Hardie Board Iron Gray Siding Renovation

Iron Gray Hardie Plank and Arctic White Hardie Trim

The owners of this south Edmonton home knew they needed a change. The cream coloured aluminum siding, plus cream soffits and brown fascia just weren’t doing the trick any longer. At the same time, the clients wanted to improve the insulation value of their walls, without adding any additional buildout to their new windows.

For the insulation layer, the clients wanted to stay with a 1/2” rigid insulation product. All the standard order insulation products in that thickness range come with a foil facing, which can act as a complete vapour barrier if the installer isn’t careful. The last thing we want to do is create a vapour barrier on the exterior of a home with a thin insulation product! We mitigated the risk in two ways:

1) We installed Tyvek DrainWrap as the exterior weather resistive barrier (WRB). DrainWrap includes vertical drainage channels that allow any moisture that condenses on the back of the insulation panels to drain out of the wall.

2) We did not tape the seams of the insulation panels, and we left approximately 1/8” gaps between panels to promote better vapour permeance.

The clients ended up choosing Hardie board in Iron Gray, with Arctic White trims at corners and all openings. Iron Gray has been one of James Hardie’s most popular colours year over year in Alberta, going all the way back to the late 2000s when ColorPlus was first introduced. Looking at these photos, it’s easy to see why! Iron Gray is a dark, bold gray with undertones of green and blue. When you pair Iron Gray with white trims and accessories, the blue tones of Iron Gray are more noticeable. When paired with black accessories (like on this project west of Edmonton) the green undertones are drawn out.

It may seem like a small thing, but the new bright white soffits, fascia, and eavestrough on the project really tie everything together beautifully! Matching the soffits and fascia to the trim colour is a great way to create cohesion in the design. And check out how that original brick looks so much more fresh and vibrant when the exterior package around it changes!

Interested in getting a quote for your own siding renovation project? Reach out to us today!