Hardboard Siding Issues
Hardboard siding makes use of reconstituted natural wood produced out of wood fibers mixed with resins. These materials are then pressed forming panels. These may come as tempered boards or standard ones. The former is denser and provides for more resistance to moisture. One may view a sample of the different hardboard siding product lines at www.coxlumber.com.
There are hardboard siding issues encountered and have been attributed to manufacturing deficiencies by some producers, and some due to installation errors. It is worthwhile to look on a few of these issues.
Manufacturing Deficiencies
Houses making use of hardboard siding may prove to have a controversial issue behind it. This has resulted to various lawsuits due to the poor quality, degradation, swelling, delamination and the like. Claims have been made by plaintiffs that the inherent design and manufacturing process in producing these defective hardboard siding products also caused other problems associated with its use as – raised fibers, thickness swell, and surface welting.
Installation Deficiencies
Contributing as well to the hardboard siding failures are the way these are installed on the exteriors of the house. Manufacturers of these hardboard siding products have manuals that specify the proper way on how to go about installing and finishing their products – but on some cases contractors and do-it-yourself homeowners have disregarded these important information, either by will or by neglect.
Warranties for these hardboard siding products ranges from 20 years to 25 years. Filing a warranty claim however will be denied by the manufacturer if there are installation and finishing processes that have contributed to the failure of these siding products. If yours should be a valid claim, the manifestations though will only come out from around 3 to 5 years after. By these time, your contractor’s warranty for his work on your house may have also expired, putting you on a bind as to what to do next. Your probable recourse may be to just sue him for the sub-standard and negligent work he provided.
Some Tips
For hardboard siding products, moisture and water should not be allowed to contaminate these materials. Moisture will find its way to these hardboard materials if the process of installation was done wrong. Such is caused by overdriving nail heads, thin or missing paint especially on the edges, and the like.
The way to go then is to have a qualified home inspector check the quality of the hardboard siding materials, the installation process, and the finishing process – in this way, immediate corrective actions can be taken.