The present invention provides exterior building products, such as roofing
and siding, shake, shingles, siding, sheathing, panels, planks, vertical
siding, soffit panels, fencing, decking, fascia, corner posts, column
corners and trim boards in which a plurality of cementitious layers are
provided with an improved interlaminar bond by employing a resinous bond
promoter, a rheological agent, mechanical means to distribute fibers in a
direction which is perpendicular to the machine direction so as to bridge
between layers in the product, or a combination thereof. These techniques
help to increase interlaminar bond strength to improve the mechanical
properties of the product. When certain resinous bond promoters are used,
the additional benefits of water absorption resistance and pigmentation
throughout the product can be provided with minimal expense. Improvements
in interlaminar bond strength of about 10 46% were observed with a
percent elongation improvement of about 7%.