I resided with Hardi primed, 13 years later it looks as good as day one. Top quality paint helps.

Matt always gets a thumbs up but a big BravoZulu to him for pointing out letting the subs for HVAC & plumbing work prior to the electrical. That’s valuable info for the up and coming GC and they need all the extra guidance they can get.

I own a 110yr old millhouse that I'm currently trying to remodel and upgrade. I love watching Matt and learning about all the stuff I can't afford to do lol. But seriously I do enjoy watching and learning. Just wish I could afford half of it.

Hello Matt. I used 4x8 sheets of LP Smartside to replace the T-111 plywood siding on an exterior wall of a garage. The T-111 rotted. I did my own sample test of the LP Smartside by placing a few pieces of it in a bucket of water kept outside. After at least 7 years those pieces of wood are still intact - no separation, delamination or disintegration of the material. LP has done studies of their material in Hawaii and say that the destructive formosan termites don't affect the wood and also it holds up well with the large amounts of rain and humidity there. In your video you didn't mention that the fiber cement product is brittle and will break if hit by an object; rock, baseball, etc.

I built a shed out of LP Smart siding about 10 years ago, has about a 6” overhang. Live in the northeast, lots of rain, snow, 95 degrees and down to minus 20 degrees, still looks new!

Matt's videos are SO much more watchable at 1.5X speed.

I am building my own house right now I used all concrete siding everywhere. My trade guys wanted to work before electrical and since I did the rough in wiring it was easy to do. Huge fan of the channel I don’t miss a video

My house has Hardi, actually the whole subdivision was specd Hardi and all of the houses are 15 years old and still look as beautiful as they did on day one. Low pressure power wash the siding every couple of years and it's good as new. Nobody has had to paint their house yet around here. Really amazing product.

I was remodeling my bathroom and had a trash pile in the backyard, which included the old bathroom mirror. The way it was laying, the mid summer sun reflected perfectly off the mirror and you could actually see the track of the sun as it rose and set from the melted and warped vinyl siding! Couldn’t believe it

Renovating my house in Australia that was clad with hardiplank 36 years ago. All those years of the sun and rain beating down on it and it still looks good today.

Oh my so many good thing to hear from you Matt, order of trades so important. As a HVAC installer I like getting in between the plumbing waste water and the supply as waste water has to obey the laws of gravity.

Love both lp smartside and hardie and they both have their places to best be used.The one main thing you did not talk about is dent and crack resistance. Hardie is prone to cracking if not nailed perfectly and if something hits it like a ball it can dent/crack easily. When installed over a fur strip rain screen it will be extra brittle.

I know Matt just talked about lap siding options, but glass reinforced fiber cement GRFC can also be made like stone veneer. Can have large panels with interlocking joints and lower weight than stone.

I'm in an extreme fire danger area, and I appreciate that you mentioned the fire aspects of the siding. I used to think the vinyl siding was awesome, until I saw what happened if a fire got near the house. Most decking and siding manufacturers don't even mention the fire rating of their products. Of course water protection is still the top issue, but I need anything I use to not be something that will catch on fire easily. All those foam insulation products seem so nice, until I find out they are an extreme fire danger.

Salam. I’m involved in construction in anyway but I really enjoy and appreciate ALL your videos! Thanx a million and looking forward to all your future videos. May The Almighty bless you and your lovely family. Salam

Amen! I was a plumber in another life, and it drove me crazy when siding went up before the plumbing.

One day I'm going to sell all my rentals and hope that Matt lets me hire him to build my dream home

What about metal siding?

Living in Iowa. 20 years ago Hardy was the premium GoToo siding. Now there are multiple projects that are having spalding problems. Especially around moisture laden areas such as dryer vents & bath fans. Seems in freezing weather it does the same to cement siding as it does to your driveway. Who would have thunk? If you follow other intelligent building practices the importance of which siding you use is diminished. Joe Lstiburek mentions in a video “Conventional framing, plywood sheathing, self adhered house wrap and vinyl siding is not a bad wall”. I believe he was mostly speaking to vapor permeablity. But none the less if a guy of his experience says that. I don’t think it can be an all bad system. While I don’t always share your point of view for our Midwest conditions. Your videos always make me think critically. Keep them up. Matt

The majority of the homes we build are brick and stone. We do a few siding homes however. Always Hardie and NEVER LP. LP is OSB, Hardie is cement. There is no comparison between the two with Hardie being the clear winner.

