Custer Two Different Materials, One Big Decision
If you're re-siding a home in Custer or anywhere else in Whatcom County, you've probably come across both James Hardie fiber cement and LP SmartSide in your research. Both are legitimate, widely used siding products, and both are a step up from vinyl in terms of durability and appearance. But they're built from fundamentally different materials, and that difference matters a lot once you factor in our local climate — salt air off the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound, long stretches of driving rain, and a moss season that can run most of the year in shaded, north-facing spots.
We install James Hardie exclusively. That's not a marketing line — it's a decision we made after years of seeing how different siding materials actually perform on homes in this corner of the state. Here's an honest look at how the two products compare.
What LP SmartSide Is
LP SmartSide is an engineered wood product — strand board or wood fiber treated with resin and zinc borate, then coated with a wax-based moisture repellent, and finished with primer. It's a genuine improvement over old-school masonite and hardboard siding from decades past, and LP backs it with a reasonable warranty. Installed correctly and maintained on schedule, it can perform well in a lot of climates.
The catch is that it's still wood at its core. Wood fiber wants to absorb moisture, and its long-term performance depends heavily on the caulking, flashing, and paint film staying intact at every seam, cut edge, and fastener hole. In a region like ours, where siding can go weeks without a real drying window during the wet months, that margin for error gets thinner.
What James Hardie Is
James Hardie siding is fiber cement — a mix of cellulose fiber, sand, and Portland cement, cured into a dense, stable board. It doesn't absorb water the way wood-based products do, it won't swell or rot at cut edges, and it's non-combustible, which matters given how many wildfire-season smoke and ember events the Pacific Northwest has seen in recent years. Hardie's HZ5 product line is engineered specifically for climates with sustained moisture exposure — a good match for Whatcom County's rain totals and coastal humidity.
The ColorPlus factory finish is baked on under controlled conditions rather than field-applied, which gives it better fade resistance and a longer repaint interval than site-painted siding. For a home exposed to salt-laden wind coming off the water, that factory-cured finish holds up noticeably better over time than a coating applied on-site in variable weather.
Side-by-Side Basics
| Factor | James Hardie (fiber cement) | LP SmartSide (engineered wood) |
|---|---|---|
| Core material | Cement, sand, cellulose fiber | Wood strand/fiber with resin |
| Moisture behavior | Dimensionally stable, doesn't swell | Requires intact seal to resist swelling |
| Combustibility | Non-combustible | Combustible (treated, but wood-based) |
| Finish | Factory-baked ColorPlus finish available | Primed at factory, typically field-painted |
| Typical warranty | Long-term, often transferable | Solid, but tied closer to maintenance compliance |
Why Our Climate Tips the Scale
Custer sits close enough to the water that salt air is a real, ongoing factor on siding, trim, and fasteners. Combine that with the region's driving rain — wind-blown, not just falling straight down — and siding seams and cut ends take a beating that drier inland climates never see. Add a moss season that can leave north- and west-facing walls damp for extended stretches, and you've got a set of conditions that reward materials with low water absorption and punish anything that depends on a perfect, unbroken protective coating.
Engineered wood products like LP SmartSide can work in this climate, but they ask more of the installation and more of the homeowner over the life of the siding — caulk joints have to be inspected and refreshed, cut edges need to be sealed correctly at install, and any coating nicks need prompt touch-up before moisture gets a foothold. Fiber cement simply has less to go wrong on the moisture side, because the material itself isn't the vulnerable part.
Where LP SmartSide Isn't a Bad Product
To be fair, LP SmartSide has real strengths — it's lighter than fiber cement, easier on installers, and has a following among builders who like working with it. In drier climates, or on projects where maintenance will be consistently kept up, it's a reasonable choice. We're not telling you it's junk. We're telling you that for the specific conditions homes face in Custer and across Whatcom County, we've concluded fiber cement is the more durable, lower-maintenance long-term investment, and it's the only product we put our name behind.
What We Install and Why
We standardized on James Hardie because it holds up to salt air without special coatings, resists the swelling and edge damage that driving rain can cause over the years, and doesn't feed moss growth the way some wood-based sidings can in shaded, damp spots. The factory-cured finish means fewer repaint cycles, and the warranty is transferable if you sell the home down the road — a detail buyers in this market notice.
Every siding job is different, and the right answer depends on your home's exposure, budget, and how long you plan to stay in it. If you're weighing James Hardie against LP SmartSide or anything else for a Custer-area home, we're happy to walk your property, talk through what we're seeing, and put together a free, no-pressure estimate.