Genius idea - Clinton, wasn’t it? I had a repo’d LD that had a lot of cat-n-rat doors in the poorly thought-out T-111 skirting along the front of the house. I took Clinton’s advice in trying this out,; I used the 1/2 inch thickness rather than the 1/4 because of the strength, and the thinner stuff has tile gridlines, whereas the thicker does not. Only black lettering on one side: “Wet area backer” or somesuch. I cut each 3’ x 5’ sheet into three 20" x 3’ sections, using a masonry blade on my circular saw. You could score and snap, especially since the rough edges would be covered by trim or buried.
Using the special screws - kinda plastic covered, so corrosion resistant - I attached sections to the existing framework - wood 2x2 with those metal points screwed on the bottom - sistering with leftover cedar (or pressure-treated) 2x2 pickets by drywall screws where necessary for stability.
Trim is the 1x4 primed wood, available at Lowe’s, and spray painted brown to match existing, nailed with galvanized 2" siding nails.
I Like!! Butted up joints are a minor concern - I will try tablesaw-notching cedar or PT pickets into an “H” cross section next time, and fitting the pieces into the notches to cover the joints, but as it is, it is satisfactory. This should hold up to any weedeater, and mower-thrown rocks better than metal or vinyl!
I noticed your home is quite a bit lower than most of mine. Yours saved on material here! Might be a bear to work under though.
I also wonder if you couldn’t create the Stucco look that block “permanent” foundation employs? Lots more work I am sure but just a thought if someone was wanting to create a higher end look for less money and time than block.
Your having to create a frame no doubt took time but that should be a one time cost.
Can you give us some cost figures for this project?
3’ x 5’ sheet of 1/2" Hardiebacker = $11.27 plus tax. I cut each piece into 20" high, 3’ lengths - so thats a little over $1 per linear foot.
Box of cement board screws = ~ $9
Diamond edged masonry blade for skilsaw = ~$20
The framework was pre-existing, so no money there; if you had to put one in, you could buy the metal spikes and the 2x2s. I would spike (using the spikes you get in a vinyl skirting kit - gutter nails are the same) pressure treated 2x4 along the ground at the house perimeter, and use pressure treated or cedar 2x2 as uprights; you could toe or bracket the tops to the rim joist, and same below.
Best bang for the buck I’ve seen for skirting in 10 years of this business
Well, it does wick a little when in contact with the ground. My solution will be to notch pressure treated lumber as a bottom track - this will keep it off the ground and minimize the wicking. Also, for metal sided homes, I have decided to use the vinyl top rails to retain the panels just like the vinyl panels. Once all the emergent repairs are done (are they ever?), I have a DW that has two sides with metal skirting that I am going to do this to as an experiment. Will post pix.
BTW, just sold that home for 21K: 1K down, 20K note at $400/mo for 75 mos. My basis is zeeeeeeeeero after receiving the down.
That Hardi board should not wick water. Acording to them it should not wick water at all. I had a lot of contact with James Hardi products years ago when they first came on the market.
Apparantly this “cement board” product has been used for years in the Australian outback for siding and even roof shingles. They claimed that you could put a stack underwater for a week and it would have the same moisture content coming out as it did going in.
15 years ago I had a farm house underpined with it pretty much like you did here. Then I had a guy put direct apply decorative / stained concrete in a brick pattern direct to it. It still looks fantastic.