Fiber cement siding: The right tools

Question: Have you had any experience with cement siding?

Cementitious Siding. Yes, cement (or “cementitious”) siding is nice stuff to be sure. Great looking, very stable, and very durable. But it is also heavy, brittle, brutal on blades and saws and can be persnickety to nail correctly.  For whole house installs or frequent cement siding work, Ridgid makes a saw that makes sense. Ridgid says it can stand up to the work and control the inescapable dust cloud caused by cutting the material—which also means you’re tethered to a cord, hose, and vac for your cutting.

 

For occasional work or one-off jobs where you use your standard circ saw, a 4-tooth cement siding-blade like Freud’s Diablo Cement Siding Blade is worth every penny in clean cuts and durability.

As an alternative, cedar is a sweet choice and is easily accessible where you live, requires no new tools and it might be friendlier price-wise.