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Posted

Does anyone have a copy of installation instructions from say around 1996 for fiber cement siding joint treatment requirements? If not, how about a more recent copy that shows that caulk is not required at the joints?

Thanks

I don't have anything from 96.

Here are the current instructions. Check figure 2.

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Posted

The reason I ask; an appraiser is requiring that the butt joints be re- caulk sealed on a house built back in 1996. The siding is butted tightly, and then caulked. As always, the caulk has failed due to the lack of an adequate gap. The appraiser will be doing a re- inspection once the sealant touch- up has been done. I'm kinda wondering if it's his way of making some extra cash by requiring a re- inspection.

The Realtor called me to find out whether this was odd, and I told her that while caulk is a good idea, I'm not so sure it was originally required.

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 years later...
Posted

Reviving an old thread here. Brandon, were you ever able to find any older Hardie Plank installation instructions?

The oldest ones I have are from 2007. I'd like to know how if a 1/4" uncaulked gap between siding and horizontal flashing was required back then.

Thanks

Posted
I'd like to know how if a 1/4" uncaulked gap between siding and horizontal flashing was required back then.

According to James_Hardie's comment above, they recommended moderate contact or a gap with caulk from the beginning.......

Posted
. I'd like to know how if a 1/4" uncaulked gap between siding and horizontal flashing was required back then.

2005 was the first year that the instructions for Hardiplank specifically required an un-caulked 1/4" gap above horizontal flashing. First printing was in September 05 with an effective date December 05.

Maintain a 1/4" clearance between James Hardie products and horizontal flashing (fig. 6).

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Posted

Thanks Brandon and Patt,

I was able to find the 2000 and 2005 instructions, but nothing older. The 2000 does not show the uncaulked gap. What made me wonder is that above the windows in the photos you can see the gap, but it has been re caulked by the homeowner. Other windows on the house look like they have original caulk, or at least someone did a neater job.

There are 2 west facing second story windows that had problems likely from weather exposure; rain and baking late afternoon sun, and from lack of maintenance.

The fix that was done on both windows was a heavy application of caulk, including covering the weep holes for good measure. There was some rot on vertical trim, I scanned the interior wall adjacent to one of the windows with a moisture meter but didn't find anything. The other room had a bed blocking the window.

So my question is: what would your recommendation be for caulking above these windows when repairs are done; leave the gap above the windows uncaulked as current installation instructions say, or follow the guidelines from when the siding was originally installed?

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Posted

The flashing is run short at the ends and to make matters worse, it appears to slope back towards the wall. I'd recommend opening the weep holes back up and caulking the heck out of everything. I'd be hesitant to recommend the removal of caulk when it may be all that is keeping the water out of the wall.....

Posted

You can see the outline of the upleg of the head flashing on the siding above the window where the paint is peeling. Since I've never seen that with HP before, I suspect that it doesn't extend behind the WRB behind the siding. If it doesn't extend behind the WRB, it wasn't working anyway and caulking the gap probably didn't help much and didn't make it any worse.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

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