Siding Paint Issue

Hi all,

Although this Painting section is under "Interior" topics, hopefully I can find some "exterior" tips here. My home has 10-year old fiber cement (James Hardie) siding, which was ordered pre-primed, and then painted with two coats of Cabot "The Finish" exterior acrylic paint.

Per attached picture, along a "joint" of a roofline there has been peeling of paint. I believe this is due to snow/ice dams which keep the board ends wet and/or cause friction/lifting of the finish.

Any ideas on how to prepare this area before refinishing? I am also going to repain this side of the house, which is the only one which has seen substantial fading and weathering due to heavy sun exposure. (Any tips on a brand of paint that might fade less?)

Thanks,

Greg

 

I suspect that your peeling is caused by the siding being cut too close to the roof line. This has caused wicking of moisture up which has worked its way under the paint. If you have a roof overhang above this, then rain wash off will splash on the lower roof and keep this area saturated. If the Hardie is not damaged then it will be a bone of contention that you will have to monitor on a more frequent basis.

 

Go on the Hardee web site and look up the install directions.
That siding needed to be at least 2" away from the shingles.

 

I agree that the peeling issue is from the siding wicking up moisture

You'll always find better coatings [advice too] at your local paint store as opposed to a paint dept in a bigger store. You are almost always better off buying the best paint available. Compared to labor [even your own] the extra cost of the better paint is miniscule.

 

I wish I had something to add, but the guys have covered it pretty well. Hardieplank recommends 2" minimum to roof decks. Maxitile (another brand) recommends 1-2" minimum. You never told us WHAT brand your siding is, so we are only guessing here. Certainteed is another popular brand. All of them have minimum height requirements above a roofline.

It would have been impossible for a painter to get under there with a brush and paint those field cut edges. Anytime you make a cut in fiber cement siding, that cut edge is no longer a primed and painted surface. (obviously!) Best practice is for the installer to prime those cut ends before he installs the siding. I would almost guarantee that those cut ends were NOT field primed, nor painted, seeing as how the gap is too tight to paint! See "Cut Edge Treatment" in their instructions.

So in short, you need to cut your siding up higher, then prime and paint that cut edge.. but don't damage the flashing or WRB behind the siding when you do.

 

Just out of curiosity Xsleeper, since the siding is already installed would you have to remove it to cut it or could you use an angle grinder with a masonry wheel or something? I have a somewhat similar situation on my house that I should address, but not with Hardie plank.

I actually don't see any flashing under the hardie plank in the picture. Again, my house has a similar issue in that there's no flashing and I need to install some.

 

Wildbill,

If you have a skilsaw and fiber-cement blade, best way would be to lay a long 2x4 (ripped 2" wide) along the length of the roof, and use it as a guide for the skilsaw. It needs to rest on the high points of the siding to provide an accurate depth gauge for the skilsaw. The blade would just follow the top of the 2x4- but be warned that if the blade hits the wood too often, it will take the teeth right off the blade. To control the depth, you'd keep the plate of the skilsaw riding on TOP of the 2x4, and set the saw maybe 2" or 2 1/8" deep, to try and cut "most" of the way through the siding, leaving maybe 1/8" of thickness uncut. Once you cut most of the way through, the lower portion will snap off and you can finish cutting through the siding with the grinder. By snapping off the waste and removing the lower 2", you will be able to use the prybar to "get under" the siding and gently pry it away from the metal flashing before making your final cut with the grinder to clean up the edge.

 

I agree that the siding should be higher off of the shingles but wonder if that can be accomplished without becoming a big job. I would think using a 1x2 for a guide would make for getting a decent straight cut but as X alluded too - how do you keep from destroying the vapor barrier and does the flashing come up that high? what would it take to install flashing after the fact?

Apparently there's quite a few builders that like to bring the siding down to the shingles because it looks better [for a short time] but it always leads to paint failure and substrate failure if/when the paint is let go for too long.

 

Thanks for the info. I might have to wait until next spring to take this task on at my house. The siding I have to cut through is plywood. Man I'd like to have a chat with the guy who built this house. I guess I can't blame him anymore, I bought the bloody thing.

 

Having plywood right against the roof is even worse. Plywood is just like a sponge.

The builder should have been shot.

 

I agree PJ, however we found out a year ago that he died on our front step. Wife was not impressed to hear this, however appears at this point to have forgotten.

Personally, considering all the other weird, wrong, very wrong things I've found in this house... I'd like to re-animate him and shoot him myself.

 

@ wildbill: If it's plywood siding, it should be easy. Snap a chalk line 2" up, then set the skilsaw to a depth that won't completely cut through the siding. (probably just under 5/8") Use a utility knife and a sharp blade to score the kerf, and it should snap off cleanly. As Marksr mentioned, the question then becomes, how high does the step flashing or wall flashing extend, and does it need additional flashing?

-end of hijacked thread-

...back to gregger77's original question!

 

As I wrote in my original post, "My home has 10-year old fiber cement (James Hardie) siding." The picture is not close enough to show there is flashing under the board edges. I could see using a Skilsaw to cut most of the way into a new, higher edge to the boards, but I am not sure I have the skill with a grinder to get a straight, smooth edge on the snapped edges. Probably worth my while to get a guy experienced with cement fiber siding to come and handle this. (I have not only this roof edge, but another one, for a total of about 40' of cuts.)

Thanks for all the advice.

 

I hope to take the award for "putting off a job as long as possible." Anyway, to provide closure to this post for anyone who finds it on future searches:

I did hire my handyman/carpenter to come out today and cut the board ends away from the roof shingles. He used a cutting wheel and did a very slow, careful job on cutting along a line 1-1/2 inches away from the roof, such that he did not cut into the aluminum step flashing underneath, which still extends up behind the siding by 2-1/2 inches. As a precaution, he also applied roof sealant along the entire course of old step flashing (where were 8" segments installed with about a 3" overlap) to discourage any seeping during periods when "pads" of slowly melting snow sit on the roof for long periods.

I will now be able to prime the Hardie board edges. In the spring, I will repaint the siding altogether.

Thanks again to all for the advice.