
This looks like a problem in the future if you have any work done on the windows, such as replacing a broken frame or dealing with the weights (if any) that allow you to operate the windows. The notches could break, which will look bad and compromise their performance.
Hardie Board is easy to cut. We did our own installation on two houses.
I would expect a replacement which does not compromise the windows.
Do you have pictures of the original shingle gable? I would expect that the boards could have a thinner board.
Ripping a Hardie Board is not acceptable, unless it is a very short one for installation under a window. We tried to stagger the boards so that the upper board was perfect above the window.
Otherwise the contractor should have discussed the window treatment before proceeding with the installation.
Good luck.
posted by TrishaU at 1:43 PM on October 8, 2023
Hardie Board is easy to cut. We did our own installation on two houses.
I would expect a replacement which does not compromise the windows.
Do you have pictures of the original shingle gable? I would expect that the boards could have a thinner board.
Ripping a Hardie Board is not acceptable, unless it is a very short one for installation under a window. We tried to stagger the boards so that the upper board was perfect above the window.
Otherwise the contractor should have discussed the window treatment before proceeding with the installation.
Good luck.
posted by TrishaU at 1:43 PM on October 8, 2023
I might detail it with a frieze board if I wanted to give the installers an easier time, but I can't see why it would have to be as wide as yours.
This is why you get the design nailed down before work starts, verbally at least but preferably with a drawing or sketch. In the absence of that happening you kind of assume they'll match what they are replacing but it's not guaranteed. Do you have a contract or quote you agreed to? What does it say?
But no, there's no reason they had to do what they've done. I am a draftsperson, though not yours or even in your country.
posted by deadwax at 1:51 PM on October 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
This is why you get the design nailed down before work starts, verbally at least but preferably with a drawing or sketch. In the absence of that happening you kind of assume they'll match what they are replacing but it's not guaranteed. Do you have a contract or quote you agreed to? What does it say?
But no, there's no reason they had to do what they've done. I am a draftsperson, though not yours or even in your country.
posted by deadwax at 1:51 PM on October 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
a) the original frieze board was not straight, so they had to add the extra board.
This is absolute nonsense and, even if the board isn't straight, they can still cut to it. I could understand adding an additional board to make life easier, but it would just be something narrower and absolutely not notched into the window frames in that way. I have fitted cement sheet boards in an almost identical spot, up against an eave that wasn't straight and I just had to mark and cut individual boards using a bevel for each one.
b) Hardie Board has to butted up against Hardie Board trim, not wood.
This is absolute nonsense.
c) They couldn't remove and replace the wooden frieze board.
This is absolute nonsense - they wouldn't be removing and replacing it anyway. They should have just cut the boards up against the original trim piece and caulked the join to ensure it's watertight. Exactly what they have done, without the extra board.
posted by dg at 9:20 PM on October 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
This is absolute nonsense and, even if the board isn't straight, they can still cut to it. I could understand adding an additional board to make life easier, but it would just be something narrower and absolutely not notched into the window frames in that way. I have fitted cement sheet boards in an almost identical spot, up against an eave that wasn't straight and I just had to mark and cut individual boards using a bevel for each one.
b) Hardie Board has to butted up against Hardie Board trim, not wood.
This is absolute nonsense.
c) They couldn't remove and replace the wooden frieze board.
This is absolute nonsense - they wouldn't be removing and replacing it anyway. They should have just cut the boards up against the original trim piece and caulked the join to ensure it's watertight. Exactly what they have done, without the extra board.
posted by dg at 9:20 PM on October 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
It just looks to me like the house was not designed to have frieze board that wide, and that that should guide the installers.
posted by rhizome at 12:53 AM on October 9, 2023
posted by rhizome at 12:53 AM on October 9, 2023
It does appear to be to wide for that space, but the open eave also reads differently from a distance and angle.
Two easy solutions:
1) paint out the white hardie to match siding
2) install cellular PVC to better match the space provided. This would keep edges of the hardie protected and allow for expansion behind the trim
To be honest the trim and condition of the windows is more jarring to my eye against the perfection of the Hardie. Perhaps get the band framing the windows replaced with the same PVC to sharpen up that edge.
posted by ashtray elvis at 2:44 AM on October 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Two easy solutions:
1) paint out the white hardie to match siding
2) install cellular PVC to better match the space provided. This would keep edges of the hardie protected and allow for expansion behind the trim
To be honest the trim and condition of the windows is more jarring to my eye against the perfection of the Hardie. Perhaps get the band framing the windows replaced with the same PVC to sharpen up that edge.
posted by ashtray elvis at 2:44 AM on October 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sepviva at 10:48 AM on October 8, 2023 [2 favorites]