How To Remove Cement Backer Board

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Cement lath​ is i of the virtually useful home improvement inventions of the 20th century. ​It is used as a tile bankroll board in places where wet is common, such as your kitchen or bath.

​Once you learn how to cut cement board, you volition exist able to add walling and tilework to your home. Here is our complete guide on how to ​cut ​cement ​lath for your adjacent kitchen or bathroom remodel.

Contents

• ​​How to Cement Backer Board
  • Method One: Cut with ​Score and Snap​
  • ​Method Two: Cutting with a ​Circular Saw
  • Method 3: Cut with a ​​Jigsaw
  • ​Method Four: Cutting with an Bending Grinder​ or Tile Saw
• ​How to Cut Circular Holes in Cement Lath
• An Overview of Cement Board
  • Cement Board vs ​Hardie Board
  • Cement Board vs Drywall
  • Cement Board vs Greenboard
  • ​Applications
  • Where to Use
  • ​Types and Sizes
• Decision

​​How to Cement Backer Board

​No matter what, whenever y'all install backer board, you're going to take a variety of cuts to make, and you might start googling "how to cut backer board", "cutting Hardie backer", or "how to cutting concrete board." In that location are plenty of different means to cut ​this type of board, ranging from very easy to very precise.

The best way of cutting ​depends on the tools you have at your disposal, how much fourth dimension y'all take, and how precise yous need to be. Nosotros'll go through each of the most mutual ways ​for cut ​capitalist lath below.

​Notation: If you want to learn how to cut Durock, you can follow the same procedure. Durock is simply a brand of ​cement board.

Method One: Cut with ​Score and Snap​

The simplest fashion to cut concrete wallboard or cement capitalist board is not to utilize ability tools at all. Similar to the manner drywall is cut, it is possible to score the cement backer lath and snap it along that scoreline.

It is possible to apply a drywall knife to score a cement capitalist board. But information technology volition article of clothing downwards the blade and take some effort.

A amend choice is to pick up a carbide-tipped score knife. These tools accept a very durable scoring tip, which can be used to easily score cement capitalist board.

1. Brainstorm by laying your backer lath out on a flat surface and marking the line where you'd similar to score the board. You tin can do this with a carpenter'south pencil or use a chalk line.
2. When it's time to make the cut, set a straightedge across your sheet. Use a level, yardstick, or a leftover piece of scrap lumber.
3. Kneel on i finish to ensure the straightedge does not move, and firmly draw the scoring tool along the line.
4. Property the tool confronting the straight edge, you can use it every bit a guide to ensure a perfectly straight scoreline.
5. Repeat the move three or four times to become a nice, deep score cut into your cement backer lath.
6. Once you have a sufficient score groove, option up the cement board. Press with your knee and pull. The capitalist board should snap cleanly along your scoreline.

A cement board has fiber inside it for structural forcefulness, so y'all tin use a utility knife to cut through this mesh to separate your two pieces. Using a rasp, you can hands polish the rough snapped edge.

​Method 2: Cut with a ​Circular Saw

​Scoring and snapping can be catchy, especially with thicker cement boards. Not just is it difficult to hold a straight line for the entire cutting, but cutting by paw takes a long time if you're cut a lot of cement boards.

When scoring and snapping aren't ideal, it is possible to use ability tools to cutting your fiber cement backer board. ​Nosotros'll review several power saws that you can use, starting with the circular saw.

Equally long as you're making a straight cut, the round saw makes for a corking method to cut ​cement capitalist.

A word of caution: cutting a Hardie Backer board ​with a saw produces fine silica dust that is crystalline in structure. Such silica grit has abrupt edges and will irritate eyes and lungs. ​​

​Over again, you lot should always clothing a respirator mask  and middle protection (e.g., center goggles) when cutting cement board.​The good news is that middle goggles aren't particularly expensive. It's a adept idea to make your cuts outdoors, or open doors and windows.

This is dangerous​, so make sure to read the safety instructions for your round saw and follow them to a tee.

For uncomplicated direct cuts, you can fit your circular saw with a carbide-tipped forest bract, and use slow, even pressure when you make the cutting. ​Make certain to use a blade with the fewest teeth you can find.

