Hardie Plank Cost Calculator (2026)

Siding is the most visible money most homeowners ever spend on a house, and also the one with the widest honest price range. A two-story home can cost under $30,000 or over $85,000 to side in fiber cement depending on product, finish, trim, and removal, and both numbers can be right for different houses. That spread is why a single average, such as the commonly quoted $6 to $15 per square foot installed, is almost useless on its own: it averages a small one-story lap job and a large two-story shingle job into one number that describes neither. The honest way to price siding is to build the estimate line by line, and that is what this hardie plank calculator does.

How the Estimate Is Built

Five decisions move a Hardie price more than everything else combined: which product, which finish, how many stories, how much trim, and whether the old siding comes off. The product sets the materials line. HardiePlank lap siding, the horizontal overlapping board, prices at $2.50 to $5.00 per square foot for materials before waste. HardiePanel vertical siding prices at $3.00 to $6.00 per square foot, and HardieShingle siding prices at $4.00 to $7.00 per square foot, because each shingle is handled separately. The calculator adds 10 percent waste to the materials line, which is the right allowance for cuts around windows, doors, and corners. Labor is the largest line on most jobs: $4.00 to $8.00 per square foot, with two-story work about 12 percent higher than one-story work for scaffolding, staging, and slower handling of heavy boards at height.

Product	Materials per sq ft	Best for
HardiePlank lap siding	$2.50 to $5.00	Classic horizontal look, most homes
HardiePanel vertical siding	$3.00 to $6.00	Modern farmhouse, board-and-batten look
HardieShingle siding	$4.00 to $7.00	Gables, accents, craftsman details

Finish is the choice most quotes blur. Primed boards plus site painting add $1.50 to $2.50 per square foot in this calculator, and they let you pick any color, but the first repaint comes sooner. ColorPlus prefinished boards add $2.50 to $4.00 per square foot as a material premium, and the factory-baked finish carries a longer finish warranty and skips a full site-paint cycle. Trim is next: a basic package at $0.50 to $1.00 per square foot covers corner boards and standard window and door trim, while an upgraded package at $1.50 to $3.00 per square foot covers wider trim, fascia, soffit trim, and decorative bands. Removal is last and most often hidden: $1.00 to $2.00 per square foot for taking off and disposing of the old siding. The region tier is simpler: Chicago-area and Lake County ZIP codes price about 8 percent above the baseline, reflecting local labor costs, and the rest of the country uses the baseline.

Worked Examples: Three Houses, Three Price Shapes

Example one is the default above: a 2,700 square foot wall (150 foot perimeter, 9 feet per story, 2 stories) of HardiePlank lap siding, primed and site-painted, with a basic trim package and old-siding removal in Waukegan. Materials run $8,019 to $16,038, labor $13,064 to $26,127, finish $4,374 to $7,290, trim $1,458 to $2,916, and removal $2,916 to $5,832, for an all-in range of $29,831 to $58,203, a Likely midpoint near $44,017, and $11 to $22 per square foot. That is the shape of a standard two-story re-side: labor is the largest line, materials are second, and the finish and trim lines are where cheap quotes quietly shrink scope.

Example two is a smaller one-story home: a 1,170 square foot wall (130 foot perimeter, 9 feet, 1 story) of HardiePanel vertical siding, ColorPlus prefinished, with an upgraded trim package and no removal, in Waukegan. It runs $14,278 to $27,294 all-in, with a Likely midpoint near $20,786, and $12 to $23 per square foot. The ColorPlus premium and the upgraded trim hold the per-square-foot figure up even though the house is smaller and there is no removal line, which is exactly why comparing totals across different specifications misleads: this house costs more per foot and less in total than the default, for defensible reasons.

