Walk through the neighborhoods off Gunn Highway, Sheldon Road, or Northdale Boulevard and you'll notice most Citrus Park homes rely on a horizontal, overlapping siding profile — that's lap siding, and it's the single most common style we install in this part of Hillsborough County. HardiePlank lap siding is James Hardie's flagship product, and it's the only siding line we put on homes here. We don't offer vinyl, we don't offer LP SmartSide or other engineered wood panels, and we don't apologize for that — fiber cement holds up to Florida humidity, wind-driven rain, and afternoon sun in a way those materials simply can't match over a 30- or 40-year ownership window.
This page isn't a general siding overview. It's specifically about HardiePlank lap siding — the profiles available, how exposure width changes the look of a house, how it compares to board-and-batten, what ColorPlus factory finish actually means, and the installation details that separate a siding job that lasts from one that doesn't.
Lap siding is installed horizontally, with each board overlapping the one below it — similar in principle to traditional wood clapboard, but manufactured from cement, sand, and cellulose fiber instead of wood. That overlap is what sheds water: rain hits the face of the board and runs down and off the lap below rather than finding a horizontal seam to sit in. On a typical Citrus Park two-story with a hip roof and moderate eave overhang, lap siding reads as classic Florida residential — clean horizontal lines, minimal fuss, and a look that fits everything from a 1980s ranch off Elgin Drive to newer construction near Citrus Park Town Center.
James Hardie also makes HardiePanel for a board-and-batten look — vertical panels with raised battens covering the seams, more common on farmhouse-style or modern-craftsman exteriors, or as an accent on gables and porch fronts. We get asked which is "better," and the honest answer is that they're different tools for different looks, not a better/worse comparison.
| Factor | HardiePlank Lap Siding | HardiePanel Board-and-Batten |
|---|---|---|
| Orientation | Horizontal, overlapping boards | Vertical panels with battens |
| Best fit | Traditional, ranch, colonial, most production homes | Farmhouse, modern-craftsman, accent walls and gables |
| Water shedding | Built into the overlap itself | Depends on batten spacing and flashing detail |
| Typical use in Citrus Park | Full-house siding, the large majority of jobs | Gable accents, porch columns, mixed-material fronts |
Most of the estimates we write for Citrus Park homeowners are full-house HardiePlank lap siding, sometimes with a HardiePanel accent on a gable end or entry feature — that combination gives you the durability of fiber cement everywhere with a little visual variety where it counts.
"Exposure" is the visible face of each board once it's installed and overlapped — the reveal. It's one of the biggest style decisions in a siding project, and it's also one homeowners rarely get walked through before signing a contract.
| Exposure | Look | Where it works well |
|---|---|---|
| 4 inch | Tighter, more traditional clapboard rhythm | Smaller homes, colonial and craftsman styles, historic-leaning streets |
| 5–5.25 inch | The most common Citrus Park default — balanced, not fussy | Ranch and two-story production homes, most of the neighborhood stock we see |
| 6.25–7 inch | Bolder, fewer shadow lines, reads more modern | Larger homes, contemporary or transitional exteriors |
| 8.25 inch and up | Statement-scale reveal, strong horizontal lines | Larger elevations, coastal-modern or farmhouse-modern designs |
Exposure isn't purely cosmetic — it also affects how many linear feet of board you need and how many fastener and lap lines end up on the wall, which has a small but real effect on labor time and materials. We walk your specific elevations and recommend an exposure that fits the scale of the house, not just whatever's cheapest to install.
HardiePlank comes in a few surface textures, and this is where a lot of the "does it look like real wood or does it look like siding" question gets decided.
Texture is a personal style call, not a performance one — all three hold up identically in our climate since they're the same fiber cement product underneath.
Every HardiePlank board we install can be ordered as primed (for field painting) or with ColorPlus Technology, which is a factory-applied, baked-on finish. This matters more in Florida than almost anywhere else in the country, because UV exposure and humidity are exactly what breaks down a typical field-applied paint job over time.
ColorPlus finish is cured in a controlled factory environment with multiple coats bonded to the board before it ever leaves the plant. That process gives it better fade resistance and better adhesion than paint applied on-site in Citrus Park's heat and humidity, where a fresh coat of field paint has to cure through afternoon thunderstorm humidity swings that are tough on any coating. ColorPlus color also carries its own finish warranty from James Hardie, separate from the substrate warranty on the board itself.
Touch-up for minor nicks is done with a color-matched touch-up kit from the same ColorPlus batch — it's not a full repaint, just a targeted fix, which keeps long-term maintenance to almost nothing beyond routine washing.
The material is only half the story. HardiePlank is a forgiving, durable product, but it's also unforgiving of shortcuts — a rushed crew can turn a 40-year siding product into a 10-year problem. This is the part of the estimate most contractors gloss over and the part we spend the most time on.
The bottom course sits on a starter strip that kicks the first board out at the correct angle to match every course above it. Skip the starter strip or install it wrong and every board on the wall sits slightly off, which shows up as a wavy shadow line the first time the sun hits the house at a low angle.
