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New And Old Options For A Home's ExteriorBy Jim Sulski Summary: If you are planning on changing the exterior of your home there are more choices than ever. From acrylic stucco to vinyl siding, Jim reviews all the options. For some homeowners considering redoing the outside of their homes, there's
good news: There are more choices than ever when it comes to exterior finishes
and touches. What industry officials are seeing in some of the applications that were used for commercial buildings are trickling down to the residential side. There has also been an expansion of the product lines that have been out there for years, the experts said. Meanwhile, traditional choices - masonry, wood, vinyl and aluminum - are also still quite popular, the experts said. And some of those choices have been around for 75 years. Where the various materials and styles are showing up depends on what type of housing is being built, the experts said. They're seeing more use of the alternative - former commercial exterior applications - as there is a trend to more modern aesthetics in certain location. Meanwhile, in the typical subdivision in the suburbs, you're more likely to get traditional choices. But if you're remodeling a home in the North Shore. people pick up on the alternatives but they're also being sensitive to the style of the existing home. And if they're building a new home, then people are more aggressive as far as the exterior choices. In the city, concrete block is growing as an exterior choice, especially on multi family townhouse developments. Choices here are colored, aggregate, and blocks with special finishes being applied so it takes on a unique quality. What's also popular about concrete block is its cost. It provides structural support and you can easily combine it with glass and steel. One of the most basic choices now is a split-face concrete block that comes in eight, ten or 12 inches blocks. It's a derivative of the old cinder block and used to create a rock face finish. Also popular is stone-based choices. What's very popular now is a man-made product that's called a renaissance stone. It's a crushed stone instead of a boulder stone but it's half the cost. The crushed stone is molded with an adhesive and the density is there. You get a nice limestone look from it. Homeowners are opting for masonry over natural wood (predominately cedar) because of its low maintenance costs. Masonry is more costly up front but it costs almost nothing to care for it. There's also a growing number of brick veneer and limestone choices as well as a larger range of colors. These products give a home a look that it's been in the neighborhood for 20 or 30 years. There's also been a shift to more concrete-based siding products. There are concrete board products with 40 year guarantees. They don't rot, they don't expand and they don't contract. The boards are simply placed over a home's exterior plywood. They are hung just like wood siding. Also making its way from the commercial buildings to residential buildings are exterior insulation and finish systems or EIFS. These multi-layered exterior wall systems are known for their energy efficiency and flexibility and are found on many commercial buildings. Currently, about three percent of the United States residential wall market is made up of EIFS, according to industry data. EIFS are made up of an insulation board usually made of polystyrene, a waterproof base coat reinforced with fiberglass mesh and a finish coat usually using an acrylic copolymer technology. This is basically a synthetic stucco. Wood and wood composites are also growing in popularity, the experts said. Natural wood has been less of a choice and composite wood more a choice. Driving the wood composites is the desire for a traditional look but with new technology, and the fact that the wood composites are looking more natural. Vinyl is also continuing to be popular as an exterior touch. People are doing more with vinyl than even before. And the latest line of products really does a beautiful job, the experts said. There are also a number of touches being made to homes to make exteriors have "more curb appeal" - the use of a lot of glass windows without muslins, and wide spans of glass - from floors to ceilings. In addition, man-made roofing shingle technology and aesthetics have also evolved.
Fiberglass shingles are now looking more dimensional and they look more like
wood or cedar shake. There are two or three different levels of weight available. © by Jim Sulski. All rights reserved. February 10, 2005. NOTE: This column is distributed by Real Estate Matters Syndicate, PO Box 366, Glencoe, Illinois, 60022. This column may not be resold, reprinted, resyndicated or redistributed without written permission from the publisher. © 2005 by Ilyce R. Glink. Distributed by Real Estate Matters Syndicate. |
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