Bellingham Exterior Two Different Materials, One Decision We Had to Make
Homeowners in Bellingham and across Whatcom County often ask us why we don't install LP SmartSide, given how common engineered wood siding has become in the Pacific Northwest. It's a fair question, and it deserves an honest answer rather than a sales pitch. Both James Hardie fiber cement and LP SmartSide are legitimate, engineered products with real manufacturer backing. We simply had to pick the one we're willing to stand behind on every home we touch, and after years of watching how each material performs against our specific weather, we standardized on fiber cement.
What LP SmartSide Gets Right
LP SmartSide is not a poor product. It's a strand-based engineered wood siding, treated with resins, waxes, and zinc borate to resist moisture and insects, then finished with a wood-look texture that installers and homeowners often like for its lighter weight and easier on-site cutting. It costs less than fiber cement in most markets, goes up a bit faster, and holds paint reasonably well when the coating is maintained on schedule. For a drier inland climate with shorter wet seasons, it can hold up fine for many years.
We're not here to tell people that product is junk. It isn't. Our concern is narrower and more specific: how a wood-based core behaves over decades in a marine climate like ours, once every seam, cut edge, and fastener hole has to work correctly, every time, for the life of the siding.
Why Our Climate Changes the Calculation
Bellingham sits on Bellingham Bay, which means salt-laden air is a constant, not an occasional event. Add in driving rain off the Sound, long stretches of saturated fall and winter weather, and a moss season that can run from October well into spring on north- and west-facing walls, and you have a climate that tests siding harder than most. Whatcom County homes also deal with heavy tree cover and shade in many neighborhoods, which keeps wall surfaces damp longer after storms than they'd stay in a sunnier, drier region.
Engineered wood siding, no matter how well it's manufactured, still has a wood-strand core. Its long-term performance depends heavily on every cut edge being properly primed and sealed, on caulking being maintained without gaps, and on water never sitting against the material for extended periods. In a climate where wet weather is the rule rather than the exception, that margin for error gets thin. Moss and algae growth on damp siding surfaces adds another maintenance burden on top of the moisture management itself. We've simply seen too many installations, ours and otherwise, where a missed seal point or a compromised edge years down the road led to swelling or soft spots that are expensive to catch early and worse to catch late.
Where James Hardie Fits
James Hardie fiber cement is made from cement, sand, and cellulose fiber, which means there's no wood core to swell, rot, or feed moss the way organic material can. It's non-combustible, which matters given the wildfire smoke seasons the Northwest has seen in recent summers, and it's manufactured in HZ5 and HZ10 formulations specifically engineered for climates like ours, with freeze-thaw cycling and sustained moisture exposure built into the product design. The factory-applied ColorPlus finish is baked on under controlled conditions, which holds up better against our salt air and rain than field-applied paint typically does, and it comes with a longer color warranty than most site-painted finishes can offer.
A Side-by-Side Look
| Factor | LP SmartSide | James Hardie Fiber Cement |
|---|---|---|
| Core material | Engineered wood strand | Cement, sand, cellulose fiber |
| Combustibility | Combustible | Non-combustible |
| Moisture sensitivity | Edge sealing and caulking critical | Low; resists swelling and rot |
| Finish | Field or factory paint, maintenance-dependent | Factory-baked ColorPlus finish |
| Typical upfront cost | Lower | Higher |
| Long-term maintenance in wet, mossy climates | Higher, edge and seam dependent | Lower |
Installation Is Half the Story
No siding material, fiber cement included, performs well if it's installed wrong. Correct James Hardie installation means proper flashing at every window and door, correct fastener placement and spacing, adequate clearance from grade and hardscape, and joints and edges sealed per manufacturer specification. We install to those specifications because a fiber cement product that's poorly installed can still develop problems, and a well-installed product is what actually delivers the decades of low-maintenance performance the material is capable of. That's true of any siding, engineered wood included, but it's a hard requirement we hold ourselves to on every job.
Our Bottom Line
We chose fiber cement because Bellingham's combination of salt air, sustained rain, and moss-friendly shade is a demanding test for any exterior product, and we wanted to put something on homes that we felt confident would still be performing well fifteen and twenty years out with normal upkeep. LP SmartSide works for plenty of homeowners in plenty of climates. It's just not the product we're willing to install here, on our roofs and walls, in this weather.
If you're weighing your siding options for a Whatcom County home, we're happy to walk through what James Hardie would look like on your house, no pressure and no obligation. Reach out for a free estimate and we'll give you a straight answer about what your home needs.