Example three is a large two-story shingle job: a 3,600 square foot wall (180 foot perimeter, 10 feet per story, 2 stories) of HardieShingle siding, primed and site-painted, with a basic trim package and old-siding removal in Waukegan. It runs $46,189 to $86,158 all-in, with a Likely midpoint near $66,174, and $13 to $24 per square foot. Shingle labor is what pushes this job to the top of the range: every piece is cut, placed, and fastened by hand, and on a two-story house that labor is also scaffolded. If a shingle quote looks like a lap quote, something has been left out, usually the shingle labor or the trim.

Example house	All-in range	Likely midpoint	All-in per sq ft
2,700 sq ft lap, 2 stories, primed	$29,831 to $58,203	About $44,017	$11 to $22
1,170 sq ft panel, 1 story, ColorPlus	$14,278 to $27,294	About $20,786	$12 to $23
3,600 sq ft shingle, 2 stories, primed	$46,189 to $86,158	About $66,174	$13 to $24

Fiber Cement vs Vinyl: The Honest Trade

Fiber cement costs roughly double vinyl installed, and the comparison post in this cluster prices both on the same house. Vinyl installed typically runs $3 to $8 per square foot against $6 to $15 for fiber cement, and vinyl wins on upfront price alone. Fiber cement wins on life (30 to 50 years against 20 to 25), on fire resistance, on hail resistance, and on the paintable wood-like finish that vinyl cannot match. The honest question is not which material is better in the abstract, it is which trade you want to make: pay once for a long-life, paintable wall, or pay less now and replace sooner. Our fiber cement vs vinyl guide lays out the numbers, the lifespan test, and the Lake County weather test side by side.

Illinois Notes: Freeze-Thaw, Moisture, and the Bottom Course

Lake County siding lives or dies on three local factors. First, freeze-thaw: water trapped behind a board or in a failed caulk joint expands when it freezes and opens the joint a little further each cycle, which is why autumn caulk and flashing checks matter more here than in warmer markets. Second, moisture at the bottom course: fiber cement must keep clearance above grade and above decks and roofs, because boards that sit in standing water or mulch wick moisture and fail from the bottom up. Third, hail and wind: fiber cement holds up better than vinyl under hail, but no siding survives a bad flashing detail at a roof-wall joint, and most siding leaks in Waukegan start at those joints, not in the field of the wall. A contractor who walks the roof-wall joints and the bottom course before quoting is pricing the real job.

How to Read a Siding Quote

A quote you can trust names the wall area in square feet, the product and profile, the finish (primed plus site paint, or ColorPlus), the trim package by name, the removal scope, and the caulk and flashing scope, in writing, plus any sheathing repair priced per sheet rather than buried. If any of those lines is missing, the quote is not comparable to one that includes them, however low the headline number looks. Use the fairness check above the way you would use a second opinion: enter the quoted total and see where it lands against the all-in range for your exact inputs. Below range usually means an exclusion, and removal or trim are the exclusions to check first. Above range should come with a line by line reason, such as shingle product, ColorPlus finish, or an upgraded trim package. Inside range still deserves the written scope, because two quotes inside the same range can cover very different trim and finish work. Remember that a final installed quote is confirmed only after an on-site inspection, since no calculator can see your sheathing, your trim, or your roof-wall joints.

Hardie Plank Guides & Related Calculators

• Hardie Plank Siding Cost — the full cost guide by product and finish
• Hardie Plank Installation — the install sequence, step by step
• Fiber Cement vs Vinyl Siding — the honest price and lifespan trade
• Hardie Plank Cost Per Square Foot — the defensible per-square-foot table
• Hardie Plank Siding Maintenance — the yearly check that protects the warranty
• Hardie Plank Colors and Styles — lap, panel, shingle, and color choices
• Hardie Plank Pros and Cons — the balanced verdict before you buy
• Roofing Calculators Hub — every Zuniga roofing calculator in one place
• Siding Calculator — the general siding calculator, a sibling tool (topic 14 pillar, linked only, not rebuilt here)

Frequently Asked Questions