How We’re Revamping Our Home With James Hardie® Siding
Now that my heartmate and I are actually bouncing in between Los Angeles and New Orleans (We’re officially “bicoastal.” Yaaas!) it feels like lately we’re constantly remodeling, redecorating, or revamping something or another. Thank goodness I love a good project! One major change we’ve been considering for quite some time involves our NOLA home. The house currently has yellow vinyl siding that — quite honestly — isn’t the best quality. And now that we’ve invested so much into the interior, as well as building out a patio that we can be proud of, it’s time the exterior got a little love.
For a long time now, we’ve been playing with the idea of either painting over the existing siding or replacing it completely. Admittedly, I don’t know very much about siding (which is likely why it took me so long to tackle this project!) but once I got connected with James Hardie, and saw what premium options of fiber cement siding they have, I knew the brand would be my ideal partner for this major makeover. Remember when our home used to look like this before we painted our door yellow and pressure washed the siding?
A brand new fiber cement façade will make our home look brighter, fresher, and full of character to stand apart on our block, and to make things easy, the James Hardie product line offers a ton of different sizes, colors and textures that can really customize a home’s character. The site even offers an interactive Home Color Tool to make choosing a type (between HardiePlank® lap siding, HardieShingle® siding and HardiePanel® vertical siding) and a color not only simple, but actually kind of fun! Just look at these beautiful homes with their pretty siding, which is pretty versatile and can be used on traditional and modern homes.
You can order free samples to feel them out. I ordered both smooth and cedar mill HardiePlank® lap siding in blue and green tones. We’re considering their navy shade called Ocean Blue. And given the brand’s ColorPlus® technology where they bake on multiple coats of paint in a controlled environment, we know it’s going to look rich and vibrant — plus it’s going to stand up to New Orleans’ unpredictable weather.
You probably already know that NOLA is prone to insane storms, flooding, intense heat, and humidity, so you can imagine owning a home here presents a unique set of challenges. Switching to a more sturdy and substantial siding will not only make us feel great about the way our little casa looks, but also about how well it can stand up to the elements. We won’t have to worry about the color peeling, chipping, or fading, and the material also resists water, which means it won’t swell or warp. We also learned that fiber cement siding doesn’t get chewed up by animals and insects and it’s more fire resistant than vinyl or wood. Aren’t you sold?! Cause I am! Need more inspiration? Check out their inspiration guide.
All that said, James Hardie is so confident in the resilience of their products that siding has a 30-year non-prorated warranty. That gives us a lot of peace of mind when it comes to building a home in which we plan to create a lot of significant memories. So while switching out our siding initially seemed like an overwhelming undertaking, we’re feeling good about teaming up with the brand to give us a home that’s not just improved cosmetically, but that we know will carry us through a lot more life.