Lp smart side is supposed to be painted on the end when you cut it

I've installed a descent amount of Hardie siding. I had a fire on a wooden deck that had several pieces of Hardie siding on it. When the fire was put out, most of the Hardie siding was turned into fine ashes.

Just had a siding contractor try to use Medium Density Fiber Board on my house repair. I stopped him before he could start and demanded he use James Hardie Fiber Cement Board like I asked for in the bid. I would have fired him on the spot but he already had my house opened up and rain was soon approaching. After the job was done, I had him turn in the produce receipts to find out he used Hardie Shower Backer Board for tile work. Clamed he had 17 years of experience.....of doing it wrong.

Any Hardie siding needs the back and edges primed when installed 18-24” within grade. It WILL wick water over time. The instructions from Hardie state this. “Failure to do so voids warranty”.

I have redwood siding installed back in 1986 using asphalt paper as the WRB. The only rot was due to improper flashing. Control the water and you control the rot. Any product will work if the installation is done properly. Next house will be real wood installed with rain clips.

Hardie and LP smartside are both good choices. In Florida I used Hardie, but in Colorado LP was the better choice. I would encourage people to look at all the advantages and disadvantages of each product in comparison, which were not covered in this video.

Just put hardie siding on a granny flat out back. So much work! Did everything above board. If you use this stuff, be prepared to bend and make some of your own metal flashing. Was able to bend the stuff from depot and lowes, just a lot of work. It looks great! All penetrations caulkable. I made a trim for all the electrical with metal over because you'll never get a water tight cover to work with the angle! Good luck

I have installed both LP and James Hardy on many homes in the mid west. I even whent with LP on my own home. I can say if you read the directions on both they install about the same,right down to calling the joints. I like both sidings and will recommend both hands down over any other sidings in my remodeling business.

Just a lowly electrician and technology integrator here... who happens to work on multi-million dollar new construction projects. Please, please, please don't tell people that the electricians and "AV guys" need to go last. While the conduit we use is smaller (for the most part) than duct work and pluming stacks/vents, we have the most prominent and visible openings of all the trades. You should have your electricians and technology integrators on site first to layout recessed lighting, fixtures, speakers, TV, touch panels, etc, etc... and -WORK WITH- the HVAC, plumbers, designers, clients, and even carpenters when possible to ensure the best result for your client/home owner. I can't tell you how many times recessed lighting, or speaker layouts have had to be significantly compromised because of duct work or plumbing runs that could have been changed with proper communication before hand. Also please install mounting blocks/slabs for your trades when using irregular exterior finishes like lap siding or natural stone...

I would be glad to put free Hardie plank on my house like Matt too. Best siding in the world when free.

In Texas that’s how it is. The framer paints and roofs and tiles . The landscape guy drywall’s and does plumbing

Your smile landed the joke with the bbq grill and vynil.

I built with Hardi and its the best! I also build outdoor cabinets out of it too, after 15 years its like new, it holds paint great because no expanssion. When build, forget osb use plywood, use hardi backer and plaster over it vs the powder with paper crap we call drywall, and hardi vs any else. Never build with a material that gets wet once it's ruined like OSB, drywall or cellulose insulation. It's cost to make is the lowest and that's what you get.

This is one of those times when I have a problem with what Matt has become. FTR, I'm a fan of LP Siding. And Matt failed to mention (wonder if on purpose?) that the best practice installation for LP siding is to use aluminum flashing behind the vertical seams instead of caulk; a fifty year minimal maintenance if any installation practice. The reason why I said "wonder if on purpose" above is that I'm sure it had to do with them GIVING Matt the product for FREE, other than doing this and possibly another video PROMOTING their product... ie. a sellout. Don't get me totally wrong about this. I'm still a fan with a lot of what Matt does. But just take these types of plainly advertisement videos that he puts out with a HUGE grain of salt for your own good. He's clearly doing them more for HIS OWN benefit than he is for yours. Case in point... When a competitor put out a clearly one-sided ad bashing Zip products, Matt addressed it in a video; rightly so imo. But in this video Matt seems to be doing the exact thing to LP Siding that that competitor did to the Zip product. Just saying...

Please do video about soffit and fascia. I am renovating a 70s split level. Left existing brick exterior and replaced the aluminum siding with the Cedarmill cement fiber board, lap siding. Will paint entire home when it cools down. I am a diyer, and would love some soffit/fascia direction. Love your content. Thank you Matt!

