Durock, Hardibacker, Wonderboard - which one? Outdoor Kitchen Design Discuss Durock, Hardibacker, Wonderboard - which one? in the Outdoor Kitchens and Living Rooms forums; Hi - new to the forum and am starting my outdoor bar and kitchen area. Interested in everyone's input on ...

[289Tiger]

Hi - new to the forum and am starting my outdoor bar and kitchen area. Interested in everyone's input on what product will work best for cabinet and counters: durock, hardibacker, or wonderboard. I'm in Arizona so freezing isn't much of an issue. Will be framing with steel studs and covering backerboard with stucco. Want everything to feel solid - not sure if there's any difference in how "dense" or solid the various backerboards feel. Any input is appreciated.

Attached is a picture of construction so far. Palapa is up with pad, plumbing and electric in. Getting ready to start framing.

[Ken524]

Originally Posted by 289Tiger

what product will work best for cabinet and counters: durock, hardibacker, or wonderboard... and covering backerboard with stucco.

Hi Tiger,

On my oven enclosure I used mostly Hardibacker and a little bit of generic cement board (just as an experiment).

Both attached easily to the steel studs and stuccoed up nicely. There were minor pros and cons to each. In the end it was a draw.

This spring, I'll also be doing a bar under our new arbor with the same method.

[gjbingham]

I think you should name your build "The Pizza Hut". What do you think? Pretty catchy, huh?

I asked your questions to about 10 different employees at Lowes. There was no agreement amongst the completely uneducated ignorami. (is that plural for ignoramus?). Several felt that Hardiboard was better suited to outdoor applications. Of course, the boys had no data backing up their statments. I used Durock, because I already had three sheets sitting around. It has survived 16 inches of snow and 10 inches of rain so far.

Good luck!

[aferaci]

I work in construction and I've used all 3 types. I prefer the hardiboard personally. If you have the right tool, it's easy to score and snap.....it's impervious to water....and it doesn't crumble as easily as the other two. I also like the little grid that's stamped on it which make it easier to measure out and cut. But everyone has their preference. I just don't like how easily the other two crumble apart like drywall if they get hit hard enough...especially on a corner...

[Ken524]

I agree with Aferaci - The Hardibacker is very easy to score/snap.

[gjbingham]

I used a masonry blade on my skillsaw to cut the Durock because of those problems discussed above. That worked wonderfully.
G.

[aferaci]

That's all well and good but you have to buy the blade, it creates a ton of dust where you have to wear a mask when cutting...Hardiboard makes a scoring tool to where all you have to do is mark the board, grab a straight edge, score it, and snap it. Much easier...much less mess...and much neater.

[gjbingham]

Aferaci - You should work at Lowes! You could be one of the three out of ten guys that says Hardiboard is the best!

[piomike]

Originally Posted by 289Tiger

Hi - new to the forum and am starting my outdoor bar and kitchen area. Interested in everyone's input on what product will work best for cabinet and counters: durock, hardibacker, or wonderboard. I'm in Arizona so freezing isn't much of an issue. Will be framing with steel studs and covering backerboard with stucco. Want everything to feel solid - not sure if there's any difference in how "dense" or solid the various backerboards feel. Any input is appreciated.

Attached is a picture of construction so far. Palapa is up with pad, plumbing and electric in. Getting ready to start framing.

I used steel constuction with Hardibacker and it worked great very strong and sturdy go to this link for pics kitchen night - a set on Flickr

[piomike]

I built with steel frame and hardibacker for my whole outdoor kitchen including the pizza oven and it worked great check ou link kitchen night - a set on Flickr