Lynden Siding One Product, Installed Correctly, Every Time
We get asked fairly often why we don't offer a menu of siding brands the way some contractors do. The honest answer is that after years of tearing old siding off houses in Lynden, Everson, Ferndale, and the rest of Whatcom County, we settled on James Hardie fiber cement and stopped installing anything else. Not because every other product is worthless, but because Hardie is the one that consistently holds up to what this climate does to a house, and we'd rather stand behind one system we know inside and out than juggle five we half-trust.
What Our Climate Actually Does to Siding
Lynden doesn't get hurricanes, but it gets something siding manufacturers have to engineer around just as carefully: months of low-intensity moisture exposure. Salt air drifts in off the Puget Sound and Georgia Strait, driving rain comes sideways off the marine air masses for weeks at a stretch, and our moss season runs long because the humidity rarely lets surfaces dry out completely. That combination is hard on materials that swell, absorb moisture at cut edges, or rely on a surface coating that has to be perfectly maintained to keep water out. Over a 15- or 20-year span, that's where a lot of siding problems in this county actually start.
Why Fiber Cement Handles This Better
James Hardie siding is made from cement, sand, and cellulose fiber. It doesn't absorb water the way wood-based products can, it won't rot, and it's non-combustible — which matters more each year given regional wildfire risk. It's also dimensionally stable, meaning it doesn't expand and contract with humidity swings the way wood and some engineered wood products do, so paint lines, caulk joints, and butt seams stay tighter for longer.
The HZ5 Difference
James Hardie doesn't sell one generic siding product nationwide — they engineer it by climate zone. Whatcom County falls into the HZ5 category, built specifically for regions with wet, temperate weather and freeze-thaw cycles. HZ5 products are formulated for better moisture resistance and crack resistance in exactly the conditions Lynden sees most of the year. This is one of the concrete reasons we don't substitute a generic fiber cement product — the HZ5 engineering is specific to this region, not marketing language.
ColorPlus Technology: Why We Push Factory Finish
A huge percentage of siding failures we get called out to inspect aren't material failures — they're finish failures. Paint fades, chalks, or peels, moisture gets behind a compromised coat, and the substrate underneath starts to suffer. James Hardie's ColorPlus finish is baked on in a controlled factory environment through multiple coats, which gives it far more consistent coverage and UV resistance than field-applied paint achieves, especially on a job site with our weather windows. It also carries its own finish warranty separate from the product warranty. We still install primed Hardie for homeowners who want a custom paint color, but we explain the trade-off honestly every time: you're taking on the maintenance schedule that ColorPlus is designed to avoid.
Product Lines We Work With
- HardiePlank lap siding — the most common choice, available in multiple textures and exposures
- HardiePanel vertical siding — often paired with board and batten detailing
- HardieShingle — for a shingle-style look without cedar's maintenance
- Artisan Series — a premium, deeper-texture lap product for a more custom appearance
- HardieTrim — matched trim boards so the whole envelope is one consistent material
The Warranty Is Part of the Product
James Hardie backs its siding with a strong transferable limited warranty, and the ColorPlus finish carries its own coverage as well. That warranty structure is one of the reasons we standardized on this brand — it's meaningful only when it's backed by a company with the manufacturing scale and track record to honor it, and only when installation follows their published specifications. That second part is on us.
Installation Is Where Most Problems Actually Start
Fiber cement siding is unforgiving of shortcuts. Proper installation means correct fastening patterns, the right clearances at grade and roof lines, properly flashed and sealed penetrations, and butt joints treated the way Hardie specifies rather than just caulked and painted over. We install to Hardie's published instructions because that's what keeps the warranty valid and what actually keeps water out of the wall assembly over the long run. A lot of the siding failures we see on older homes in this area trace back to installation details, not the material itself — which is exactly why we treat installation standards as seriously as product selection.
Our Standard, Plainly Stated
We won't install LP SmartSide, vinyl, Cemplank, Allura, primed spruce, or cedar on a home we're contracting for. Not because each of those doesn't have a place somewhere, but because we've chosen to specialize in one system, install it correctly every time, and stand fully behind the result. For homes in Lynden and the surrounding Whatcom County towns dealing with salt air, driving rain, and a long moss season, James Hardie has consistently been the material that holds its line, its color, and its integrity the longest.
If you're weighing siding options for your home, we're happy to walk your property, look at your specific exposure and conditions, and put together a free, no-pressure estimate — no obligation, just a straight assessment of what your house needs.