Masonite Siding. What Is It?
Most of us have heard the term "Masonite Siding" and know what it is ...
It is a "hardboard" siding product that requires periodic maintenance.
Painting !
It is not used anymore in new construction of homes.
Today the big choices are Vinyl as the most common and economical ,
"James Hardie or Hardi Plank" are becoming more common and also do
not require painting and the final would be Brick as the best looking and
also most expensive. There are other choices such as stucco , etc. but
Vinyl , Hardie Plank & Brick seem to be the most popular ...
So why is "Masonite" not used anymore ??
There was a class action lawsuit filed against them as the product had problems.
It seems that most of the problems occurred at installation as the bottom edge did not get a good seal to it and moisture was allowed to build up and accumulate. This caused what you see in the photo...
Many people received a lot of money from the lawsuit , many people were denied claims. Just because a home has Masonite still does not mean it is a bad home or you should avoid it. There may be a time down the road that you will simply add Vinyl as a home improvement.
There were 2 phases of the lawsuit :
There is only 1 phase that is still in effect :
It is for homes that the siding was installed between 1/1/1990 & 1/15/1998.
If a home falls in these dates it does still qualify for a claim to be made
under the lawsuit.
The timeframe for the lawsuit is good through 1/15/2008. No claims can be
made after that.
I have not heard of people getting large settlements recently ...
If you are interested in filing a claim visit the masonite website:
www.MasoniteClaims.com
Or you can call 1-800-330-2722.