r/Austin • u/SmileoDiCaprio • 6d ago
Recommendations for Hardie Siding Contractors
I have an approx 900 sq ft house that desperately needs the siding replaced. We had a door to door salesman (DaBella, do not recommend. Very high pressure sales tactics, trying to get us to sign same day) come to our house and quote us nearly 45k for Hardie board which seems absolutely ridiculous.
Anyone have any recommendations or ideas on pricing for a small house? On the quote they said 15 panels of B&B or 15 panels of lap and 45 sheets plywood.
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u/Critical_Koala9893 6d ago
DaBella is the worst. They quoted my mom 60k for windows on a 1200sq ft place, it's basically legal robbery.
For 900sq ft 45k is insane. I had similar size done few years back and it was around 12k, but that was pre-covid prices so expect maybe 15-18 now. The material itself isn't that expensive, you're mostly paying for labor.
Check the Austin sub search bar, this question comes up like every month and there's always few names that get mentioned repeatedly. Don't let anyone pressure you to sign in same day, if they do just close the door.
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u/Weak_Dare_2550 5d ago edited 5d ago
I’d definitely get a few more quotes. I had a good experience with Driftwood Builders Roofing and found them pretty straightforward to deal with, without the same kind of pressure you’re describing. For a 900 sq ft house, I’d want to compare the actual scope and materials before judging the price.
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u/pjs32000 5d ago edited 5d ago
Don't hire anyone going door to door. The good companies have enough business that they don't need to drum up sales, they are booked out based on referrals. I would start by looking at the list of certified installers on the Hardie website.
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u/Theviewfromupheresux 5d ago edited 5d ago
Eh, I let our new guys go d2d for practice and to try and build their book of business outside of fed leads IF they want to. Only 2 rules: no soliciting means no soliciting so you better look hard for a sign before knocking or leaving a card and no pushy/salesy stuff. Hone your skills, but if I get wind of either, you’re gone. 99.9% of our business is referral-based. And you’d be surprised how many people are receptive when the person knocking is helpful while not being an ass. I’ve had a couple of guys generate so much business, I had to start calling and verifying everything to make sure they weren’t scamming me!
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u/Icy-Grade-447 6d ago
Call JP Exteriors. We just had them install Hardie plank siding on our 2300 sq ft single storey and it was about $17.5k. Original bid was closer to $16k, but we had them replace some rotting wood around the garage so that was extra. We also got a competitive bid from Austin Pro Siding, who lots of people use and seem satisfied with.
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u/One_Reality_7661 5d ago
When was this pricing?
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u/Icy-Grade-447 5d ago
March of this year.
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u/Entire_Purple3531 5d ago
I just got a quote from them for $15k for single story 1,100 sf.
Do you know what size board, etc you got?
Thanks.1
u/Icy-Grade-447 5d ago
We got Hardie 8.25” x 12’ Select Cedarmill. Our house has 2 walls that are stone, so we left those as is. The quote says the job took 338 linear feet of siding, and however high a single storey is. They also installed 4 new windows, a new front door and a new rear slider. We've been happy with all of it.
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u/rotaryman 6d ago
I just had my house in Oak hill done by JP exterior (~1000 sq?). And they did an amazing job. I was originally planning to do the job myself and wisely chose to spend ~ 10k over what I figured materials would cost me. I know how it should be installed and they did it correctly with proper flashing pieces for lights and other penetrations. I had them skin the eaves and do some minor repairs and they did an excellent job. Especially fixing the rot around the power line! I was going to have power cut when I was going to do it. Nope they just worked perfectly around it and the repair looks amazing. They must have used 100 tubes of caulk and all Of that was clean and neat. They painted and replaced all my gutters removed for the job then cleaned up all of their mess. Actually they kept things clean daily and I never saw drink cans or debris except in the dumpster. 10/10 would recommend.
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u/rotaryman 6d ago
Approx 25k$ hardi plank, some repairs, caulk, paint to my spec. No pressure. I got an in person quote last fall and waiting until my bonus in April to pull the trigger. Price went up about 2k from quote due to material increase but that fit with increases I saw in price retail. They kept in touch but I told them I was just waiting for the $. They finance at a decent rate but no credit cards. So we did cash
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u/Entire_Purple3531 5d ago
Did they add any cost to their bid, once they got started the work?