When you lot're cutting wood, you typically want more teeth in your blade and then to brand for a cleaner cut. But when cutting cement backer board, more than teeth in the blade aren't necessary and volition just make more than dust.

A carbide-tipped blade with as few as vi teeth will cut a cement capitalist board smoothly and quickly.

1. Lay your backer board out on a work table or between two sawhorses. Unlike score and snap, you'll demand to utilise a surface that allows for a saw bract to go through the board.
2. Marking ​where yous'd similar to cut the board.
3. Like the score and snap method, set a straightedge across your sail. ​
4. Look for the saw bract to warm up and come to full RPM before starting your cut.
5. Piece of work slowly through the cutting, ensuring that the straight border doesn't slip or motility while you're sawing.

Method Iii: Cut with a ​​Jigsaw

​If you lot're not cutting a straight line, ​use a jigsaw with a carbide-grit blade or a metal-cutting one installed.

Cutting curves is much easier with a jigsaw, and the preferred pick in this instance to a round saw. With that beingness said, cutting circles past hand can be tough, especially when precision is required.

This method is slow and produces a little dust. ​After several cuts, you'll probably need to supercede your blade. Even so, if you need to cutting a smoothen bend, the jigsaw is probably the best way to cutting a Hardie Capitalist board for you.

​Don't forget about a string-free jigsaw choice, either. If you take ane that is powerful enough, this can make the projection get a little faster and arrive a lot more than convenient.

​Method 4: Cut with an Angle Grinder​ or Tile Saw

It is also possible to cutting a Hardi Backer board with an bending grinder that has been fit with a diamond cutting cycle. Nonetheless, the angle grinder makes a lot of grit and is a little more than difficult to command than a circular saw.

Y'all really only want to utilize this method for fast cuts, as your lines won't be as straight equally with other methods.

If you have a moisture saw for cutting tile, you could utilise this for cutting your Hardie board, as the abrasive blade is constantly bathed in h2o, resulting in a clean cut with no dust.

Yous might non find information technology worthwhile to go out your tile saw for this, only if you have a lot of cuts to make, information technology might be worthwhile.

This method probably produces the least corporeality of dust out of all of the ones listed.

​How to Cut Circular Holes in Cement Board

When installing cement board around a toilet, faucet, or other pipe fittings, you may find that you lot don't know how to cut a hole in a cement lath. Equally such, you might kickoff wondering what the best way to cut concrete board is. Like to cutting circles in wood, there are a few tricks bachelor for those who demand to do this.

This method is dissimilar than cutting a circular pattern in your capitalist board. This method is specifically focused on how to cut a hole out of the cement backer.

If the hole is pocket-size enough, the simplest way to cut a pigsty is to utilise a carbide-tipped pigsty saw and a highly reviewed and rated drill. ​

1. First, draw the outline of your hole on your cement board with a compass. Or, you could trace a piping fitting or other circular object of the proper size.
2. Using a ane/iv" masonry bit and a cordless drill, drill a bunch of holes along the edge of this circle. Think of making a perforated "dotted line" along the border, so drill as close to the other holes equally y'all can.
3. Once this is done, using a hammer, lightly tap on the eye of your circumvolve.
4. Later a few taps, the backer lath should snap along your dotted line.
5. From here, you can finish the cut with a utility knife and smooth out the rough edges with nippers.

Nosotros mentioned it to a higher place, but even a basic, budget jigsaw is also the perfect power saw to utilise for cutting a circle.

An Overview of Cement Lath

For starters, let's make sure we're all talking almost the aforementioned product. Cement board is interchangeably referred to by quite a few names, and information technology is worth list those out.

For the sake of this article, cement board is the aforementioned production equally:

• Hardie Board
• Hardie Backer
• ​Durock Board
• Capitalist Board
• CBU (Cementitous backer unit)
• Cement Capitalist Board

​At the end of the day, all of these are a make or variation of cement board.

Cement Board vs ​Hardie Board

​​Hardiebacker or board is the top brand selling cement board. When yous hear the term "Hardie board", it is referring to a specific brand of cement board.

