Farmhouse Exterior Siding and Trim

The siding installation on the farmhouse wrapped up just after Christmas, and today I’m sharing all of the details and a picture overload!

Exterior Siding and Trim Details

Siding: James HardiePlank smooth lap siding with a 5 inch reveal
Trim: 6 inch James Hardie HardieTrim

Hardie products are made from cement, so they will not rot and are resistant to pests such as termites. A necessity in Georgia!

We know that our real wood open rafters will require a lot of upkeep and maintenance (it was worth the trade off for us), so we wanted to make sure that everything else on the exterior of the house was as durable and maintenance-friendly as possible!

We chose a 5 inch reveal on the siding. This is smaller than what you see used frequently on homes built today. We were trying to replicate the look of the smaller reveal that you so often saw on historical homes.

I received a few questions on the cost trade off of choosing a smaller lap siding reveal. It’s about the same as any other lap siding. The product itself is less expensive than the larger lap siding (smaller product = less expensive), but the installation can be a little more because it’s more labor intensive (smaller boards = more of them to install).

So long story short, it’s pretty much a wash! It just comes down to your personal preference.

I absolutely love the look of the 5 inch reveal on our house! It’s not too small, but just small enough to give it some detail and character.

We went with 6 inch HardieTrim around the windows, doors, and corners of the house.

Our trim work around the doors and windows is very simple, so the substantial size of the 6 inch trim really makes it pop.

As usual we were out there to watch the entire process.

It’s fascinating but also nerve wracking to watch these guys up on these tall ladders!

I take way too many pictures, but it’s so fun to look back at all of the progress that has already been made.

It’s hard to see in these photos, but we added a little bit of extra trim detail above the exterior doors.

We extended the top trim piece out a little bit, and added a small trim piece on top of that. This is something my brother recommended and I’m so glad we listened to his recommendation!

We are still undecided on what we will do to the bottom of the house (the red/orange colored boards). We are leaning towards brick but have still yet to make a final decision.

This is the one thing so far that I haven’t been 100% certain of what I want. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing 🙂

Before the siding was even finished we started sampling white paint colors so that we could start painting as soon as the siding was finished.

One of the hardest parts of the contracting process is keeping up with your timeline! You have to have everything lined up and ready to go way in advance in order to avoid delays. Delays = time, and time = money in the building world!

behind the scenes

I’ve had several people ask what we do out at the farm all the time. Here’s a few behind the scenes looks at what goes on around here: lots of trucks, digging in the dirt, and fires to keep warm!

Sporting my new chicken boots Mama got me for Christmas while tending to the fire… I’m really gettin’ the hang of this country life thing 😉

That’s it for now! I’m still convinced we have the best view of the sunsets in Georgia 🙂

Something I never want to forget: I’ve been making more of an intentional effort to talk about God and his good works in my casual, everyday conversation with my children (something I learned from the leader of my Journey Life on Life discipleship group that I started this past August). It can be something as simple as, “Wow, look at that beautiful sky that God made today!” (something I point out frequently if we are driving in the car)

Half the time I think my children don’t listen to a word I say 🙂 but as we were pulling up to the house the other day Fletcher said, “Wow, Mommy! Look at that beautiful sunset that God made today!” It stopped me in my tracks and definitely made me tear up a little bit. Thankful for God’s goodness and the sweet innocence of children.

But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Luke 18:16

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-4