We did our garage with 7.25" Certainteed lap siding a year ago,
replacing decayed Masonite. I'm delighted with the finished look and
will likely use the product when we build our next house. It takes
paint well and really does look like wood from a few feet away.

Certainteed has very clear instructions for fasteners. IIRC, it was
6d or 8d galvanized siding nails or stainless steel screws. We blind
nailed our garage by hand, using screws only in the gable peaks and
other places (like the ends of planks) where we could not nail to a
stud. Sheathing is 45 yr old 1/2" ply, and we replaced all the trim
with pine.

The stuff is tough to cut and nail. Since we were doing just one
garage (28x22 with 8' walls) we did not want to invest in diamond
blades, shears, etc. We used a cheapo 5 tooth carbide blade designed
for fiber cement in a skill saw-- two of them actually, as the first
one was shot about 2/3 through the project. These ran about $15 each
and cut cleanly but made a lot of dust. If I were doing another such
project I'd get shears. Nailing was a chore too-- we ended up
predrilling all the nail holes as otherwise we'd end up bending the
8d nails or spliting the siding trying to get them started. Next time
I'd rent a nailer; Certainteed specs fasteners and guns in their
product literature (see "weatherboards" on their website and find the
..pdf).

I researched these products a lot, and though none of the local pros
are installing fiber cement (it's all crappy vinyl around here) I
imagine they will eventually. The finished product looks much better
than the three new houses adjacent my 1958 cape, and importantly to
me, it looks age/style appropriate. When I build our next place I'll
probably go with either the Certainteed lap siding or the board and
batten product, depending on what style we go with for the house. I'm
sold on the product for sure.

-Kiwanda