Blaine LP SmartSide gets asked about a lot, and it deserves a straight answer instead of a sales pitch. It's a legitimate engineered wood siding product with real advantages over cheap vinyl or unprimed wood. But after years of installing and repairing siding around Blaine and the rest of Whatcom County, we made a decision: we only install James Hardie fiber cement. Here's the honest reasoning, not a knock on the product.
What LP SmartSide Actually Is
SmartSide is an engineered wood product — strand board core, treated with resin and zinc borate for insect and fungal resistance, then finished with a wood-grain texture and factory primer or pre-finish. It's lighter than fiber cement, easier for crews to cut and nail, and generally costs less installed. For a lot of markets, that's a fine trade-off. In a dry climate with wide roof overhangs and low humidity, SmartSide can perform well for a long time.
Blaine isn't that climate.
Why Our Climate Changes the Math
We sit right on the water at the top of Whatcom County, which means salt-laden air off the Strait of Georgia and Semiahmoo Bay, driving rain that comes in sideways during winter storms, and a moss season that can run eight or nine months out of the year on north-facing walls and anything shaded by trees. That combination is hard on any wood-based product, no matter how well it's engineered.
SmartSide is still wood at its core. Its resin treatment and factory coating are what stand between that substrate and moisture — and that barrier only works as long as it stays fully intact. Every cut edge, every fastener penetration, every seam and joint is a place where the treated shell is interrupted and the wood strand core is exposed. In a dry region, an exposed edge might sit fine for years. On a house a few blocks from the water in Blaine, with rain hitting it sideways and moss holding moisture against the wall for weeks at a stretch, that same exposed edge is where trouble starts.
The Real Trade-Offs
- Edge and cut sealing is not optional. Every field cut, especially around windows, doors, and butt joints, needs to be sealed correctly and kept sealed. Miss one, or let caulk fail years later, and moisture has a direct path into the strand board.
- Moisture doesn't just cause rot — it causes swelling. Engineered wood that takes on water at an edge or seam can swell, telegraph through the finish, and lose its factory look well before the rest of the wall shows wear.
- Moss and algae need a surface to grip. Any wood-based siding in a moss-heavy environment needs regular cleaning to keep organic growth from holding moisture against the panel long-term. Skip that maintenance and the clock speeds up.
- Warranty terms lean on maintenance compliance. Manufacturer warranties on engineered wood siding typically require documented painting, caulking, and cleaning on a set schedule. If that maintenance lapses, coverage can lapse with it — and that's a lot to track over 20-30 years of ownership.
- It's still combustible. Wood-strand siding burns. In a region where wildfire smoke and dry summer stretches are becoming a normal part of the calendar, that's a factor more homeowners are asking about.
None of this means SmartSide is a bad product installed correctly in the right setting. It means the margin for error is smaller here than it is in a lot of the country, and that margin gets thinner every year the house sits a few hundred yards from salt water.
Why We Standardized on James Hardie
James Hardie fiber cement siding is made from cement, sand, and cellulose fiber — there's no wood strand core to swell, rot, or feed moss growth from the inside out. It's non-combustible, which matters more each summer. The HZ5 product line is engineered specifically for the kind of wet, marine-influenced climate we have in Blaine, and the ColorPlus factory finish is baked on under controlled conditions, which holds up better against salt air and driving rain than field-applied paint and gives it a genuinely long service life before it needs attention.
Hardie also comes with a strong, transferable limited warranty on both the product and the ColorPlus finish, which matters if you ever sell the house. It's not a maintenance-free product — no exterior cladding is — but the maintenance is mostly a matter of keeping it clean rather than staying ahead of moisture intrusion at every seam.
The Bottom Line
We didn't stop installing SmartSide because it's a scam or because someone had a bad experience with it. We stopped because we've seen how Whatcom County's salt air, rain, and moss season treat wood-based products over 15 and 20 year timelines, and we'd rather put one product on every home — one we can stand behind fully — than sell a cheaper option and hope the maintenance schedule gets followed for two decades straight.
Table: Quick Comparison
| Factor | LP SmartSide | James Hardie Fiber Cement |
|---|---|---|
| Core material | Engineered wood strand | Cement, sand, cellulose fiber |
| Combustibility | Combustible | Non-combustible |
| Moisture sensitivity | Higher — exposed cuts/seams are vulnerable | Low — no wood core to swell or rot |
| Finish | Factory primed or pre-finished; often field-painted | ColorPlus factory-baked finish |
| Maintenance to keep warranty valid | Regular painting/caulking on a schedule | Periodic cleaning; less coating upkeep |
If you're weighing siding options for a home in Blaine or anywhere else in Whatcom County, we're happy to walk your property, look at sun and wind exposure, and give you a straight, no-pressure estimate on what James Hardie siding would look like for your house.