Sorry to hear about your problems. I made it to 68 years old before putting my thumb onto the table saw blade, only 4 stitches, so not bad. That front is coming along nicely.

If you are already having water splashing back up on the doors you aren't going to like that Hardi plank cement siding. It literally dissolves in water. In fact if you read the fine print (and boy do they have plenty!) available on line it tells you not to even pressure wash the stuff. I made the mistake of putting it up twenty years ago and I have regretted it every day since. The paper covering they use in the plank to get the texture look actually feeds mildew and mold. Since you cannot pressure wash it you have to hand wash every square inch and it gets both green and black mold on it pretty heavy every six months. Combine that with the fact it will not hold paint and you have a disaster for a siding. I hung mine with two prime coats two top coats and a final coat after it all was up. End joints can't be mitered so even though they are caulked they stand out. Within six months of new the board started popping the paint off even though I had thoroughly back coated mine as well. It looked like someone with a BB machine gun had sprayed the boards. Little craters everywhere. You also have to predrill and hand nail every fastener or the back side of the plank will blow out a crater when installed with approved nails and a nail gun. If you have over thirty knots of wind then the hidden nailing is not sufficient so you have to face nail the planks as well. Fifteen year warranty for paint holding? Forget it. They voided their warranty in the whole state of Alaska years after they had been selling the stuff. Obviously you never see it used hereabouts any more and the suppliers quit carrying it. There is also no reinforcement in the plank so you can pick up a 12 foot plank and have its own weight break it in the middle. I believe a building product should be at the very least strong enough to support its own weight!! I had expected a fiberglass reinforcing mesh to be in the middle, nope. It is pure garbage and while it might be useable in Arizona I wouldn't use it even there. Oh, and if that weren't enough if you use their own shearers (sold by Hardi Plank) you will find the cement and sawdust (yes, sawdust) crushes rather than cuts looking similar to a sheet of broken sheetrock. This stuff is a total nightmare. Not cheap either.

Hope you are feeling better soon!

I was thinking yesterday that I haven't seen a video from Barry, I hope he's ok. And then boom! There ya were. Back pain is no joke, and yes if you are on opioids listen to the boss. It's best that you don't operate tools.

🙏

Go get you some AB FIR Marine grade plywood. Nice and flat and solid