😂😂😂❤️I see how you didn't get the tourch closer with the fiver cement 😂😂😂

I like fiber cement siding and LP. He definitely needed to mention the strength differences between the two. Cement products are much more brittle than LP. In Texas, where he lives, they can get some pretty crazy storms where extra strong siding might be a good choice.There are trade-offs between every siding option. Great tip about waiting for the trades to be done before siding goes up!

"Will my concrete porch swell move or change with that water absorption? No" Ever see northern porch concrete that is exposed to water and then freeze / thaw cycles?

Carpenter bees will LOVE your wood soffit!!! They will make holes and tunnels everywhere!

Interesting that James Hardy no longer recommends caulking the butt joints. They used to require a 1/8" gap and caulk similar to the composite material shown in the video. But this was before they offered it pre-painted. The early version would also absorb water. If you have an older installation with a gap and are repainting or are installing the composite siding, the way to make the caulk joint disappear is to apply two coats of caulk. The first is thin and acts like a backer rod that doesn't come flush with the surface. Once it skins over, apply a second coat that is slightly proud of the surface and run your putty knife parallel to the siding across the middle of the butt joint. This results in the caulk taking on the wood grain texture of the siding and the seam will be barely visible when painted.

Great promo for hardie lol yes it's a good product and looks great if installed correctly but it's a nasty job

Matt, I like your videos, and information you provide. However in this case there are more siding options you didn’t mention that you may prefer over the James Hardie products. Royal Celect siding or Everlast siding are examples. Yes they are a little more expensive as compared to James Hardie products, however they don’t require the maintenance of the James Hardie or LP siding products. Additionally there was no mention of metal siding or the vinyl siding that has insulation. I’m sure the hardi board siding you use is great and all the siding you install is done correctly. Incidentally Royal Celect Siding was rated higher by consumer reports vs all the other siding you mentioned. If you want I can send you a link to their review of siding products. Again thank you for the work you do making these videos,

if the various trades are conscientious about their penetrations they can make tighter holes/openings after the siding is in instead of the carpenter having to calculate and measure where to cut the hole - plus the trades can strategically locate a hole so it won't hit onto a lap, but between laps, or into the trim. It's all about having the right subs!

I really like your channel and your dedication to building science and technology. I am retired now but spent my entire working life engaged in the architectural side of things in Australia where I specialized in building technology. I find the techniques that you demonstrate to be extremely sound but quite different to the way we do things here. So much so that most of the materials that you demonstrate are simply not available here. The Zip system is a case in point - not only is not available here there is no local equivalent. I am pleased to say however that the products of James Hardie are most certainly available. James Hardie is an Australian company which expanded into the USA market. We don't use much siding (cladding) here for domestic construction as almost all new houses are brick veneer.

We used hardie boards on our house and just want to give anyone whos thinking about using it, be careful when your mowing the lawn around it. I cracked a piece off the bottom with the wheels. The hardie boards are only 2 years old 😭

I encourage you to do a video where you burn that osb/engineered siding. I've thrown a few scraps into a fire and was shocked. The stuff ends up up combusting like a rocket engine.

Matt, I'm really surprised you were at the Builder show several weeks ago not that long ago, and you were comparing I believe it was LP siding and Hardee's cement fiber product. They had Sledgehammer setup and the Hardee's products seem to be more brittle then the other manufactured product. They showed what would happen if it was hit with a baseball and the Hardie products suffered more damage than the other manufactured product. They also whack both products with a baseball bat and once again the Hardy product sustained more damage. And then you went and you chose the John Hardy product. I'm perplexed? I'm doing a shed to home conversion. Eventually you'll be a home but right now it's a shed. I have the lp manufactured siding on the shed and where are some simple scrapes the product got very soft and I had to fill it with a wood filler to stiffen it or is done I'd have to replace a whole side of a building. Could you share some thoughts on all of this. You did a 180 on your selection of siding and that's why I'm questioning it. Enjoy the show, learning a lot.

Don't put vinyl siding on houses that are close together. The high E Windows reflect so much sunlight they warp the neighbors siding.

