Trim pieces for fiber cement siding are not available in fiber cement. Siding of fiber cement is finished with vinyl or wood accessories. Keep your cement siding maintenance free with these finishing touches.

Installing fiber cement siding is like any exterior siding. Follow these tips for working with siding of fiber cement and heed recommendations of the manufacturer of the fiber cement siding shingles you choose.

Old style fiber cement siding is still made today. Some old homes have had siding of fiber cement in place for 100 years, with little if any maintenance. Fiber cement siding shingles are durable and come in three profiles. Use fiber cement shingles to complement both old and new homes.

Fiber cement siding is readily available in most areas. When deciding on which fiber cement siding shingles you will use, ask about accessory and trim pieces. Not all manufacturers have trim pieces of fiber cement and substitute vinyl or wood to finish off fiber cement shingles.

Stainless steel nails, screws, fasteners and hardware will leave you worry free from rust and corrosion that can zap structural strength and leave ugly stains. #304 stainless steel screws and hardware can be affected by some chemicals, but #316 stainless steel fasteners will withstand most chemical attack. This metal costs a bit more, but the value exceeds the cost.

Nails come in different shapes and sizes to achieve different results. Stainless steel fasteners will provide rust-free nailing. But there are also proper nailing methods. Check out these stainless steel hardware manufacturers and information sources.

Your wood siding will avoid water problems and damage if you follow some important tips. Seal all raw wood, including edges of wood siding, use building/felt paper beneath the siding, and use proper nails and nailing technique.

Before applying any wood sealer, cleaning your deck or wood is essential to success. Use chlorine bleach if you want to kill germs, - but also your plants-, to bleach out your deck wood and to corrode hardware. Power washing will damage the wood fibers, unseen at first, but cumulative. Use oxygen bleach to avoid all these problems ... and let it do the work for you!

Oxygen bleach is a powerhouse multi-purpose cleaner, and superb as a deck or wood siding cleaner. It doesn't damage wood and surrounding plants and environment, (unlike power washing and chlorine bleach), yet is powerfully effective and so easy to use! Oxygen bleach does the work for you! But beware...not all oxygen bleach is the same. Many oxygen bleach products contain lots of inactive filler.

The top five performing penetrating wood finishes, independently tested, as of November 2000, showing best water repellency and outdoor exposure results as a wood preservative. Note that only one of the exterior wood finishes is a synthetic resin, which will not attract mildew and algae damage like natural oil wood finish products.