CertainTeed vs James Hardie fiber cement shingle

My contractors have had better experience with the James Hardie product. The CertainTeed product seemed to be more brittle. They do include a good amount of coal ash in their mix which is touted as being a good thing. Recently CBS's 60 Minutes aired a story about the potential detrimental effects of using coal ash in place of cement. Basically, we do not know because it is not a regulated product. We do know that coal ash contains heavy metals that are not healthy for humans. The manufacturing process of both is better for the environment than vinyl. James Hardie has manufacturing facilities across the US which means you could source their product fairly locally. This cuts down on carbon emissions for long hauls.

Also look at Nichiha. (see if you have distribution near by) they seem to be a lot more environmentally concious than the others. I personally avoid James Hardie. They were the ones making asbestos siding back in the day and are still fighting lawsuits from Austrailia and the the US. They used to be an Austrailian company, but spent decades dodging and fighting lawsuits mostly by moving to Amsterdam and restructuring the company. I had a client who's father died from Asbesstos related cancer and we were NOT going to use James Hardie on her project. Keep in mind though that that was asbestos siding, not the fiber cement sold today.

I believe that some companies sell special shears to cut the siding instead of saws that make the stuff explode into dust (of the sort I would never want to breath)

All fiber cement siding is resource efficient but high in embodied energy, not much in the way of toxins.

I have used the Rigid fibre cement saw for cutting hardipanel. Does a good job of keeping the dust down.

An important note the fibre cement saw dust is toxic. The saw does a pretty good job of vacuuming up the dust, but you will still want to cut outside and wear a respirator.

See the following FHB article for more info...

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/item/7982/ridgids-new-fiber-cement-saw-s...

Andrew

Karen - what was it about FC that made you choose it?

We have both shears and the Makita shrouded saw. Shears are slow and make a ragged cut, but create no dust. The Makita, hooked to a shop vac, is faster and makes a better but but is still dustier. "Toxic" may be a bit of an overstatement, but the dust is definitely an irritant and prolonged exposure would be bad.

Ridiculous . You are comparing apples to apples.

As to cutting.... stack 8 pieces, take deep breath, cut, grab your cut pieces, and walk briskly away from the cloud you just made.

Embodied energy.... ridiculous again. You want to save the planet, don't have kids. Now you are reducing you footprint!

why would you ever use either? they are both inferior products. if you are going w/ shingles, why not utilize cedar? it's green and if installed properly will last years and years. you could replace it 3x over and still have less embodied energy than the hardipanel. without the toxic dust.

Love the look of cedar shingles.. but worried about the maintenance (and maintenance cost) and upfront cost. Looking into other siding that is not as expensive.. really had my heart on shingles but have to cut costs. Have you heard to panel shingles.. wonder how that lasts long-term if it's on a panel?

Karen, you could put up cedar shingles and just let them weather. My grandmother worried enough for you and I so that we can now live worry free. Easiest most fun siding to hang. DIY project. HD even has decent product. Your computer access here utilized more embodied energy than cedar siding will.

The Certainteed board looks so much better on the home because of their woodgrain. Plus it has the recycled content and made in the USA.

Several folks have referred to “toxic dust,” and one anonymous posters laughs it off and suggest holding your breath. Unfortunately for the anonymous poster, there is a very legitimate risk of physical toxicity when working with any cement product on an ongoing basis.

All cement based products contain naturally occuring Silicas. Respiration of silicas is a known carcinogen as established by the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. As such, it is also specifically identified and regulated by OSHA in 29 CFR 1926 Construction Industry Regulations. There have been many documented cases of Silica poisoning and Silicosis which is what lead OSHA to develop and implement the regulation in the first place.

Granted it’s written by an attorney, but just the same, there is a good “layman’s description” of silicates and silicosis at this link. If you want to learn more, just go to YouTube and type “Silicosis” into the search field. There are dozens of videos which discuss everything from families that have lost their Dad’s to the disease (after years in the construction industry) to x-rays and autopsy results.

It is the dust which is the danger with these materials, and not the finished product once it’s on the house. Some shears cut better than others, but the higher end models are nice to work with and they make smooth cuts and no dust. The saws really should be a last-resort method even though they may seem faster. But anytime concrete products are going to be cut or mixed (thus creating dust) a minimum N95 dust mask should be worn.

There are some arguable durability benefits to these products; factory pre-finished; fire resistance; hail and high wind damage resistance; no rot; no termites or carpenter ants; thermal stability (when compared with vinyl); ability to be down-cycled at end of life; and possibly the recycled content angle (although I’m not sure I’m comfortable with some of the research on fly ash just yet...) For many areas of the country these can be really important factors. But like any product, you just need to be smart when & how you work with them. (... and holding your breath while you walk away from the cloud isn’t one I’d choose...)