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How to find, diagnose, and repair building exterior hardboard siding defects. Several hardboard-based and fiber cement based building exterior siding products have not performed as well as originally anticipated, experienced early failure, and were the subject of building siding warranty claims.

Abatibi hardboard siding, ABTCO siding, Forestex hardboard siding, Georgia Pacific hardboard siding, Louisiana Pacific hardboard siding, Masonite hardboard siding, Shakertown Panel Siding, Weyerhaeuser Hardboard Siding, and Wolverine DuraPress are examples of brands of hardboard siding that have suffered these problems.

Readers should also see Siding, Sheathing Identification - Photo Guide. Also see MASONITE WOODRUF FIBERBOARD ROOFING for hardboard and fiber cement roof shingle failures and warranty claims.

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Hardboard, Composite, List of "Masonite"-type Siding Failures & Claims Information, Hardboard Siding Failure Diagnosis, Repair, Proper Installation

Hardboard, Composite, "Masonite"-type Siding: failure and leak inspection, siding repair, siding litigation, hardboard siding class action lawsuits and settlements are listed here.

Forestex Hardboard Siding Failures & Claims: Contact Stimson Corporation, 520 S.W. Yamhill, Suite 325, Portland, Oregon, 97204-1319. Georgia Pacific Hardboard Siding Failures & Claims: last date for filing claims under the settlement was August 18, 1998. Brands included Cadence siding and Sundance hardboard siding. Also Catawba hardboard siding pattern. Jefferson Smurfit Cladwood hardboard siding products were distributed by North Pacific (Landmark Corp.) Louisiana Pacific Siding Failures: A class action settlement ended on December 31, 2002. LP Claims: contact Louisiana Pacific Corporation's product warranty department 877-677-6722 for LP siding installed before January 1996 or call 800-450-6106 for LP installed after January 1996,including Smart System® Products by Louisiana Pacific

Masonite® hardboard siding failures: On January 15, 1998, the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama, granted final approval to a Settlement in the lawsuit known as Naef v. Masonite, CV-94-4033. The Settlement provided a program for eligible claimants to recover the costs associated with damage caused by the installation and incorporation of Masonite Hardboard Siding. The deadline to file a claim has passed. For more information call 800-330-2722. Also see www.masoniteclaims.com - see Masonite Woodruf® Roofing or Masonite OmniWood® Siding Lawsuit Settlement Notice - PDF file These identifying Stamps can help Identify Masonite Hardboard Siding on most products. But nte the text is all in capital letters, one inch high, printed in black ink along the length of the back of the siding boards. But because the stamp appeared only once per length of siding board, and because siding boards are typically cut to shorter lengths to fit shorter wall sections or around windows anddoors, not every piece of siding on a building will bear the identifying marks. C-6 (coating #6) products are stamped along 4', and C-5 products may be stamped along 14'. MASONITE BRAND X-90 ANSI/AHA 135.6 102797 17.37 C-6 A CA MADE IN USA MASONITE BRAND X-90 ANSI/AHA 135.6 102797 17.37 C-6 B CA MADE IN USA MASONITE BRAND ANSI/AHA 135.6 102997 13.14 L-4 C-5 A CA MADE IN USA MASONITE BRAND X-90 ANSI/AHA 135.6 102197 11.46 L-2 C-5 A CA MADE IN USA MASONITE BRAND X-90 ANSI/AHA 135.6 102197 11.46 L-2 C-5 B MADE IN USA MASONITE BRAND X-90 ANSI/AHA 135.6 102197 11.46 L-1 C-5 A CA MADE IN USA MASONITE BRAND X-90 ANSI/AHA 135.6 102197 11.46 L-1 C-5 B CA MADE IN USA Masonite OmniWood Siding claims: Masonite Omniwood is an OSB type siding product. On January 6, 1999, the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama, granted final approval to a settlement in the lawsuit known as Cosby v. Masonite, CV-98-2446. The Settlement provided a program for eligible claimants to recover the costs associated with damage caused by the installation and incorporation of Masonite Omniwood Siding. The deadline to file a Masonite OmniWood hardboard siding claim has passed. For more information call 800-256-6990. Omniwood® is a registered trademark of Masonite Corporation. Don't waste time seeking the Masonite claims website titled www.masoniteclaims.com - it has been converted to a "made for Adsense" advertising revenue page that provides no useful information whatsoever.

Hardboard Siding Alternatives - Fiber Cement Siding

Fiber cement building siding, such as Hardiplank®, originated by James Hardie Products may be a more durable alternative to wood-fiber based hardboard siding. Information about the James Hardie company is at JamesHardie HardiPlank Siding. Other fiber cement siding product lines include Maxi-Panel, Maxi-Plank, Cemplank, & FortaFiber.

