Drive through Durant and the surrounding stretch of eastern Hillsborough County — out past Turkey Creek Road, along the farm lanes near Plant City — and you'll still see a fair number of older homes wearing real wood lap siding. Some are original farmhouses, some are ranch homes from the 1970s and '80s that got a wood exterior because it was the standard of the day. If you searched "wood siding," there's a good chance you're one of two homeowners: someone whose original wood siding is failing and needs to be dealt with, or someone who likes that traditional wood look and wants it on a new project or a full re-side.
Either way, we want to be upfront about where we stand. Alpine Exteriors doesn't install real wood siding, and we don't install vinyl or engineered wood products like LP SmartSide. We install James Hardie fiber cement siding exclusively. On a page about wood siding, that needs an explanation — not a dodge.
Durant sits inland, away from the coastal salt air that gets most of the attention in siding conversations, but inland doesn't mean easy on wood. This part of Hillsborough County runs hot and humid for most of the year, and the agricultural surroundings mean irrigation overspray, standing humidity near tree lines, and heavy morning dew are part of daily life for a lot of properties out here. Real wood siding absorbs that moisture cycle after cycle — swelling, drying, swelling again — and over years that movement opens up seams, cups boards, and lets water behind the siding where it doesn't belong.
Add in Florida's termite pressure, which is some of the heaviest in the country, and wood siding is fighting a battle on two fronts: moisture damage from the outside, and wood-destroying insects that see clapboard as an open invitation. We've seen wood siding on Durant homes that looks fine from the road but is soft, hollow, or actively compromised underneath a coat of paint that's holding it together cosmetically.
Real wood siding isn't a one-time install and done. It's a recurring commitment:
That's a real cost, in both money and time, that doesn't show up on the price tag when the siding first goes up. For a lot of Durant homeowners — especially on rural or larger properties where there's already plenty to maintain — that cycle wears thin.
We install James Hardie fiber cement siding on every project, full stop. It's a professional standard we hold to because fiber cement solves the two problems that make real wood siding a long-term liability in this climate: it doesn't rot, and it isn't a food source for termites. Hardie board is made from cement, sand, and cellulose fibers, engineered specifically for climates like ours — HardieZone 5, which covers all of Florida, is a formulation built around resisting moisture and humidity damage rather than just tolerating it.
We're not installing it because it's cheaper or faster. In some cases it costs more upfront than a basic wood job. We install it because it's what we're willing to warranty and stand behind on a home in Hillsborough County, and because we've seen what happens to real wood siding on homes just like the ones in Durant.
This is the part homeowners are often surprised by. HardiePlank lap siding comes in a cedarmill texture that replicates the grain and shadow lines of traditional wood clapboard — from the curb, and even up close, it reads as wood siding. You get the traditional look that suits a Durant farmhouse or ranch-style home without the board actually being wood underneath. James Hardie also offers a smooth finish for homes that want a cleaner, more contemporary line, and HardieShingle for accent areas like gables where a wood-shake look is part of the design.
Since we're explaining what we don't do, it's worth covering the other two common substitutes. Vinyl siding is inexpensive and low-maintenance, but it softens and can warp under direct, sustained Florida heat, and it doesn't hold up well in a direct impact the way fiber cement does. Engineered wood products like LP SmartSide use wood strand cores that, while treated, still carry more moisture sensitivity than fiber cement — a bad seal or a nick in the coating can let water in over time, and that's a harder failure to catch early. Fiber cement doesn't share either weakness. That's the trade-off we're comfortable explaining to a homeowner, not a knock on the products themselves.
| Factor | What It Affects |
|---|---|
| Condition of existing wood siding | Rotted or termite-damaged sections may require sheathing repair before new siding goes on, not just a siding swap |
| Home size and wall complexity | Gables, dormers, and trim-heavy elevations take more labor than a simple rectangular ranch footprint |
| Texture and profile choice | Cedarmill lap, smooth lap, and shingle-style accents are priced somewhat differently |
| Trim and fascia scope | Matching HardieTrim boards around windows, corners, and eaves is often bundled into a full re-side |
| Color and finish | Factory-applied ColorPlus finish costs more than field-painted but skips the repaint cycle for years longer |
We walk every Durant property in person before quoting, because a home with active wood rot or termite damage under the existing siding needs that addressed as part of the scope — not papered over with a new layer.
Removing old wood siding down to the sheathing lets us actually see what's underneath, which matters on older Durant homes where the siding may be the only thing that's been touched in decades. We check for water damage, soft framing, and termite activity before anything new goes up, and we address what we find rather than sealing problems in behind a fresh exterior. From there, HardieWrap or an equivalent weather barrier goes on, then the Hardie boards themselves, fastened and flashed to the manufacturer's specifications for our climate zone. Trim, corners, and any transitions to brick, block, or stone are finished to match.
Florida's storm season runs June through November, and while Durant is inland enough to avoid direct coastal surge, it still sees the heavy wind-driven rain and occasional tropical system remnants that come with a Hillsborough County summer. That's exactly the weather that finds every gap in aging wood siding. If you've got active leaks or soft siding right now, we'd rather get eyes on it before the next heavy system than have you waiting through hurricane season with compromised walls. Outside of storm season, spring and fall tend to be the most comfortable stretch for a full re-side, with steadier weather for the crew and less humidity working against fresh caulk and sealant during the install.
Part of what makes Durant distinct from the denser Tampa and Brandon suburbs nearby is the property mix — larger lots, older farmhouses next to newer construction, and a community character that still leans rural even as Hillsborough County grows around it. That mix means we see everything from a 1960s wood-sided farmhouse needing a full replacement to a newer build where the owner specifically wants a Hardie install with a traditional wood-look profile to match the neighborhood's character. Both are common requests out here, and both point back to the same material choice for us.
If your wood siding in Durant is showing its age, or you're planning a project and want that traditional wood look without the upkeep, we're happy to take a look and talk through what James Hardie fiber cement would mean for your specific home. There's a form below — reach out for a free, no-pressure estimate.
Fiber cement is made from cement, sand, and cellulose fibers rather than milled lumber, so it doesn't rot, warp, or feed termites the way real wood can. It holds paint and factory finishes much longer than wood, which cuts down on the repaint cycle significantly.
In Florida, ask for their state contractor license number and verify it directly on the Florida DBPR website, which shows license status and any disciplinary history. Our license number is RB29003900, and any legitimate contractor should give you theirs without hesitation.
James Hardie is a specific manufacturer, and "fiber cement siding" is the broader product category. We install James Hardie specifically because of its HardieZone 5 formulation, which is engineered for hot, humid climates like Florida's rather than a one-size-fits-all national product.
The cedarmill-textured HardiePlank lap siding replicates the grain and shadow lines of traditional wood clapboard closely enough that it reads as wood from the curb and up close. A lot of our Durant customers choose it specifically to keep a farmhouse or ranch home's traditional look while dropping the maintenance real wood requires.
Durant avoids direct storm surge, but it still gets heavy wind-driven rain and humidity swings during Florida's June-through-November storm season that stress any siding material over time. Fiber cement handles that moisture cycling far better than real wood, which is one of the main reasons we don't offer wood as an option.