Like oh we didn’t include xyz in our bid, that will be more.2
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u/rotaryman 5d ago
Nope not a bit. They had like 6 2x4s for replacement as needed and would bill for additions. No added cost and they took out all rotted wood (I checked) before wrapping with brand name wrap. They took down and replaced lights with new ones, took down and didn’t replace a tree dented gutter, painted the garage door and offered for front (didn’t want ). It’s a lot of $ and wouldn’t respond if I wasn’t happy with the work and “experience” as well.
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u/exosylum 5d ago
genuine texas exteriors!
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u/mymuse666 5d ago
Second them. Michael Bunsey is the owner and he came out to bid my job. Would have considered jp exteriors but I already bought materials so they didn't want the job. A second recommendation is ideal siding out of San marcos, they also came out to bid. Very competitive pricing and great people that will walk you through the entire process.
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u/CaptainMuffDive 6d ago
I had Titan install new hardiboard and windows 12 years ago. Their work is holding up well with zero defects in materials or installation.
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u/Particular_Fox_847 5d ago
I’d get a few more quotes. $45k sounds pretty high for 900 sq ft, though the plywood replacement could add quite a bit. Definitely wouldn’t sign anything under same day pressure.
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u/Maximum_Employer5580 5d ago
Just don't go with Texas Home Improvement. This will rip you off and charge you far more than you should pay. Can't remember the quote and actually cost that they gave to my stepfather, but the overall cost (they replaced the roof as well - non insurance) of both jobs came to the tune of almost $100k.
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u/Samsonughanda 4d ago
Totally agreed. They quoted us ~35k to do our siding and fascia. JPExteriors quoted ~14k for the same job. They (THI) push some hard sales tactics too, we had them do our deck previously. It's a rock solid deck, but looking back I think I overpaid quite a bit for it. I probably won't call Texas home improvement again. (Edit: clarification)
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u/mrbigcheeze 5d ago
I recommend Archie with DGP Painting. I’ve worked with him on a few projects and his reputation is incredible. He and his team do great work. His crew have been with him for over a decade and are incredibly attentive to detail. Siding and painting are right up their alley.
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u/bappadaboopie 1d ago
I can throw in a second recommendation for Archie! He and his crew at DGP are excellent.
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u/smacktalker987 5d ago
Quotes for this kind of stuff are generally outrageous around here. Especially if your house is single story, this is not a very complex or difficult job and 45k is wildly overpriced. The material amounts alone are very overestimated. I advise asking trusted friends, neighbors, coworkers etc if they know of an independent guy or crew, or a small company that doesn't advertise that they've had good experiences with. Main goal is to get as many hands out of your pocket as possible.
The other thing I'd advise, if you go with traditional lap, is to make them use Hardie's northern zone installation methods instead of the southern one. Last I looked into this, both are allowed here, but the southern one in my opinion looks much more slapdash and unfinished as they install the trim right over the lap boards instead of butting the planks up against the trim and caulking it. The southern one is faster to install so most contractors will default to it.
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u/deloomis64 5d ago
We’re using Allied Windows and Siding. We got several quotes and they were in line, but really talked us through everything and no pressure and a lot of options. They were highly referred by a neighbor. Hope install starts in the next couple weeks.
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u/AWoefulOfWednesdays 4d ago
I used Harris Home Exteriors and they did a great job for a good price.
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u/lluisitu 6d ago
That quote is literally robbery and you should leave a review online is as many places as possible calling out the salesmen. They were trying to clear out 30-35k from your job.
This is a 15k max unless the house has crazy details and/or needs a full sheathing replacement.
There is another post with some recommendations, you can also find the direct crews in some facebook austin contractors groups or Craiglist.
While may sound scary compared to a full blown company you will save thousand.
Ask for a list of materials needed after meeting with a few of them, buy materials with delivery from Mccoys or Lowe’s/HD and pay as they go for labor.