Re-Siding a Working Self-Storage
Before & After
The Work in Progress
About This Project
This is one of our earliest commercial projects: the office building at Cordata Self Storage in north Bellingham — the two-story tower every customer walks past to get to their unit. Its old wood lap siding had weathered well past tired, and a working business can't close for an exterior remodel. The facility stayed open through the whole project, gate and office running as usual.
The tear-off told us how overdue the work was: much of the building needed new plywood sheathing before any siding could hang on it. That's the part of a commercial re-side nobody sees in the after photos — the walls themselves rebuilt sound before the envelope went on.
Primed Hardie, Cedar Trim, and a Partner with a Sprayer
Over the fresh sheathing went primed HardiePlank at a 7-inch reveal in Cedarmill texture, trimmed in real cedar at the corners and openings — a wood-and-fiber-cement pairing from our early playbook that still looks right on this building. The progress photo shows the stage most people never see: the whole building in James Hardie's pale factory primer, straight lines and clean laps, waiting for its color.
The color came from a partner. We teamed up with Hilltop Painting on this one — SWV built the envelope, and their crew sprayed the finish coats once the siding was complete. Two local specialists, one schedule, and a storage facility that never had to interrupt its business.
The Finished Look
Cream walls, deep green roofline and accents, and the SELF STORAGE letters back up on fresh siding instead of weathered boards. Years on, the building still reads as the newest thing on its block — which is the point of fiber cement on a commercial property: install it once, paint it when you please, and get back to business.
