Keeping out the weather

As the weather this year became more wet and rugged we started to find that the old siding on the house was leaking. As a "temporary and reversible" measure to this  we opted to replace the damaged areas with cement fiberboard or Hardie plank. I had started the project from a ladder. Though we quickly came to the realization that this too slow and too difficult to complete in this manner. Jean contacted a local rental place and the next day we had several sections of scaffold quickly in place and the work began to proceed the way I like- Fast! Over about a three week period we stripped 5 sides of the house and replaced the siding, window trim and repainted all the above.
The Hardie plank is heavy to work with. It breaks easily so you have to use care when lifting it but it is impervious to insects and most types of mold and rot. As I removed the old planks just outside our bedroom there was a great swarm of yellow jackets suddenly. I was 25' up on the third layer scaffold.  I just froze for several minutes. They flew all around me . Then they quieted down and returned to the nest in the wall. Jean purchased a can of bee killer and I sprayed the hole with the entire contents. There was an angry buzzing from inside the wall that slowly died away. The next day there were only 5  or 6 left and they ignored me as I tore the remnants of the comb/nest from the house's insulation.
Overall I liked working with the Hardie Plank and would use it again on another project. It is less than wood siding in price and more than Vinyl. We had the 100 pieces delivered to the house. I recommend delivery as these pieces weighed in at over 3000#s total. The cost to reside 75% of the house , trim and paint came in at just under $2000. This price, including a two week scaffold rental, paint and brushes. Not bad when you consider that to have it done would have run us ~$15,000.
I am happy to report that all the leaks have stopped and the new siding seems to be keeping us a little warmer this winter!