Also see AMERICAN CEMWOOD ROOFING, and see other cementious siding materials such as JamesHardie HardiPlank Siding and cementious roofing materials such as Corrugated Cement-Asbestos Roofing and ASBESTOS CEMENT & FIBER CEMENT SIDING. Also see Environmental Issues - Asbestos Roofing/Siding. (Also see Hardie's Fibrolite™ or Fibro where used in Australia). Also see ASBESTOS ROOFING / SIDING DUST.

Readers should also see Vapor Barriers on and in buildings - needed behind vinyl siding, see SIDING WOOD, FAILURES OVER FOAM BOARD for wood siding failures over foam (EIFS isn't the only system that might have difficulties), and readers may want to review POLYISOCYANURATE FOAM INSULATION.

Questions & Answers regarding this article

Questions & Answers about hardboard siding failures, claims, replacement, repair, painting, maintenance

Question: Is there Warranty Assistance for Replacing or Painting Masonite Colorlok "Color lock" Hardboard Siding?

I am considering buying a home that was built in 1998 and was sided with Colorlock [Masonite Colorlok®] siding.

The siding looks terrible. It is exposed and there is no paint left on the lowest part of each piece of the lap siding where it has swelled and looks like its coming apart. The home is beautiful with that exception. I saw your article and my question is could it be covered under the claim you write about. Its a big house and the siding is a big issue. If I knew that it could be replaced under some type of warranty it would help me with the decision of buying it. - R.H.

Reply:

A competent onsite inspection by an expert usually finds additional clues that help assess the condition of the siding, the extent of replacement needed, and the possibility that water has penetrated the building walls - points where additional investigation would be appropriate. That said, as we noted above, The deadline to file a claim has passed. For more information call 800-330-2722. see Masonite Woodruf® Roofing or Masonite OmniWood® Siding Lawsuit Settlement Notice - PDF file.

Colorlok® Masonite hardboard siding was a 1970's product (the Masonite Colorlok siding ad shown at left appeared in April and May 1981 Popular Science Magazine), subsequently removed from the market following delamination failures and the class action litigation we discuss above. In as this siding cost table shows, in the 1970's the installed cost of hardboard siding was less than vinyl, aluminum, or steel siding. [3]

Where your Masonite (or other brand) hardboard siding has swollen and delaminated, painting it would be a stopgap measure that yields cosmetically poor results.

You will want to replace those damaged siding sections. Try contacting Masonite - the company may still have retained reserves of replacement siding that they may be willing and able to provide to people who present a siding warranty claim to the company even though the class action settlement period has expired.

However considering the poor performance of hardboard siding products over time, I'd consider replacing entire walls using an alternative and more durable contemporary product, perhaps a fiber cement product or something else. On 6 March 2001, Masonite announced that the company was phasing out all of its hardboard siding products including Colorlok®, Woodsman® Lap & Panel, SuperSide®, and HiddenRidge® siding, and Modulux® industrial board.

In many cases hardboard siding that has not delaminated can be painted after priming with a latex primer. Check with your paint supplier and be sure to use compatible paints. Keeping hardboard siding painted, especially at cuts and penetrations (nails, end cuts, openings cut for fixtures,etc) can slow its deterioration significantly.

Note: don't waste time seeking the Masonite claims website titled www.masoniteclaims.com - it has been converted to a "made for Adsense" advertising revenue page that provides no useful information whatsoever.

Comment from Sorbilite about the History of Hardboard Siding Failures

We received the following note from Andrew Pohl, president of Sorbilite Plastron

Andrew Pohl M.Sc. - M.A. President, 1 Reflection Lane Hampton VA. 23666 USA, Email: apohl@sorbilite.com

Dear Editor,

I am writing to comment on the endless claims of hardboard siding products failures. This concerns a number of the biggest companies in the US.

We at Sorbilite observing this with quiet satisfaction because years ago we were warning most of these companies about the coming catastrophe. We didn’t just warned these companies but give objective suggestions and solutions which were ignored - probably out of arrogance. Now it cost them millions.

We manufacture and distribute world-wide our technology and make it available to third-world countries since decades and the products are not only green but perform under extreme conditions. It should have been good and profitable to listen a little bit…. But may be it isn’t too late.

If you like to have more information don’t hesitate to call on me. Regards

Note: Quoting from http://www.sorbilite.com/,

Sorbilite, GmbH was established in Germany in 1978. Extensive knowledge in the field of particle board and décor panel manufacturing was brought into the company through the chief scientists. They had worked on the Marshall Plan initiative, aimed to develop environmental technologies. The price of a $ 30 million décor-panel plant (Formica, Resopal) was reduced by 90% but quality and design variety was dramatically increased. The same results were achieved designing a new type of “value-added” three-dimensional particle board plant (MDF).

In 1985 Sorbilite, Inc. was established in the US and it became headquarters for worldwide operations in 1988. Today Sorbilite is located in Hampton, Virginia, USA. Sorbilite has established factories worldwide for more than 25 years.

