re: updating home from vinyl to hardy board..anyone done this?

quote:

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You do not caulk the over lap

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Exactly right. This doesn’t matter if it’s Hardie or wood. People don’t understand that water can and will get behind siding, and if they caulk the laps, it has no way to escape. The old school painter who recommends this is doing a world of harm.

As to the OP and pricing, I just tore off the cypress lap siding on my old, 1900 SF balloon framed house, insulated from the outside, decked, installed new doors and windows- with redundant flashing- house wrapped, and sided with Hardie lap siding (I used Azek for my corners and window trim, which I prefer over the Hardie Trim). It cost me about $20K all in, but I did the work myself.