Love Matt and the channel but he is SOOO biased towards James Hardie and he always has been. We have installed millions of board feet of both hardie and LP siding and with proper install there are no issues with either. You DO NOT have to caulk joints in LP siding. They make “H” clips that are little aluminum or composite clips that mechanically flash the joints and are color matched to pre finished siding where there will be no caulking in any butt joints And you cannot even tell the clip is there unless you’re right on top of it, not to mention LP is 4 feet longer than hardie and will have 25% less joints already (Plus any walls 12’1” - 16’ long will have zero joints with LP and a joint in every course with hardie. Also you would have to prime a cut end grain before dipping in a bucket of water for that swelling test because the install instructions clearly state to prime all cut joints in the field so that bucket of water test is not practical. Hardie is a great product and definitely has a much longer track record for being a great product but for every advantage of hardie there is an equal advantage to LP as well.

Matt I love your videos but the water test on the LP siding is very misleading. LP explicitly states that all ends must be painted before install. Dunking an un-painted end in water completely goes against the way it is supposed to be installed. Not a fair test. Now yes obviously it would be a problem if the installer didn’t follow instructions and it got wet, but that’s on the installer. As for caulking the butt joints, go watch Kyle’s videos (rrbuildings) where he put LP on his rental house. He gapped the panels 3/16 and he showed what they looked like after being installed for a while and the joints are closed- no need for caulk. I’m not saying LP is as good as hardie or will last as long as hardie- it hasn’t been out too terribly long so it will take some time see how it holds up, but I do believe some of your comments/concerns aren’t completely accurate. I still love your videos.

You are spot on with the trades coming before siding, however enless you are subbing out yourself good luck with a builder giving a rip about that! I think you can't go wrong with either LP smartside or James Hardy. They both have pros and cons. LP is probably the best for baseballs, or hail. Hardy is tough and has a leg up when it comes to fire. Both will have to be painted again down the road. I do agree on vinyl. After some hail damage dented the heck out of our aluminum siding about 12 years ago we replaced with the best vinyl we could find. with the extra budget we added stone 5' up in the front. The vinyl has held up well, but even with a no fade warranty there is fading on the south side of our house. Thanks for a great video!!

I don’t build anything. I don’t plan on building anything yet I can’t help but watch these videos. Lol. Very entertaining.

I've fixed a lot of houses that have hardi board, they all swell and crumble, plus the dust is horrible, you have to wear a mask, i put lp smart side in a bucket for 4 months no swelling no paint issue, 30 year warranty on paint, paint your cut ends that are not caulked, plus they have splicers, you do not have to caulk all your joints just fyi

What about traditional shingles or other wood siding? These manufactured products are not the only options and many 100+ year old houses have wood on the side. Never mind stucco or other wall renderings like lime, and there are tons of metal options as well.

Matt's emergency bro adjective: bomber.

That is so true someone drilled a big hole behind electrical meter no one knew there was a problem until the shower pipe freeze in the wall

So sorry to see Matt selling out. I really used to love his videos. You can't say something isn't sponsored and then immediately launch into a story about a brand that will be sponsoring a future video. Half of the video seemed to be about the name brand. At one point, Matt even mentioned that there were other name brands of the same material and then didn't even mention one other brand name. Videos like this clearly show how prevalent bias is these days and why people should be cautious when watching reviews of name brand products online.

Can you do a video on the right sequencing of a job? I know it won't be the most entertaining but could be very informative.

I used Hardie on a remodel in 2002. It wasn't pre-painted. Sometimes when I'm back in Minnesota, I'll drive by the old house. It still looks great. I used lap siding on the body of the house and Staggered shingle look on the gable facing the street. My neighbors liked it so well, that a couple of them copied me as the original houses (tract post war housing) all were sided with cedar shakes. Fast forward to 5 years ago, I built a Deltec home in South Dakota. When I was researching Deltec, they used Hardie, but right before we purchased, they switched to another provider that they claimed was just as good as Hardie. While it looks great, I found differences in thicknesses and width of the product. Handling was more difficult as it would easily snap. I did find that Hardie that was close to the ground or continuously would delaminate. I found that were I used it to cover the treated lumber on my steps to my deck. I live in a very high fire danger zone so I'm glad I have fiber cement. I"ve seen LP smart side taking off in this area. I think its popular because it's lighter, stronger during handling and can be sawn or drilled with conventional tools. I used specific saw blades including saber saw blades and Rotozip ceramic bits as well as my diamond blade in my angle grinder. I put pieces of 30# felt under the joints lapping onto the course below. Ripping 10' sheets for the soffits was hard on my table saw. In fact it toasted the motor. Fortunately, It was a Rigid saw and HD replaced it no questions asked.

