The James Hardie Warranty, Explained in Plain English
Hardie siding carries a 30-year, non-prorated board warranty (transferable once) and a separate 15-year warranty on the ColorPlus finish covering paint and labor. What the board warranty never pays is labor — the document says so in capital letters — and that gap is your installer’s workmanship warranty to close.
WA License #GPGENGC830KD 
Hardie Certified Installer 
5-Star Rated 
ColorPlus SpecialistGP General Corp is a James Hardie Select Contractor installing Hardie across Seattle, the Eastside, and Snohomish County — to the written install requirements the warranty assumes. WA license GPGENGC830KD, MBAKS member, rated 5.0 on Google, and every install carries our own 5-year workmanship warranty on top of Hardie’s product coverage.
By Paul Gubenya, Owner — GP General Corp
What Homeowners Say
Real reviews from our Google profile — unedited, from real projects.
“We recently had Paul with GP General repair a damaged corner protector and sidings. His estimate was reasonable, his availability was timely, and his job was excellent. Our home hadn’t been re-painted in a while and the paint had considerably faded, yet he was able to match the color perfectly. Now we know who to turn to when in need of another repair work.”
“GP General replaced LP siding on our garage. Paul was very thorough when he came out to do the estimate; he listened to my concerns and was able to work out solutions on the spot. His crew did a great job and were very courteous. They also were careful about cleaning up (I didn’t find any nails!). Really happy with the job and can recommend GP General.”
“I highly recommend GP General Corp for siding replacement. We recently had our wood siding replaced with James Hardie lap siding, and Paul and his team did an excellent job.”
Three Warranties, Three Different Jobs
A Hardie house is actually covered by a stack of warranties, and confusion between them is where most disappointment comes from. Here’s the whole stack on one table:
| Warranty | Length | Covers | Does NOT cover |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardie substrate (siding, trim, soffit boards) | 30 years, non-prorated, transferable once | Manufacturing defects in the boards — plus damage from hail, termites and other wood-borers. Remedy: refund, replacement boards, or up to 2× the original material cost of the affected portion | Labor — ever. The warranty says it in capital letters: “JAMES HARDIE WILL NOT REFUND OR PAY ANY COSTS IN CONNECTION WITH LABOR OR ACCESSORY MATERIALS.” Also excluded: anything caused by improper installation |
| ColorPlus finish | 15 years | Peeling, cracking, chipping of the factory finish — paint and labor both | Field-applied paint; normal weathering/dirt; damage from pressure washing or impact |
| GP workmanship | 5 years | Anything that fails because of how we installed it — flashing, joints, fastening, trim details. We come fix it, no trip fees. | Product defects (that’s Hardie’s side), damage, neglect |
“Non-prorated” is worth pausing on — it means year 29 coverage is the same as year 1, instead of shrinking over time the way many competitor warranties do. But read the remedy closely, because we have (the current warranty text, effective February 2024): Hardie’s obligation is a refund, replacement boards, or reimbursement up to twice the original material cost of the affected portion. It never includes labor — the document states, in capital letters, that James Hardie “WILL NOT REFUND OR PAY ANY COSTS IN CONNECTION WITH LABOR OR ACCESSORY MATERIALS.” If a board fails in year 12, Hardie owes you boards; the scaffolding, removal, reinstallation, flashing, caulk, and paint to put your wall back together are yours — unless your installer’s workmanship warranty covers the reason it failed. That gap is exactly why the install matters more than the brochure suggests, and it’s the gap our 5-year workmanship warranty exists to close.
“You Have to Use a Certified Contractor or the Warranty Is Void” — Not Quite
You’ll read on plenty of contractor websites that Hardie’s warranty only applies if an approved or certified contractor installs it. Hardie’s published warranty terms don’t say that. What the warranty actually turns on is whether the product was installed to James Hardie’s written installation requirements — clearances, fastening, flashing, joint treatment, storage before install, all of it.
So why does the contractor still matter? Because “installed per the written requirements” is precisely the thing a homeowner can’t see from the driveway. Hardie’s requirements fill a manual, and most warranty-claim heartbreak traces back to install shortcuts: boards tight to the roofline, missing kickout flashing, caulked joints where flashing belonged. A Select Contractor is Hardie’s entry into its contractor program — the honest version of the pitch isn’t “your warranty requires us,” it’s “we install to the spec your warranty assumes,” and our flashing and moisture details are documented on every job.
How a Hardie Warranty Claim Actually Works
Claims go to Hardie directly through their portal at claims.jameshardie.com — the homeowner files, not the contractor. Here’s how we handle it when a past customer calls us about a suspect board:
- We look first, free. Most “warranty” calls turn out to be something else — impact damage, caulk aging, a paint issue on a field-painted house. We tell you which bucket you’re in before anyone files anything.
- If it looks like a product defect, the clock is already running: the warranty requires written notice to Hardie within 90 days of discovering the problem, with photos, and — this is the trap — before any permanent repair is made. Repairs done without Hardie’s authorization can void the coverage. So: document first, file first, fix second.
- We build the claim file the way a reviewer wants to see it: close-ups, wide shots, install details, dates. You file at the portal with our photos and paperwork attached, and Hardie may send someone to inspect — the warranty gives them that right.
- If it’s on our side of the table — anything workmanship within 5 years — there’s no claim to file. We just come fix it.
One piece of homework protects you either way: keep your records. There’s no registration requirement in the warranty text — but the document itself includes a fill-in block for the owner, address, installer, and install date, because a claim without proof of purchase and dates is a claim going nowhere. Your GP contract and invoice are that proof; keep them with the house papers. And read the actual warranty at Hardie’s portal, not blog summaries (including this one) — the table above is the honest short version, the document is the law.
What Actually Voids or Shrinks Hardie Coverage
The exclusion list in the warranty documents is long, but nearly all of it collapses into four themes:
- Install violations. The first exclusion in the document: improper storage, handling, or “failure to install the Product in compliance with applicable, published James Hardie installation instructions and applicable building codes.” Wrong fasteners, missing clearances, unflashed penetrations, boards stored wet — and for primed product, missing the 180-day painting window (90 days for unprimed) the installation instructions set. Entirely the installer’s to prevent.
- Water from somewhere else. The exclusions list names “damage resulting from water infiltration” and improper design of the wall assembly behind the boards. Failed gutters, roof leaks, a bad WRB — the boards are warranted; the building around them isn’t.
- Someone else’s paint. Verbatim exclusion: “efflorescence, peeling or performance of any third party paints, stains and/or coatings.” On a field-painted house, finish problems are between you, your painter, and the paint brand — Hardie is out of that conversation entirely. (ColorPlus is the exception: Hardie’s own finish, Hardie’s 15-year finish warranty.)
- Damage, neglect, and the world. Impacts and abuse, unauthorized repairs, settlement and structural movement, wind beyond the product’s design load, acts of God, mold growth, and “lack of proper maintenance” — caulk never renewed, soil against the bottom course, a never-rinsed wall. Our maintenance-cost page covers the small habits that keep coverage intact.
Notice the pattern: the product almost never fails on its own. Fiber cement is boring in the best way — which is why the install and the upkeep are where your attention should go.
Hardie Warranty — FAQ
Want Your Install to Match the Warranty’s Assumptions?
Free assessment, written quote, spec-compliant install documented — and our 5-year workmanship warranty in writing, covering exactly the labor Hardie’s warranty doesn’t. Call or text (425) 344-9635.
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