Siding nailers & Hardie board

[Paul B. Cresti]

Going to be doing a lot of remodeling on my own home for a change....and will be installing Hardie board siding. I am looking for the siding guys input on some siding nailers: Hitachi, Max or Makita? I know only the Max & Makita offer the sequential fire feature as standard and I feel this is quite an advanatage. While the bump feature is great for roofing where it is 3 or 4 shots per piece I would think you want a bit more precision with Hardie board since you have to nail to studs. I also sold off my Hitachi stick nailer last year so the Hitachi siding/framing coil nailer was a bit intriguing....any thoughts?

[James Davis]

I think that if you check the literature on the Hardie Plank siding , it will tell you to use a roofing nail. The guys that put the Hardie Plank on my used a roofing nailer and have had no problems. They shot the nail at the top of the siding to hang the siding rather than the bottom and I am well pleased.

[Jim Becker]

Paul, you can grab the installation instructions for the siding at:

http://www.jameshardie.com/pdf/hardiplankinstall.pdf

(I happened to have the information handy as we are using the pre-finished version for our addition project for both the new work and as a retrofit for our existing structure)

The nailing specifications are on page 2 and 3 and they should help you choose the type of nailer you need/want. There is specific notation on using pneumatic nailers at the top of page 3.

[Paul B. Cresti]

Thanks guys...yes I already had seen that info..considering my "day job" I have just a wee bit of access to that kind of stuff. It does state either roofing or siding but I prefer siding nails as there may be a case or two where blind nailing is not possible.

[Greg Cole]

Paul,
I resided my home with Hardi plan siding last year (as well as replaced the roof). I have a friend who's silly enough to climb on roof's everyday on the day job... She works for her Dad and they have used Hitachi forever. Her advice alone got me to buy the Hitachi Roofing and Siding. Both nailers are great, I had 2-3 jams TOTAL (one from the last nail drop out getting hung up & 2 from deformed coils). I think they NV45AB2 & NV65 something or other....
Here's my reason for the siding nailer... better nail availibility. Almost every roofing nail you see today is electro-galvanized and Hardie spec's out either hot dipped or stainless, both are readily available for the siding nailer. The siding has a 50 year warranty (if I remember correctly).... and the electro-galzanized nails just don't seem like they'll stand that test of time. Most asphalt roofs aren't installed with nails meant to be around 50 years from now...:rolleyes:
The shank diameter and head size of most roofing nails are about what Hardie puts on the installation directions, but the superior coating available on the siding nails is worth it IMNSHO.....
If you don't want to buy one, rent it and do it as the mfr. suggests and don't void the warranty out of the box...with my luck the "just in case something happens" is something I've never been "lucky" with, or had good luck with.
It's great stuff to work with, but makes an epic dust cloud when cut with a circ saw!

Cheers.
Greg

[Michael Lutz]

You can shoot siding nails with a framing nailer. I have a senco framing nailer which I am using to install the Hardie Siding on my house. I am shooting 2" and 3" stainless nails that I bought from McFeelys.

Mike

[James Kuhn]

I've had a bit of experience fixing up a large installation of the larger boards (4x8+) and its my experience that guns just don't give the depth accuracy needed for a good finish. I spent tons of time filling holes and sistering over-shot nails left by a supposedly professional crew while another guy flew along hammering in replacement panels by hand. That said, these were the large panels and the furring we were working over was pretty uneven. Just my $.02.

[Paul B. Cresti]

siding nails in a framer? really? Do you have a coil nailer or stick? any problems with depth settings? How about the no-marr tip?

[Greg Cole]

Paul,
I didn't have issues with nail depth as mentioned above....
For the butt joints on some of the plank siding I did make sure to face nail (by hand) the bottom corners on the butt joints as well as the blind nail.
Maybe a little overkill, but here in the middle of the mid-west, we have some rather windy days, nights & storms.....
BTW, this stuff paints well. I'd also use a good quality primer before paint, I had to bicker with my helper (my Dad) that the factory primer isn't "good enough".....

[Bill White]

What Greg said. Used Hardi on the new home. The siding guy used a coil roofing nailed. Sweet.
Bill

[Michael Lutz]

Paul, yes I just change out the nails if I want to do any framing. I didn't think I would use a siding nailer again after the project was over, but I would probably use a framer. It is an angled stick nailer that shoots full head nails. It has an adjustable depth stop. It has a standard claw tip for framing, but it also came with a no mar cover to use over the tip which is what I use for the siding.

Mike

[Eric McMillan]

Paul, yes I just change out the nails if I want to do any framing. I didn't think I would use a siding nailer again after the project was over, but I would probably use a framer. It is an angled stick nailer that shoots full head nails. It has an adjustable depth stop. It has a standard claw tip for framing, but it also came with a no mar cover to use over the tip which is what I use for the siding.

Mike

When you get a chance can you supply a brand and model number? Like Paul, I'm looking at a big re-siding project this summer using Hardie products, although I'll be using the HardiePanel sheets, and I'd like to have something more verstile than a siding nailer.

thanks

[Jim Becker]

The installation specifications I posted above stipulate that the nailer must supply full-head nails, so be sure if a framing gun gets involved it's of that type.

