Cementitious siding having encapsulated foam core, and system and method for making the same

A molding system for forming an elongate siding member comprising a cementitious material shell encapsulating a foam core and a meshed reinforcement fabric extending substantially the entire length of the elongate member, the shell defining a molded front exterior face configuration, the system comprising:

• an elongate mold face defining the configuration of the front exterior face of the siding member, the mold face and the siding member product produced by said system coextending longitudinally in said system;
• a first fabric introduction system by which meshed reinforcement fabric material is oriented relative to the mold face and along the length of the mold face;
• a first cementitious material source from which a desired amount of cementitious material is received onto the mold face and at envelops the meshed reinforcement fabric material;
• a foam core introduction system by which foam core is oriented relative to the mold face and along the length of the mold face;
• and
• a second cementitious material source from which a desired amount of cementitious material is received onto the foam core, whereby the foam core is encapsulated by cementitious material.

A method of molding an elongate siding member comprising a cementitious material shell encapsulating a foam core and a meshed reinforcement fabric extending substantially the entire length of the elongate member, the shell defining a molded front exterior face configuration, comprising the steps of:

• longitudinally-orienting first meshed reinforcement fabric over an elongate mold face;
• receiving cementitious material onto the mold face;
• longitudinally-orienting foam core material over the elongate mold face;
• receiving further cementitious material onto the foam core material and encapsulating the foam core material with cementitious material, whereby a shell of cementitious material is formed surrounding the foam core material;
• forming a front exterior surface of the siding member from the cementitious material received onto the mold face;
• curing the formed cementitious material;
• and
• separating the siding member and the mold face.