Everett A Fair Look at LP SmartSide
Homeowners in Everett ask us about LP SmartSide often enough that it deserves a straight answer. It's an engineered wood siding — strand-based substrate coated with resin and wax, then finished with a treated overlay to resist moisture and fungal decay. It's lighter than fiber cement, easier on saw blades, and it installs faster, which keeps labor costs down. For builders working in dry inland climates, it has a solid track record. We don't dispute any of that.
But we're a Snohomish County contractor, and our installs have to survive Everett's specific weather, not a national average. That's where our standard changed.
The Everett Climate Problem
Everett sits on Puget Sound, which means salt air moving off the water, driving rain off the Sound and the foothills, and a moss season that can run eight or nine months out of the year on shaded north and west elevations. Engineered wood siding is still wood at its core. Its resin treatment is a barrier, not a transformation — and every barrier depends on the install being sealed correctly and staying sealed for decades.
In a drier climate, a small caulking gap or a missed flashing detail might go unnoticed for years. In Everett, with rain hitting the wall assembly from multiple directions for most of the year, that same gap gives moisture a way in. Once water gets past the coating and into the wood strand core, the material can swell, delaminate at the edges, or develop soft spots — and because the damage starts from the inside of the panel, it's often not visible until it's advanced.
Where the Risk Really Lives
LP SmartSide's own installation instructions are detailed for a reason — this product is less forgiving of shortcuts than fiber cement. Cut edges, panel joints, and any point where the material meets a window, door, or roofline all require field-applied sealant and correct clearances to keep water out. That's true of most siding systems to some degree, but the consequences of getting it wrong are more serious with an engineered wood product, because the failure mode is moisture damage to a wood substrate rather than surface wear.
We've built our business around James Hardie fiber cement specifically because it removes that variable. Hardie's core material is cement, sand, and cellulose fiber — it doesn't have organic wood content for moisture to break down, and it isn't a food source for the moss, algae, and mildew that thrive in our shaded, damp corridors between houses. That matters in a county where a lot of lots are tight, tree-covered, and slow to dry out after a storm.
| Factor | LP SmartSide | James Hardie Fiber Cement |
|---|---|---|
| Core material | Engineered wood strand | Fiber cement (non-combustible) |
| Moisture behavior | Resin-treated, moisture-resistant | Not wood-based, does not rot |
| Install sensitivity | Sealant and flashing details are critical | Forgiving of the Northwest's wet install windows |
| Factory finish | Primed or factory-finished options | ColorPlus baked-on finish, fade and chip resistant |
| Fire rating | Combustible | Non-combustible |
What We Actually Install
We standardized on James Hardie because it's engineered specifically for climate zones like ours — Hardie's HZ10 product line is formulated for the wetter, more temperate parts of the Pacific Northwest. The ColorPlus factory finish means the color and topcoat are baked on under controlled conditions before the boards ever reach the jobsite, rather than relying on field-applied paint or stain to hold up against Everett's rain. Hardie also backs its material with a long, transferable limited warranty, which gives homeowners real protection if something with the product itself goes wrong down the line.
None of this is a knock on LP as a company or on SmartSide as a product for the right application. It's a reflection of what we've decided we're willing to put our name behind, on homes that have to hold up against salt air, sideways rain, and moss for the next several decades. We'd rather install one product extremely well than juggle several and hope every install hits the same standard.
Questions About Your Siding Options
- Not sure if your current siding is failing or just needs maintenance
- Comparing quotes that spec different siding materials
- Planning a re-side after storm or moisture damage
- Wondering how your home's exposure (sun, shade, wind direction) should factor into the decision
If you're weighing siding options for a home in Everett or elsewhere in Snohomish County, we're happy to walk your property, point out what your specific exposure and elevations are dealing with, and explain honestly what we'd recommend. Reach out for a free, no-pressure estimate — there's no obligation, and no pressure to choose Hardie if it's not the right fit for your project.