[Jameel Abraham]

I did our church hall last fall with vertical Hardie siding and picked up a Bostitch N66C Coil Siding nailer. Big difference between it and a roofing nailer is the weight. The siding nailer is a couple pounds lighter. Sequential firing is standard.

[Michael Lutz]

Eric,

I just checked. My nailer is a Senco Frame Pro 702XP. Let me know if you have any questions.

Mike

[Paul B. Cresti]

Did not that framer get really heavy after awhile? I see it weighs in at 8.5 lbs. I am no weakingly but something that heavy being held out away from your body on a ladder might take its toll after some time. I have roughly 4000sf of siding to put up....Did you ever look into the Hitachi NV75ag? It is a coil nailer which can take both framing & siding nails. Most siders weigh in between 4.5 to 5.5 poundplus add a full coil of nails and it will get up there a bit too. Did you use stainless ringshank or galvanized?

[Michael Lutz]

It does get heavy after awhile. The reasons for the choice at the time were that my other framer was an Bostich N-80-CB Utility coiling nailer. I used it to resheath my roof and it got real heavy when you put the coil of nails in it. For a horizontal application it would have been even worse. It also didn't have an adjustable depth stop, which comes in handy for the siding. So I wasn't looking for another coil nailer at the time. I use the stainless ring shank to attach the siding and galvanized ring shank to attach the sheathing. It appears that going on our fourth summer of siding the house that we are replacing almost all the sheathing and sections of structural supports in each of the walls we open up. Good luck on your project.

Mike

[Ben Grunow]

Never installed it but here is a little trick we use on clapboard butt joints (other than caulking and good nailing).

Make a piece of vycor or ice and water shield (adhesive backed rubber membrane for waterproofing roof/windows etc- flexible flashing- vycor is the best for side wall applications since it is the thinnest) that is slightly larger than the hardi is tall and about 6" wide. When you nail a piece of siding on leave the side that will butt the next piece unnailed and slip the piece of vycor (with paper backing peeled) behind it so half of it is exposed and the bottom is over the piece of siding below. Now finish nailing and move on to the next piece.

This just makes a backup for when the siding moves or the house settles or the hurricane blows the rain up instead of down and makes sure that any water that might get through is brought back out rather than free to run down your tar paper or hosue wrap and rot your sheathing over time.

It is a lot more work, but it is necessay as all of these products move, even the plywood they are nailed to. Start by making a bunch and then they are ready when needed.

[Dan Lautner]

Paul, get the max CN565S. It is the best siding nailer (low pressure) on the market by far. Super light never missfires and built like a tank. When do you need it? I might be selling mine and going to the Max powerlite (400psi) system very soon. The Powerlite is the "Martin" of the nailers. Email if interested in my CN565S.

Dan

[Larry Nall]

I will be using Hardie board lapped siding for my new shop. The instructions call for a specialized blade that you order from Hardie.
Is this necessary or can I use a throw-away crosscut carbide tip?

[Paul B. Cresti]

Larry,
I was told the special blade will last quite a while. It has very few teeth...very similiar to a dedicated rip blade

[Clayton Masterson]

Larry, I believe the 7 1/4 Hardi blade has only 4 teeth on it. If you are going to be doing a lot of cutting or ripping for your shop you need to get it.
Please be careful with this stuff. This is concrete and once cut it will cause silicosis. I would suggest using some electric shears. No dust=no problems.

Clayton

[Greg Cole]

Paul-Larry,
There are carbide tipped circ saw blades for cutting Hardie Panels. Mine are 6 tooth. Caution when using them in regards to speed of cut as the few teeth can't be forced through the material or you'll burn up the carbides... DAMHIKT :cool: . Also, if you are using the lap siding, don't try gang cuts again the heat will KILL the blade in a heart beat.. DAMHIKT.
You can also get these blades in 6 1/4" for cordless circ saws (like my Milwaukee 28V). All told, I think I went through 4 blades goind my house, including ripping a couple pieces of the 4X8 sheeted stuff.
Definatelty don't cut in the garage or upwind of the your house & close all windows... it makes an EPIC cloud. FYI, I ran a box fan behind me when cutting these all outside in my driveway along with standard issure goggles & canister breather.

Greg

[Paul B. Cresti]

Here is some stupid questions for you post-installation Hardie guys....did you cut the siding with a CMS or skillsaw? I am assuming lap siding here of course and doing the normal crosscutting. It seems most blades are only for skillsaws. Kind of makes sense because I know it would be conveinent to cut on a chop saw but it would most likely kill the saw after done with the entire house. How about little cuts that needed to be notched around something? did you use a jig saw or shear or ???

[Greg Cole]

Paul,
I cut mine all with a circular saw... notching etc (around light fixtures, sill cocks, electrical & phone boxes) was done with basically the drywall method of score n snap or I acually had good luck using a 2" Borg chisel. The siding is thin enough so if you use a backer, one good wrap with a hammer and the chisel will cut all the way through.
I used both methods depending on what tool I had in the pouches, ya get sick of trips up n down the ladder after a day or 3!

Greg