I put beveled siding on my 16 ft walls, on my shop out back, almost 20 yrs ago, cut them myself on my sawmill, red cedar on the back, Cypress on the front. Holding up great.

Thank you for the video’s. The only thing good about fiber cement panels. Is the fire resistance. I wish we would have never put it on our house. If you need to do a repair on outside of the house. You will have to replace about half the house. Material snaps/breaks in half, has no give. Plus, you have to find a contractor that actually knows how to wrk with hardy panel material. The contractor we hired, got us good. Got job do in one day. While we were at work. Nails not set right, no H - edge trim, chipped/cracker edges, and motar mix put in small holes. Wish could tear off and replace with real wood. Sorry for the rant.

I don’t care what anyone says, I hate hardie siding, I put it on a couple houses when the owner wanted it and it’s a nightmare to work with to follow every last one of their stipulations to not have a void warranty, I’d never put it on my own place, ever, not even if it was free.. my house is clad with vinyl and always will be, hell I could probably not touch it and it would still be there the day I die. But I live in a frost area so that water he’s talking about that won’t hurt it? Ya that expands when it freezes and turns this crap to mush in a hurry

I live in the dry West. LP works great in our environment. No issues with caulk separating - use a good quality caulk. I also don't run LP near drip lines without gutter or in areas it will be hit with sprinklers. LP is the way to go in dry environments. If you install this smartly - you will have no issues.

Team stucco checking in

I live in Nova Scotia Canada and James Hardy pulled out of Atlantic Canada about 10 years ago due to product failure.

Hardie siding is a great product. Running down other products isn’t required to prove that. The other two products you showed are great products as well, and all three have limitations.

Who was surprised that the Hardie siding did not swell? This is so funny. Who takes a torch their vinyl siding? Seriously!

Beautiful information... which real information

Best exterior siding for the house is stucco with color coat, without paint. Stucco color coat is 50 time as thick of paint. Last a long time and manance free finish. No need to paint, if stucco get dirty just use pressure washer to clean

Matt, it's fine that you prefer Hardie over LP because each have their strengths and weaknesses. But this is probably the most biased and misleading video I've seen you make. FWIW, I sided my house in MN with Hardie 15 years ago and I like it fine--but it has its drawbacks and failures like others have pointed out. I'm currently building our retirement house and am using LP Smartside--which has more than proven itself in Minneapolis. I think Hardie is a decent product, but your review should have been more balanced.

Hello Matt I love your videos. Im a electrical contractor and was wondering if you could make some videos regarding electrical systems inside your homes. Thanks!

Being the next gen buyer in the Pacific NW we are still dealing with all the early 90's LP that our parents bought a boat with the settlement money instead of replacing it. Thank God for cheap materials in houses to help keep them "affordable" but we are going to pay in a few years for sure!

Forgot the best lap siding of all- western red cedar claps

I'm convinced this house will be nothing but exterior walls and insulation.

If you go LP smartside, get the Diamond Kote product. Long lasting paint already on it. And you don't have to use the butt joints. They have a color matched metal piece to cover the front and back. If you use their calking at the very ends, it is much better than regular calk. Where I live, fire isn't an issue. But hail is. And from what I've seen, the LP Smartside handles hail better than JH. I'm not sure if he had LP in that bucket, but from other YT videos, LP doesn't swell when in water.

Really excellent that you start out by disclaiming your commercial relationship with James Hardie as it shows real commercial and personal ethics. I like that you then go through the products and that while fibre board and similar products like those from Boral can absorb water but that they dry and don't degrade easily. This is the complete opposite of PerkinsBuilderBrothers video about the same topic where they say LP SmartSide is the best but with no disclaimer of their commercial relationship up front (there is at the end) and even worse their tests are not like for like and they entirely avoid the issue of fire. I love their videos but as an interested homeowner I think yours which go into why building is all about detail and systems and are therefore more authoritative and credible.

Fiber cement siding has a pretty large environmental impact.

I definitely dig the metal siding; ones that look almost identical to metal roofs.

Thanks for the video Matt. We love long term treatments for homes!

That's why the first question you ask as a siding guy is.... Are all your penetrations / waterproofing complete on all elevations? I'd never schedule a crew without getting a definite yes, with back up questions and a walk through. Every builder will tell you it's 100% ready over the phone. Then you get there, point out multiple things, and delay for another few weeks for them to actually be 100% ready. Cheers bud from Van BC 👍

It would have been good to include metal sidings here too. Steel and aluminum sidings have virtually no expansion or contraction and they are 100% fireproof, 100% waterproof, and immune to freeze/thaw damage. Fiber cement is no longer the go-to here in Alaska because at least one or two major manufacturers (including Hardie) stopped honoring warranties.