James Hardie specifies fastener type, size, and placement based on wind zone, and Citrus Park falls within Hillsborough County's coded wind-load requirements even though it's an inland community rather than a barrier-island site. We fasten per Hardie's published installation instructions and local code — corrosion-resistant nails or screws, set at the correct distance from board edges, driven through the siding and into structural framing or approved sheathing, not just tacked to house wrap.
Butt joints between boards get a gap for seasonal movement, backed with flashing tape or a proper joint treatment rather than caulk alone — caulk-only butt joints are one of the most common failure points we find when we're called out to repair someone else's siding job. Laps are set to the manufacturer's minimum overlap, and any place siding meets a window, door, or trim gets properly flashed before caulk goes anywhere near it.
HardiePlank needs clearance from grade, roofing, decks, and patios — typically a minimum of a few inches above hard surfaces and more above soil or mulch beds. We see this ignored on older Citrus Park homes where landscaping has crept up over the years, or where a paver patio was added after the original siding went in without adjusting clearance. Wicking moisture at the bottom edge is one of the few things that can compromise fiber cement over time, and it's entirely preventable with correct clearance and drainage at install.
Citrus Park sits inland in northwest Hillsborough County — not waterfront, but close enough to Tampa Bay that afternoon humidity, near-daily summer thunderstorms, and full hurricane-season exposure from June through November are all part of normal life here. The house isn't taking direct storm surge the way a barrier-island property might, but it's absolutely taking wind-driven rain, sustained high humidity for months at a stretch, and intense UV load nearly year-round.
That combination is exactly why we don't cut corners on flashing, fastener corrosion resistance, or ColorPlus finish recommendations here. A siding installation that would hold up fine in a dry, low-UV climate can fail in five years in this one if the details are wrong. Fiber cement itself is dimensionally stable and doesn't rot, but the installation — flashing, fastening, sealant, clearance — is what determines whether that stability actually protects your walls for the next few decades.
Every house is different, and we don't post fake per-square-foot numbers that don't hold up once we're actually on your roof and walls measuring tear-off, trim, and structural condition. What we can tell you is what actually moves the price up or down on a HardiePlank lap siding job.
| Factor | How it affects cost |
|---|---|
| Home size and number of stories | More linear footage and more complex access (ladders, lifts) on two-story homes |
| Tear-off of existing siding | Removing old siding, checking sheathing, and disposal adds labor versus new construction |
| Exposure width chosen | Wider exposures use fewer boards for the same wall area; narrower exposures add fastening and lap detail |
| Texture and profile | Select Cedarmill, Smooth, and Beaded are priced similarly; board-and-batten accents add labor complexity |
| ColorPlus vs. primed-for-paint | ColorPlus costs more up front but eliminates a separate field-painting cost and years of repainting |
| Trim, corners, and architectural detail | Homes with more gables, dormers, and trim transitions take more time to flash and finish correctly |
The only way to get a real number is a walk-through of your specific elevations — we measure, look at the current siding and sheathing condition, and give you a written estimate with no surprise change orders for things we could have caught at the walk-through.
One of the appeals of fiber cement is how little upkeep it needs compared to wood or vinyl, but "little" isn't "none." A short annual routine keeps it looking right for decades:
If you're weighing HardiePlank lap siding for a Citrus Park home — whether it's a full replacement, storm repair, or new construction — we're happy to walk the property, talk through profile and exposure options, and put together a straightforward, no-pressure estimate using the form below.
Most single-story homes take about one to two weeks from tear-off to final trim and caulk, with two-story homes running longer depending on access and detail work. Weather is the biggest variable in Florida — a stretch of daily summer thunderstorms can push the schedule out, since siding shouldn't go up over damp sheathing. We build a realistic timeline into every estimate rather than a best-case number.
Confirm they hold an active Florida contractor license (ours is RB29003900), carry liability insurance, and can show you examples of completed HardiePlank work rather than just brochure photos. Ask specifically whether they follow James Hardie's published fastening and flashing instructions for your wind zone, since that's where cheap installs cut corners. A contractor who can't answer clearly about fastener spacing or clearance requirements is one to keep shopping past.
No — they're related products in the James Hardie lineup but built for different looks. HardiePlank is the horizontal lap board covered on this page, HardiePanel is the vertical board-and-batten style, and HardieShingle mimics individual cedar shingles for a more textured, cottage-style look. We install all three depending on the design, sometimes mixing them for accent detail on gables or entries.
Not always — color and texture availability can vary by exposure width and profile, and some ColorPlus colors are only offered on specific product lines. We check current availability for your chosen profile and texture during the estimate so there are no surprises once the order goes in. If a specific shade isn't available in ColorPlus for your chosen profile, primed-for-paint is always an option.
Yes, re-siding typically requires a building permit in unincorporated Hillsborough County, and the work has to meet the wind-load and fastening requirements for our area's building code. We handle the permitting as part of the project so you're not tracking down inspections yourself, and it also protects you if you ever sell the home and need proof the siding work was done to code.