Hardiboard
With all the recent discussions on hardiboard, my mind has been working over time coming up with ideas for it. I have a question though, would it work on the interior of a house? I have to eventually redo my entire bathroom and was thinking that might just solve all the problems, ie no backerboards around the tub, etc. Laura in OK
Are you thinking of using Hardiboard vertical siding in your tub enclosure? That's not quite the application they had in mind, but putting two coats of exterior paint on it would protect it sufficiently to make it work. I found out (because someone at my returns desk took back three sheets of it even though we don't sell this) that there is a smooth Hardiboard. The stuff at Home Depot and Lowe's looks like T-1-11 plywood siding; this is completely smooth. That's special order, but if you're using siding in the house this is the siding you want. -- --jmowreader
Micheal and Jim, Yes I was thinking about putting around the tub, and all the other walls of the bathroom. I have to rip out everything in there because of termite, water, and old age damage and thought this product sounded perfect. I mean from all the praise I have heard, it seems to me that it would eliminate the need for a concrete backer board around the tub and the need for a tile or plastic surround. Plus it would lend itself to a more smooth continuous looking wall, a look I really would like to have. It also seems like it would last longer than a wafer board which is what I was going to put up, and then have to do a surround of some kind around the tub/shower. I really like the idea of eliminating some of the steps and still have the job done right. Laura in OK
Both Lowes and H.D. carry tile board which may be closer to what your looking for. It comes in flat, stippled, and a faux tile finish. The smooth stuff looks dead on like dry erase board. The only kicke to installing it around a tub is to make sure that all of the joints are water tight. If water gets between two joinst it delaminates at a nauseating speed. You can also get larger sheets of vinyl, acrylic, or fiberglass and install those instead. Plastic tub surrounds start around $40.00 and can be installed in an hour or so with just some caulk, and a hole saw. If I can figure out how I'll post pics of two tubs surround I've installed, on was in the house I was selling. Good Luck Mike C.
This is one of those "don't do this unless you really have to" things. You're far better off with Hardibacker plus tile if you want to stay in the Hardie range. There is a product called "FRP" board. Means "fiberglass reinforced plastic." It's sold in the same area as paneling. I would use that instead of Hardiboard in my shower. -- --jmowreader
The stippled board is not Tileboard, which is essentially Masonite with a glossy white finish. It is Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic; it will not delaminate like Tileboard will. As for the smooth stuff looking like dry erase board...come August I will sell about 300 sheets of that product to elementary-school teachers. They get it cut into one-foot squares and issue one to each child in their class; every elementary school in this area puts "pack of dry erase markers" on its list of required school supplies. -- --jmowreader
Durock is a tile underlayment. It is too ugly for exposed use. -- --jmowreader
I think that's what she was trying to do--buy Hardiboard, put it up, paint it and leave it. The Hardie vendor for the southeast told me about their testing program--they go to all different climactic areas, build houses with Hardiboard siding then check 'em every year or so to be sure the product continues to be serviceable. So far the houses they've put up in the rainiest environments are still perfect. -- --jmowreader
In case anyone was getting ideas like the one I had of putting the siding indoors I wrote to the company and they say quote "I would not recommend this application." No explaination as to why which make me curious. If it will last as long as their warranty says on an outdoor application, why wouldn't it work in the bath? I think I will go ahead and use it in my bathroom and do my own study, I have also decided that this is probaly the product I will use for the roof and exterior siding of my home. Afterall the sidings I have looked don't come close to the length of warranty that Hardi offers. Laura in OK
They haven't tested it in a bathroom application, so they're not going to recommend it. Why they haven't tested it: very, very few people would even consider using siding in the bathroom, so it's not worth the expense of setting up the test. If you don't test it you don't dare warrant it. They're not going to recommend something they can't warrant, so they're not going to recommend this. Besides, they make a product that is specifically designed for bathroom use--Hardibacker. As for the roof, I wouldn't recommend using Hardiboard on the roof. You cannot walk on this product--it is durable but not that durable. It is not designed for sustained loads of the kind you get on a roof. They make a shingle, Hardishingle, but the Hardishingle manual specifically says not to use it in roof systems. (What good is it then? It is a direct drop-in replacement for asbestos shingles, which are on thousands of homes. You can't get new asbestos ones so James Hardie and GAF--and probably others--sell fiber cement shingles to replace them. At the school we were told Hardishingle is so unpopular they don't even stock it in the warehouse--they are only made when someone orders some.) -- --jmowreader
No, you're still dealing with the load problem from storms and such. Use a good durable shingle--25-year three-tab or any architectural shingle. I'd have to see this installed. It sounds a bit strange. -- --jmowreader