Siding installation is an exciting opportunity to update your home with an attractive, fresh look. However, when it’s time to choose your siding brand, you should be confident the boards you select are not only beautiful but long-lasting too.
Thankfully, James Hardie offers homeowners the best of both worlds. Their fiber cement siding panels are incredibly durable and come in three distinct styles to create the perfect look for your exterior.
Whether you’re attempting to recreate the look of clapboard siding, cedar shakes, or stucco, you can rest assured there is a Hardie siding style that fulfills your vision. Here are the options available to transform your home’s exterior.
HardiePlank Lap Siding
Lap siding, also known as clapboard or plank siding, is James Hardie’s best-selling product and the most popular style in the United States. These long horizontal panels are installed overlapping one another, as the name suggests, to generate a soft, layered effect.
Plank siding is typically used on traditional homes to create a timeless appearance, but smooth panels can also achieve a more contemporary look.
Lap Siding Options
HardiePlank lap siding comes in six options. The most popular are Select Cedarmill, which offers a natural cedar texture that mimics wood, and Smooth, a sleek board with a modern appearance. These two options are available with ColorPlus Technology in the Statement Collection. You can choose from 20 classic baked-on shades, like Gray Slate and Rich Espresso.
Homeowners can also select Beaded Cedarmill or Beaded Smooth boards, which add a rounded edge to each panel, or the Colonial Roughsawn and Colonial Smooth options that mimic Dutch Lap siding. These boards are exclusively available in the Primed for Paint series, so you can choose any shade you’d like for your exterior color.
HardiePanel Vertical Siding
Since most neighborhoods feature lap siding, homeowners who want their houses to stand out should consider vertical siding.
Vertical boards add height and dimension to your exterior, and when used alone, they’re considered a clean, modern option. However, vertical siding can be used with batten strips to create the popular board and batten style, which offers a rustic farmhouse look.
Vertical Siding Options
Like lap siding, HardiePanel vertical boards come in Select Cedarmill and Smooth styles, both available with ColorPlus Technology.
Alternatively, you can use Stucco boards to mimic stucco’s warm, inviting look with fiber cement or the Sierra 8 wood-like panels to create eye-catching appeal with linear texture and detail. These styles are both available in the Primed for Paint series, but Stucco boards are also available with ColorPlus Technology from the Statement Collection™.
HardieShingle Siding
Shingle siding, also known as shake siding, is often associated with cottage-style homes, like Cape Cod and Victorian. This architectural design can be used as the focal point or as an accent feature, such as to bring attention to the roofline.
Shingle Siding Options
Depending on the style you’re aiming for, you can choose from a Staggered Edge Panel or Straight Edge Panel. The staggered edge looks great with rustic-style homes, and straight edges look better on buildings with clean lines or a coastal style.
James Hardie also offers Individual Shingles for maximum customization and Half-Round Shingles with a scalloped edge for a traditional look.
Mix-and-Match Siding
Thankfully, you don’t have to stick with just one Hardie siding option for your Indianapolis home. Many homeowners install HardiePlank on the bottom half of their home and use HardieShingle siding to accent the top half of their exterior. Others incorporate vertical boards to break up large sections of lap siding. Or, some homeowners use all three styles together! The choice is yours.
You may want to choose other types of siding, like stone and brick, to pair with your Hardie siding. When done correctly, this combination creates an exterior with depth and visual impact.
Benefits of Choosing James Hardie Siding
Aside from its versatile options and beautiful appearance, Hardie siding offers dozens of advantages to homeowners. Here are just a few:
- Durable—Fiber cement can withstand wind, hail, rain, snow, humidity, and other extreme weather conditions, and it is resistant to mold, rot, fire, and heavy impact.
- Low-Maintenance—You only have to clean your fiber cement boards one to two times a year with soap and water, making it one of the easiest sidings to care for on the market.
- Eco-Friendly—Fiber cement is made from natural materials, like sand and cellulose fibers, so it’s better for the environment than other siding options, like vinyl.
- Long-Lasting—Hardie siding lasts up to 30 years and comes with one of the best warranties in the home improvement industry.
Discover What Your Home Could Look Like with James Hardie’s Attractive Siding Styles
When choosing a siding contractor, it’s important to find someone with expert installation skills and a keen eye for detail.
Thankfully, the JD Hostetter team can do both! We’ve spent years guiding homeowners on how to mix-and-match siding styles to create the perfect look for their homes, and we’re also trained to follow the stringent installation standards set by the James Hardie company.To gather inspiration for your siding project, visit our photo gallery to view past projects we’ve completed with each of James Hardie’s beautiful, versatile styles.
