Elite Preferred Since 2011
James Hardie Fiber Cement Siding in Fort Lupton, CO
The hardboard on the east side of town is failing. Fiber cement from the same era is not. Installed by an Elite Preferred contractor headquartered right here in Fort Lupton.
Who installs James Hardie siding in Fort Lupton?
Northern Lights Exteriors — a James Hardie Elite Preferred contractor continuously since 2011 and a President’s Club member, headquartered in Fort Lupton.
Fiber cement is cement, sand and cellulose. It does not swell, rot or feed insects and woodpeckers, and it handles Weld County hail better than the pressed hardboard that is currently failing across Fort Lupton’s 1990s subdivisions.
The Material That Failed on Your Street, and the One That Did Not
Fort Lupton is an unusually clear place to make the case for fiber cement, because in the subdivisions east and south of town you can see both outcomes from the same sidewalk.
Those neighborhoods went up in the 1990s and early 2000s wearing pressed wood-fiber hardboard. It is now failing the way that product fails: swelling from the bottom lap edge, going soft and fibrous, lifting its paint film because there is nothing solid underneath. Same climate, same builder, same twenty-five years — and fiber cement elevations from that era are still sound.
The reason is what it is made of. James Hardie fiber cement is portland cement, sand and cellulose fiber. It does not have a food value, so insects and woodpeckers ignore it. It does not swell, because there is no compressed fiber to absorb water and expand. And it does not soften, so the paint film has something rigid to hold onto for its whole life.
Hail is the other half of the argument, and in Weld County it is the half that decides most projects. Fiber cement takes an impact that dents steel and cracks brittle materials. That is not a marketing claim about survival in every storm — nothing survives every storm — it is about what your elevation looks like after the ordinary hail that comes through here most summers.
Why the Installer Matters More Than the Board
Fiber cement is unforgiving of bad installation in a way that softer materials are not. Fastener depth, clearance to grade, the gap at horizontal flashings, how butt joints are treated, and the details around windows and penetrations are all specified — and getting them wrong voids warranty coverage and lets water behind a wall that will otherwise last decades.
Northern Lights Exteriors has been a James Hardie Elite Preferred contractor continuously since 2011, and is a President’s Club member — James Hardie’s highest contractor distinction nationwide. Those are installation credentials, awarded on how the work is actually done, and they are the reason to care who hangs the board rather than just which board it is.
We also hold a Class C general contractor license (Colorado #C120350), which is what allows a re-side to include the window replacement, the fascia and the gutters as one project instead of four separate contracts meeting at a corner.
The James Hardie Products We Install
HardiePlank lap siding
The classic horizontal lap, and the workhorse of most Fort Lupton re-sides. Available in a smooth finish or a cedarmill wood grain. James Hardie siding.
Board and batten
Vertical panel with applied battens. Used well it breaks up the large flat elevations that the newer subdivisions here are full of, usually on gables and entry masses rather than the whole house. Board and batten details.
Artisan Collection
A thicker board with a deeper shadow line and a more substantial profile. The right call on the considered downtown renovations where the trim detail is doing real work. Artisan Collection.
Woodtone and ColorPlus finishes
Factory-applied color, cured in a plant rather than brushed on in a Colorado afternoon. At our UV exposure that difference is measured in years of color retention. Woodtone siding.
Color choice is worth slowing down on. Fort Lupton light is bright and high-contrast, and a color chosen from a chip indoors reads very differently on a west elevation in July. We leave full-size samples on the actual wall so you see them at the hours you are usually home.
What Actually Moves the Price on a Fort Lupton Re-Side
Nobody can give you a real fiber cement number over the phone, and a company that does is quoting a different house than the one you live in. Here is what genuinely moves it, roughly in order of impact:
| Factor | Why it matters here |
|---|---|
| How much of the wall is trim, not field | Corners, window and door surrounds, frieze boards and gable rakes are slower per foot than open wall. Two houses of identical square footage can differ substantially on trim count alone, and the cut-up rooflines on the older downtown homes are the expensive end of that. |
| Stories, access and how you stage it | A two-story elevation tight to a property line is a scaffolding problem before it is a siding problem. Acreage properties are usually the easy case: room to stage, room to stack, and nowhere to damage. |
| What is behind the old siding | Sheathing and water-resistive barrier condition is genuinely unknown until the wall is open. We price the siding honestly and handle repairs as a documented item rather than burying a contingency in the headline number. |
| Profile and finish | Lap siding, board and batten and the thicker Artisan boards are different materials with different labor. A factory-applied finish costs more up front than field paint and is usually the cheaper decision measured across fifteen years. |
| Whether windows go in at the same time | Doing both together costs more in one year and less in total. The staging happens once, and the siding-to-window junction becomes one company’s detail rather than a handoff between two. |
What we do instead of a phone number is walk the elevations, count the trim, look at grade clearance and the condition of what is there, and give you a written scope you can hold another bid against line by line.
