# Cement Board Siding Paint Peeling...



## playedout6 (Apr 27, 2009)

I was asked to look at a huge job this morning that made me wonder if it would be worth the headaches to go for it or not . The apartment building has cement board siding on it and I have no idea on the History behind it . I think it is about 10 years old and there is a lot of peeling on the cement board .
On this building it is the water that is the problem and prevailing winds carrying it off the decks and pounding it onto certain areas causing the stuff to wear down to the point of no primer left on it and just bare paper or whatever the last layer on it actually is . 

I was wondering what you guys have used on cement board for prepping the bare spots before finish coating it ? I don't know the brand of the siding whether it is Hardee plank or Certainteed? ? 

The building is 4 story high and it has about 36 decks . At the moment they only want the siding completed . I need to be darn sure on the issue of covering up the bare sections before I submit a quote . It will be for next July /August thus it is not do or die for me as it is always busy as a rule anyways...but this job could be also a good paying one especially long term with this company who do a lot of work in Atlantic Canada . LOL...but on the other hand...I don't want to lose my shirt either 

This would definitely be a job that I would not offer a warranty on because of so much bare siding present already . 
Thanks in advance for any help fellows...I know that if there is a proper product & application sequence on something like this...that I am in the right place . I have done lots of cement board before...but never had the peeling issues this one has and without knowing the History of previous products applied...I ask for help ! :yes: I won't have any pics until Saturday .


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## premierpainter (Apr 17, 2007)

If its Hardi, latex primer and latex top coat will be fine. If it is not cement, be careful that it is not that compressed cardboard looking stuff. Once the paint fail, water gets in the bevel and makes it swell. There is no hope for correcting it once that occurs.


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## playedout6 (Apr 27, 2009)

We never climbed out of the truck today while quickly looking it over . I am 99% sure it is Hardee [spelling?] Plank siding but I will have a better idea when we have a tour of it on Friday with a property supervisor . It was just way too cold for a close examination today .


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## Brian C (Oct 8, 2011)

if its Hardieplank then check the age of the house. Older houses with Hardieplank had asbestos.


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## premierpainter (Apr 17, 2007)

Older homes that are Hardi contained Asbestos??? Don't think so. It is all cement,


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## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

I know 2 contractors that used Hardy this past summer, one painted the butt ends before installing the other didn't I am always driving by and am pretty sure the unpainted butt ends will fail by the summer time, both are right on the beach front properties.


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## playedout6 (Apr 27, 2009)

We did one by the ocean about 10 years ago and then we did it again 4 years later...complete failure . The constant sandblasting it received from the wild winds blasted the paint right off of it . This past Summer they shingled the building and left them natural & unfinished .


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## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

We didn't paint them yet not sure if I would give a warranty on them or not, maybe a tail light warranty.


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

premierpainter said:


> Older homes that are Hardi contained Asbestos??? Don't think so. It is all cement,


It did before 1981. 

http://asbestosremovalguide.com/446/how-to-identify-asbestos-fibro-cladding/

OTOH, those products were made in Australia. They opened a US plant in 1989 and the US-made products have always been asbestos free. The siding products are a mixture of cement, sand, and cellulose (wood) fiber.

There are homes around here that are sided with cement-asbestos "shingles", but those seem to date from the '50s.


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## cdaniels (Oct 20, 2012)

Gough said:


> It did before 1981.
> 
> http://asbestosremovalguide.com/446/how-to-identify-asbestos-fibro-cladding/
> 
> ...


The "shingles" that you are talking about are common on houses built in the 50's around this area. I lived in one for several years.I have painted a few too.


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## premierpainter (Apr 17, 2007)

That is not Hardi Plank.


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

premierpainter said:


> That is not Hardi Plank.


The older stuff (shingles and soffit) here in the states was generally referred to as Transite, which was a Johns-Mansville product containing asbestos.

Brian C was right that HardiPlank from pre-1981 did contain asbestos. Some of the Hardi products with asbestos were imported into the US from Australia, but it's unclear just how much.

EDIT: I was just looking through a recent copy of JLC in the ... reading room ...and saw a timeline indicating that "HardiPlank made its debut in the US" in 1986.


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## Xmark (Apr 15, 2012)

that's often called "smart board". call these guys and they should have an answer for ya in regards to priming/repaint. i worked on some houses this summer that had it installed. they use a caulking that stays soft in extreme weather conditions. very sticky to apply.

http://www.onestockhome.com/upload/images/Document/20100808 SmartBOARD onestockhome.pdf


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## A+HomeWork (Dec 10, 2010)

Paint the butts/ends? I'm up the creek. Sided and painted my own house last year.


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## playedout6 (Apr 27, 2009)

My bid has been sent in..it would be a good job for June or July...crossing my fingers .


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## Amish Elecvtrician (Jul 3, 2011)

The company is James Hardy, and the product is Hardiplank. 

It's a cement product, with extremely minor amounts of wood fibers in it to hold it together. AFAIK, hardy has never used asbestos.

Older cement-based siding materials did use asbestos fibers - again, in minor amounts - to hold it all together.

On their web site, Hardy has all sorts of installation advice. One thing they're pretty clear about: NO NEED to back-prime. They do like the cut ends to be sealed.

Any sort of cement siding will hold paint extremely well, probably better than any other material. Cement is porous, though, and will let moisture through eventually. So, if paint is actually peeling from cement siding, there's a problem that needs to be fixed, or the new paint will pop right off.

Apart from moisture issues, there might be an issue with the bond between coats. Maybe someone put oil paint over a chalking latex. 

Age is a critical matter. It's possible the earliest coats were made with a lead-based paint, especially the prime coats.


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

Amish Elecvtrician said:


> The company is James Hardy, and the product is Hardiplank.
> 
> It's a cement product, with extremely minor amounts of wood fibers in it to hold it together. AFAIK, hardy has never used asbestos.
> 
> Older cement-based siding materials did use asbestos fibers - again, in minor amounts - to hold it all together.


Hardy used asbestos in their products for nearly 80 years, but stopped in 1981. They didn't start selling HardiPlank in the US until 1986.


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## playedout6 (Apr 27, 2009)

I sent the quote in almost 2 weeks ago...have not heard anything back...Nothing ventured nothing gained . I'm not going to work for peanuts in the Summer months at 40 feet in the air for 2 weeks on a rented lift LOL . Who knows...they might call someday wondering when we can start .


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## propainterJ (Jan 31, 2011)

If they do call you someday wondering when you can start,you can bet your bottom that you were the low bid.


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