I was drawn to the James Hardie cement siding product from its reputation of a quality product. When I needed to reside my house I looked to the James Hardie website for a recommended installer and I chose Superior Exteriors because of their Elite Preferred Contractors status. I believed they would have the most experience and knowledge installing Hardie board on my house. The salesman was very pleasant and worked hard to answer all my question and he gave me clear and detailed quote. After the product was being installed on the house it was brought to my attention their installation technique was not in accordance to the James Hardie specification (this information can be accessed from the Hardie website if you are interested). When I talked to the company's VP (also the person who gave the installation crew details on how he wanted the product installed) he stated that the technique was allowed and assured me their alternate installation method was okayed and would be covered by the Hardie warranty. I double checked his claim by calling the James Hardie customer service desk and talked to their representative and explained the situation and the alternate insulation technique. The customer representative made it very clearer the James Hardie warranty is only good if the product is installed per there installation specification. The product is only as good as the installation. At this point the project was a quarter completed and I was not sure what to do besides just have them complete the project, as they had been, using the alternative installation technique. I hope I don't regret that decision.On positive note the independently contracted installation crew worked in a professional and clean manor. They left the job site picked up and as clean as possible at the end of each work day. The completed house looks nice and neat. And I am very pleased with the look of it. I am just concerned about the quality of the installation. When I told Superior Exteriors about the about the warranty issues from the manufacture due to installation Superior Exteriors did offer to extend their installation warranty, hopefully they are in business if I need their help 15 to 30 years. My house is a 1980s Tudor style with 4x8 panels with 2x6 batten boards to achieve an exposed timber frame look. My house also has continuous insulation and because of it that you can only nail in the framing members not in the sheathing because it’s wrapped in 1inch foam. The errors in the installation that were made are as follows. 1) 1/4-inch clearance was not met were the siding touched the Z flashing at the bottom of a panel. 2) 2-inch clearance was not not met were the siding meets the roof shingles. 3) The edge of the panels is not nailed in, as the technique did not allow the edges to end at a nail able surface, so they had to rely on caulk to fasten and seal them to the the adjacent batten strips. Also, the panels do not extend under the baton strips they stop at edge of the batten strip and are only a butt joint.