Fiber cement · James Hardie & Nichiha
James Hardie lap siding and Nichiha architectural wall panels, installed to the manufacturer’s specifications and tied cleanly into the EIFS and stone around them.
Two systems
Fiber cement is cement, sand and cellulose fiber pressed into boards and panels. It takes paint and texture like wood, but it won't rot, and it doesn't burn the way wood does.
Horizontal fiber cement boards and trim for retail, office and mixed-use buildings, set to a consistent exposure and installed to the manufacturer's specifications.
Large architectural fiber cement panels in wood-look and smooth finishes, hung on concealed clips over rainscreen rails for a modern facade with crisp reveals.
How a panel wall goes up
IllustrationOver a continuous air and water barrier, vertical rails create a cavity behind the panels. Air moves through it, and water that gets past the panels drains down and out at the base. What is a rainscreen?
IllustrationPanels hang on clips fastened to the rails, so fasteners don’t show across the field of the wall. Joints are kept straight and even from one panel to the next.
IllustrationCorners, edges and transitions get trim and reveals detailed to the drawings — the lines people notice first.
IllustrationBoards go on over the air and water barrier, set to an even exposure with a siding gauge and fastened per the manufacturer's instructions. Trim boards finish the corners and openings.
IllustrationMost commercial facades mix systems: panels at the entry, EIFS on the field of the wall, stone at the base. When one company installs all of them, the joints and flashings where systems meet are planned together instead of left between trades.
See our EIFS workOur work
Project photos show JR Stucco work.
FAQ
Lap siding is horizontal boards that overlap, a classic look for retail and mixed-use buildings. Panels are large flat pieces with reveals between them, used for a modern, architectural facade. We install both, often on the same building.
A ventilated, drained gap between the cladding and the air and water barrier. It lets the wall dry and gives water a way out. Nichiha panels hang on concealed clips that hold them off the wall, often over furring rails, which creates this gap. Read more.
Yes. Fiber cement siding and panels are installed to the manufacturer's published instructions and the project specifications.
Yes. That's where one subcontractor helps most: the transitions between systems are detailed and built by the same company.
Across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, from our office in Charlotte.
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Request a bid
Send the plans, specs and bid date. We reply with a proposal broken down by system.