Ok, so I've watched you for years, appreciate most of your content (esp the contractor/vendor shows and mayhem/destruction experiments with your homie)...but, I've held back this comment for far too long: I know you're in sticky TX and all, but bruh...2 words: GOLD BOND

Although in general I would agree that there is a proper sequence in the trade scheduling, it is also important that the trades are using the correct tools for the work. At the. Start, you were pointing out various inconsistencies. These seemed to be due to the siding being installed after the other roughing. EG : the cutouts in the siding appeared to be from the siding person trying to “fit” the siding around the electrical box and the pipe. As opposed to the plumbing contractor being able to use an appropriate sized hole saw to Center the pipe so a minimal amount of caulking would be required. The same goes for the electrical box. If the siding is installed first, the electrical box can be centered in the siding plank and not near the top making caulking and sealing easier especially with the use of a detail vibrational saw to cut through the siding, then cut the air gap layer in an x pattern and finally cut the sheathing. Most of the problems comes with developers and general contractors insisting on speed rather than quality. As to which siding is best, this must be considered from the basic location of the building site. What major conditions need to be addressed to build a house. That can last for generations? Do you need to address Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Floods. Wildfires? A general contractor should want to be the builder that have their houses standing after a serious emergency hits the area. An. Example is while in your location, it is rare for you to have to address a serious tornado, the use of single brick and fibrous cement siding will do nothing to stop flying debris from punching through a wall.

I live in a very dry climate. We prefer the siding up before the pipes go through the wall cuz we can be exact with hole placement in the lap and get a very clean look. No notches. Same for electrical. Wires are stubbed in. Electricians cut-in in the middle of the lap and it's very clean. Problem - sealing house wrap. But we're so dry it isn't really a problem.

Proper sequencing is the whole point of general contracting, it's literally the bread and butter of the job.

Sometimes you want to add an outlet or other penitration after the fact, would have been nice to go over the best way to do that properly.

Re-sided my (masonite lap sided) garage with cement board siding "scraps" from a job. Love it. Paint adhesion is better on CBS too, in my opinion.

I replaced my pressboard siding with James Hardie about 10 years ago. Panels, not the boards. Good stuff.

Hardi specifies a gap between lap siding and trim, as well as at butt joints. I can't believe you would not caulk these joints.

One problem I have experienced with Hardie siding is that the paint can bubble if water gets on the back, because it soaks through and releases the paint from the surface. Also it is very brittle and very hard to repair without damaging surrounding pieces.

I used Cape Cod repainted pine lap siding made in Nova Scotia. EXCELLENT. Neighbors are jealous.

Yes! Builders never understand why I want to wrap the house and wait for the penetrations to go through before siding.

I own a semi. I refuse to go near James Hardy. They waste our time and intentionally overload us hoping we'll just leave overloaded instead of waiting hours jumping through their hoops to get enough product removed to be legal. I have air scales on my truck and trailer, so I know they put an extra 3-5000 lbs more than what the load was supposed to weigh. I could've easily hauled what they said the load weighed on the rate confirmation. This happened at several locations to me and others I personally know. The overloading is definitely intentional. Their products will never be on anything I build.

If the wood fiber has soaked up water, then it will be fire resistant. Problem solved!

Matt I love videos like this. Very informative to a curious homeowner. Thanks.

i’m an electrician in N Texas and we always went before the a/c and so glad we did. Electricians that go after, i tend to see they run wires over the duct work. I know it’s wrong and anyone working in attic later on could possibly trip on wires since wires are not laying on top of ceiling joist

On engineered wood siding, every cut end is suppose to be sealed with primer. You should seal it, then test it...i bet you have a different result. This is even mentioned in the LP Smartside installation guide. Assuming that was LP Smartside?

What do you think of aluminium siding compared to these options?

Well I think I might go to Hardy back like I wanted to thanks for all the tips

I installed that lp style siding with a builder out of Port orchard. Usually instead of caulking the seems we would put these dividers on called h molds ,They would give a better uniform look then caulking. I don't know how they would look after 5 to 10 years especially with expansion and contraction with a wood product.