The Two-Word Review
Before & After
The Work in Progress
About This Project
This rambler sits in Bellingham's Barkley neighborhood, and for years it wore the pale yellow hardboard half the street was built with. The owner wanted out of the repaint cycle and into fiber cement — and wanted the color changed while everything was already off the walls, which is exactly the right time to do it.
The tear-off took the old siding and every layer of aged weatherproofing with it. The walls were inspected bare — the progress photo below shows the house at its most honest — the worst sheathing panels came out, and fresh Tyvek closed the envelope back up before the first new plank went on.
Details That Outlast the Paint
The rebuild is HardiePlank with a joint flashing behind every seam, HardieTrim at the windows, doors, and corners, and one small upgrade that says a lot about how this company thinks: the original light fixtures sat on primed spruce blocks — a material that rots quietly behind a fixture where nobody looks — so every one was replaced with a fiber-cement block to match the walls they sit on. Caulk went everywhere it belongs and nowhere it doesn't: plank seams stay uncaulked, protected by their flashing instead, per James Hardie's own instructions. When the crew wrapped, a magnet sweeper combed the yard for stray nails.
Then the color change the owner had been waiting for: a two-color Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint scheme sprayed in double coats — a warm taupe across the body, closest to Temperate Taupe (SW 6037), with white trim, corners, and window surrounds. Even the gutters were painted to match, an add-on that keeps the old aluminum from telling on the new walls.
The Finished Look
From pale yellow hardboard to a warm taupe that reads modern without shouting about it — same bones, new envelope, and a paint job that starts its life on fiber cement instead of fighting old wood.
About the review: this owner's feedback came through GuildQuality, James Hardie's verified review partner, which surveys homeowners with structured questions after a project wraps. Asked whether he'd recommend Siding Vault, his answer was submitted as his review — all two words of it. We'll take "Very likely." from a verified customer over a paragraph of adjectives any day.
★★★★★Google review · Bellingham, WA"Very likely."
