Under 29 cfr 1926 1153 c iii osha provides a specific safe harbor practice for cutting for cutting fiber cement boards using a handheld power saw with blade diameter of 8 inches or less 1.
Cutting fiber cement board siding.
Use saw equipped with commercially available dust collection system.
Use your eyeware and ear protection.
However drilling through cement fiber siding goes better if you use a carbide.
The advantage of using the circular saw is that you can cut more than one board at a time.
You have to make the cuts very slowly.
Cutting fiber cement siding stationary shears.
Just sharing some of the different methods i ve used for cutting hardieboard siding.
To keep dust to a minimum use a circular saw that s equipped with either a dust collection bag or electric fan that.
Use a specialized blade used with the saw such as mikita hardiblade or dewalts filber cement blade.
For a slow but virtually dustless way to cut siding use power.
For tasks performed outdoors only.
Then measure from the chalk line to the top of the siding.
One way to eliminate cutting or at least keep it to a minimum would be to remove the entire piece above the window flash the window and then replace the siding.
The cleanest way to cut fiber cement siding is by using siding shears.
It can be cut and drilled just like wood.
Cutting fiber cement board around openings mark the siding to fit around windows hold the siding snug under the windowsill and mark the window edge location.
This old house general contractor tom silva shares his secrets for working with fiber cement siding.
This is probably the most popular method for cutting fiber cement siding.
When cutting fiber cement siding with circular saw use a blade that has only four or six teeth.
You can use diamond cutting blades attached to your circular saw or sliding miter saw.
Cutting fiber cement siding siding shears.
These are specialized to reduce the dust caused from cutting these planks.
Makita and hitachi.
If any cutting needs to be done to allow for the added flashing than it can be done on the workbench with a pair of siding shears zero dust.
It is a concrete product that is light flexible and has a woodlike finish.