Hardiebacker offers a premium cement board production with a lifetime warranty and technology that includes MoldBlock TM.

Hardiebacker ensures mold will never exist an issue on your cement board past not using any newspaper in their product. It is 100% Portland cement and finely ground sand.

It is also gratuitous of gypsum, asbestos, and formaldehyde.

Ane perk of the Hardie board is that it comes standard with perforated groves on standard lines, and because of that, cutting the Hardie board is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Cement Board vs Drywall

​​A cement board is actually quite unlike from drywall, with both of them being used for other purposes. Yet, to the untrained eye, they tin can be easy to misfile.

• The cement backer board looks and feels somewhat like drywall. Y'all can recall of it as its cousin.
• The divergence is thatdrywall is made of gypsum covered with newspaper, and​cement board is made of a combination of cement and reinforcing fibers.
• This means that unlike materials like drywall, plywood, or light-green board, there is no organic matter in the cement backer lath. Unlike drywall, ​cement board has no gypsum, asbestos, or formaldehyde.
• This also means cement backer board volition never mold, rot, shrink or decompose due to the presence of organic materials.

​A cement board is waterproof, which means that information technology will resist water, making it the perfect substrate to sit down behind the tile.

If your project actually requires drywall (and not cement backer board), make sure to read our article on sheetrock vs. drywall.

Cement Board vs Greenboard

Even green board, which is more than durable and resistant than drywall, is not recommended for apply in showers and other places where in that location is constant h2o usage. For these purposes, a cement backer lath is perfect. That is why cement backer board is mainly used equally a substrate for tiling.

Since tile is widely used in bathrooms, kitchens, and other places where there is abiding moisture, information technology has become the get-to solution when tiling.

​Applications

Now that you know the differences betwixt cement ​board vs. Hardiebacker, drywall, and green board​, allow'southward talk about where is information technology best to use this product.

Cement backer board has the smashing reward of being totally inorganic. Equally mentioned before, information technology volition non rot, warp, mold, or deteriorate when wet.Cement board is all-time used where water could exist present.

Obviously, wood is non an ideal material to use in places with a lot of moisture. Neither is drywall. If you lot use any of these, yous might have issues with mold.

Where to Utilize

Cement lath is too used every bit a substrate for manufactured veneer stone. In contrast with more traditional materials like drywall, cement backer board won't soak in moisture from the mortar nether the veneer stone-like drywall will.

Cement board offers considerably more strength when compared to drywall. It provides builders with the easy-to-install equivalent of a self leveling physical subfloor. It is a very difficult, very flat surface.

Tiles and other materials can easily be laid on information technology with no concern for the presence of moisture on the substrate.

While perfect for tiles, professional builders oftentimes use cement boards for other kinds of floors, countertops, backsplashes, and even walls.

​Types and Sizes

There areii bones types of ​cement lath​: i is difficult and heavy like concrete, and the other is softer and lighter.

Cement backer lath comes in several thicknesses, much like drywall​, and is generally made in thicknesses of 1/4", 7/16", 1/2", and 5/eight".

• You'll apply the thinner boards in areas like countertops​.
• You lot'll use the thicker boards backside the shower and kitchen walls.

Cement backer board​ usually comes in i of 2 sizes: 3'x5′ and 4'x8′.

​Information technology'due south relatively cheap for well-nigh DIY jobs effectually the business firm. For example, a 3'x5′ sheet of one/4" backer board runs around $10, and the aforementioned size in the one/two" thickness runs around $14.

Determination

When you are because ​the all-time style to cut ​cement board, starting time evaluate and ensure y'all are using the proper substrate.

The procedure of cutting Hardie board depends greatly on what tools you have, how accurate you demand to exist, and how fast you desire to become. While power saws make it a lot easier, information technology is possible to cut ​cement boards past hand.

Either way, follow the steps we've outlined in this guide on how to cut fiber cement board and Hardie board. And remember to follow all condom instructions!

Source: https://sawshub.com/how-to-cut-cement-board-hardie-board/

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