Working on More Than One Trade in Fort Lupton?
A re-side is the natural moment to deal with the trades that terminate against it:
Everything runs under one Class C general contractor license, so a multi-trade project is one contract and one project manager rather than several.
Installed by the Company Down the Road
A Hardie re-side is a specification job with a hundred small correct details in it, and the crew doing them is based in your town rather than dispatched to it.
Northern Lights Exteriors is headquartered in Fort Lupton. Not a satellite office and not a service-area map with a wide circle drawn on it — this is where the company is actually based. Almost every exterior contractor bidding work in town is driving up from the metro; we are the ones already here. We work at your property rather than from a storefront, so everything starts with someone coming out to look at the building.
The practical difference shows up in the small things rather than the sales pitch. A forgotten piece of trim is a short drive, not a rescheduled day. A punch-list item does not wait for a crew to be routed back out from Denver. And when something needs looking at three years from now, the company that installed it is still the same company, based in the same town — which is the only thing that makes our 5-year installation warranty worth anything at all.
Reach us at (303) 776-5263 or office@nlexteriors.com.
Get a Free James Hardie Estimate in Fort Lupton
We will walk your elevations, tell you honestly whether what you have is failing or just tired, and price the job properly if it is time.
Request Your Free Estimate → 📞 (303) 776-5263
Prefer email? Reach us at office@nlexteriors.com. Ask about financing options when we walk the property.
See Fort Lupton James Hardie Projects
Nearby Cities We Also Serve
Fort Lupton is one stop on a route that covers Weld County, the Carbon Valley and the US 85 corridor. The neighboring cities we also work in:
Fort Lupton James Hardie Siding FAQs
Is James Hardie siding worth it in Fort Lupton?
In the 1990s and 2000s subdivisions, yes, and you can see the argument from the sidewalk. Hardboard from that era is failing here while fiber cement elevations of the same age are still sound. Hail is the deciding factor for most Weld County homeowners, and fiber cement takes an impact that dents or cracks softer materials.
What is the difference between fiber cement and the hardboard on my house?
What they are made of. Hardboard is compressed wood fiber and resin, so it absorbs water, swells from the lap edge, and softens until the paint film has nothing to hold. Fiber cement is portland cement, sand and cellulose — no food value for insects or woodpeckers, no swelling, and a rigid surface the finish stays attached to.
Are you actually a certified James Hardie installer?
Yes. Northern Lights Exteriors has been an Elite Preferred contractor continuously since 2011 and is a President’s Club member, which is James Hardie’s highest contractor distinction nationwide. Both are installation credentials based on how the work is done.
Does it matter who installs it?
More than with any other siding. Fastener depth, clearance to grade, gaps at horizontal flashings, butt-joint treatment and the details at windows and penetrations are all specified. Getting them wrong voids warranty coverage and puts water behind a wall that would otherwise last decades.
What Hardie products do you install?
HardiePlank lap siding in smooth or cedarmill, board and batten vertical panel, the Artisan Collection for a thicker board and deeper shadow line, and Woodtone and ColorPlus factory-applied finishes.
Why is a factory finish better than painting on site?
It is applied and cured under controlled conditions rather than brushed onto a wall on a Colorado afternoon. At our altitude and UV exposure the difference in how long the color holds is measured in years.
How do I choose a color?
Slowly, and on your own wall. Fort Lupton light is bright and high-contrast, and a color chosen from a small chip indoors reads very differently on a west elevation in July. We leave full-size samples up so you can look at them at the hours you are actually home.
Can you do board and batten on part of the house?
Yes, and that is usually how it is best used here. Vertical panel on gables and entry masses breaks up the large flat elevations common in the newer subdivisions, while lap siding carries the rest of the house.
Do you replace the windows at the same time?
We can, and it is often the right sequence. Siding terminates at a window, so doing both as one project under our Class C general contractor license means one company details and warrants that junction instead of two contractors each assuming the other did.
How long does a Hardie re-side take in Fort Lupton?
Most subdivision-sized houses run one to three weeks on site depending on the elevations, the amount of trim and what we find behind the old siding. Being based in town matters here, because the building is open while the work is underway and weather changes the plan.