Reply:

Dear Mr. Pohl,

While we can't say that we have observed the failure of hardboard siding products with much satisfaction, we would very much welcome hearing from you specific details about or seeing documents about Sorbilite's warnings to the hardboard manufacturers, as that information would assist in understanding the history and development of this particular product failure. More, if you have specific suggestions for owners whose buildings still include hardboard siding products, particularly how those might best be maintained, that too would be of great value. We look forward to hearing further from you.

Respectfully, Daniel Friedman, Editor.

Dear Daniel,

Thank you for your prompt reply. I didn't say the failure of others give us satisfaction , I meant more the lesson of not listening as good exercise satisfy us. If you go into our history you discover that we brought the know-how of the German particleboard industry with us together with the investment results of the Marshall Plan which reformed the composite field.

I do not want to dig too deep into this "not listening" --  because which company want to be suicidal if quick help is available? All bigger companies have their own research facilities. Not the presidents but the head of their research- facilities get the rescuing information.

Unfortunately this information is bad news for them. A proof somebody can do what they couldn't. So most cooperative action ends in further research how you do it and not  how to solve our companies problems.

The weather ability and the chemical composition of composites is a fairly common knowledge. The most kitchen chefs cannot understand why the big difference in taste using the same ingredients.  The know-how and the oven and the chef....

So if you ask me what is your secret.... my answer is the know how ( the leading brain trust of the German industry going back to 1930) the oven (the special press and process equipment) and the chef (putting up over 100 factories around the world). Of course also the practical experience. We let our customer speak. (Attached : Plastron in China)

This letter starts to look as a company promotion. It is not. I personally stopped selling this system and plant in America, started using our own equipment (Plastron Inc. -- www.Plastronproducts.com) and making the same turnover with 5 operators as we did with 31 building presses.

Well.... we sell the plants as well -------- mainly in third-world countries. And we don't mind consulting companies in trouble -- in America. This is the spirit of this letter.

Reply:

Dear Andrew,

Thank you. I'm glad to do a little editing to make clear to readers your comment about failure of others and satisfaction.  As a forensic investigator I have found more than one case of a product that is such an obvious mistake that I am moved to look for other reasons that it remains on the market as long as it does. 

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EXTERIORS of buildings

SIDING, Sheathing Identification - Photo Guide
SIDING, ALUMINUM
SIDING, ASBESTOS CEMENT SHINGLES
SIDING ASPHALT ROOF SHINGLES on WALLS
SIDING ASPHALT SHINGLE or SHEET
SIDING DAMAGE by SPLASHBACK
SIDING EIFS & STUCCO
SIDING, FIBER CEMENT
SIDING HARDBOARD
  Abatibi Siding Claims
  Boise Cascade Siding Claims
  JamesHardie HardiPlank Siding
  Masonite Siding Claims
SIDING STEEL
SIDING VINYL
SIDING, WOOD PRODUCT CHOICES
SIDING, WOOD INSTALLATION
SIDING WOOD, FAILURES OVER FOAM BOARD
SIDING WOOD, FLASHING DETAILS
SIDING WOOD SHINGLE INSTALLATION

• Certainteed Weatherboard fiber cement siding and trim products - see certainteed.com/ or see certainteed.com/resources/sidingandtrimspecsheet.pdf
• Siding Links to other websites and articles: EIFS, Georgia Pacific Siding, Louisiana Pacific Siding, Masonite and other Hardboard Siding failures, Siding Book
• Masonite Woodruf® Roofing or Masonite OmniWood® Siding Lawsuit Settlement Notice - PDF file
• Masonite class action litigation references:
  • CARRELL v. MASONITE CORPORATION, Randall L. CARRELL and Kellie B. Carrell v. MASONITE CORPORATION and International Paper Company. 1981292. March 10, 2000
• Masonite press release, March 2001, hardboard siding phaseout, web search 8/5/11
• Masonite Exterior Sidings, Finishing and Maintenance Recommendations, Masonite Corporation, #901, 1997
• [3] "Re-Siding, for more than a face-lift, choose the right type", Mack Phillips, Popular Science Magazine, September1977, web search 8/5/11, original source http://books.google.com.mx/ books?id=agEAAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA118&ots= hkL03MHZZ1&dq=Masonite%20color%20lok%20 siding%20warranty&hl=en&pg=PA118#v=onepage&q&f=false
  This article included a table comparing the original costs and properties of popular exterior siding materials [1977 prices]

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
• "Weather-Resistive Barriers [copy on file as /interiors/Weather_Resistant_Barriers_DOE.pdf ] - ", how to select and install housewrap and other types of weather resistive barriers, U.S. DOE
• Masonite Woodruf® Roofing or Masonite OmniWood® Siding Lawsuit Settlement Notice - PDF file
• ...