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Today’s exterior walls are carefully selected natural and man-made materials that add warmth and authenticity... install them in a labor-saving way
Today’s exterior walls are carefully selected natural and man-made materials that add warmth and authenticity... install them in a labor-saving way
According to the outline of the International Building Trade Fair (IBSx) Education Conference in 2021, today's homebuyers crave durability and authenticity, especially when it comes to exterior finishes. The question is, which materials embody these qualities? We invited speakers from the conference and some other experts and trend watchers to think about popular cladding materials and how COVID-19, climate change, and a new generation of home buyers determine the factors driving this demand.
A recent report by Home Innovation Research Labs shows that as a leading exterior wall material, brick seems to satisfy buyers' desire for durability and authenticity. Ed Hudson, head of market research at Home Innovation, cited the three-year steady growth trend of bricks, saying that the material supports respondents' perceptions of "beauty, quality, and safety."
But as John Gilliams, partner and design director of KGA Studio Architects in Louisville, Colorado, pointed out, when it comes to bricks, less is more: “Just because you have the materials and can use them They shouldn’t mean you use them everywhere.” Instead, Guilliams suggested using bricks at the bottom of the house to fix the facade, or as a way to identify entrance elements and create a sense of arrival.
Trendspotters Rose Quint, Assistant Vice President of Research and Research of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), and Donald Ruthroff of AIA, Director of Dahlin Group Architecture | Planning Report of Pleasanton, California, says that using painted and light-colored bricks can be complicated The monochromatic scheme provides visual interest and adds a strong sense of texture to the continued popular modern industrial farmhouse aesthetics.
To ensure that the final result is beautiful, Chris Donatelli, president of Donatelli Builders in Downers Grove, Illinois, pointed out that the bricks need to be installed correctly and attention to detail. He relies on MortarNet to collect mortar manure and uses drainage holes to ensure that accidental moisture behind the material can escape.
In some parts of the country, the safety concept when choosing exterior wall cladding materials is true-and points to those materials that can better withstand natural forces. “Brick has always been a part of the Western Territory. It is inherently fire-resistant,” said Andrea Morton, an architect of aMorton Design, who recently moved to Golden, Colorado, where she experienced her first experience. A wildfire season.
Morton eagerly hopes to see the development of fire regulations and fire safety compliance dialogue as housing further penetrates into suburban and wasteland areas. She emphasized that builders need to find a way to build safe and affordable buildings in these more vulnerable areas. Housing. "People are using a second home in the woods or mountains as their main residence," she observed; the chain reaction of the coronavirus pandemic.
Thomas Devine, senior partner of Housing Design Matters in Clearwater, Florida, and AIA’s Thomas Devine, said that although there is increasing evidence that the monochromatic and plain industrial look is becoming more and more popular, most home buyers are seeking The aesthetics of the well-planned mixed color palette. Authenticity comes from good architecture, excellent detailed design, and careful consideration of materials that match the local language.
Guilliams emphasized the importance of using materials to guide the line of sight and create a hierarchy to help altitude tell the story. For example, you can use color and texture to break down quality by including stucco, masonry, and exposed wood in the palette to create a warm, authentic look. He said that for best results, only use stones in moderation: "Masonry is expensive; you don't have to use a lot. A small stone on the foundation of a Colorado market farmhouse is a symbol of the local vernacular."
Ben Drury, brand manager of Boral Building Products, also pointed out that multi-texture exterior walls still have a high demand for home exterior walls. In order to increase the attractiveness of the roadside and distinguish similar houses on the street, he suggested mixing multiple cladding types, contours and colors, such as stone siding in the middle of the wall, vinyl or poly-gray siding above, and on the gable. Add shingles or vertical accents and bumps on top.
Architects and builders often use fiber cement composite siding to create a mixed material palette because of the versatility of this material in terms of color, orientation, and panel size. “Using cement fiberboard siding, we can make vertical or horizontal siding or panels for a more modern appearance,” said Nathan Kipnis, architect of Kipnis Architecture Planning in Evanston, Illinois. If installed properly, it is also very durable: “It takes money and labor to install the fur strip,” Kipnis admitted, “but it makes the siding more durable.”
Stucco is a way to make the most of color, and it is expected that as we step out of the pandemic, minimalism—a celebration of more colors, textures, and styles—will flourish. "We will look at color in a variety of different ways," predicts Susan Varden, Sherwin's color marketing director. In addition, she pointed out that the demographic structure of more and more millennials buying houses has changed, and this group "desires for different colors and iconic styles."
But for now, the overall trend reflects the need to stay at home and reconnect with nature. "The COVID has changed the way we look at housing and the way we interact with home," Wadden said. For example, working from home but more eager for outdoor activities will focus on the landscape and outdoor life.
In view of the human collective Earth Hour, it makes sense that the importance of green is rising. "When it comes to nature and natural inspiration," Wadden said, "sage, evergreen, many gray-greens, and warm earth tones are entering the market."
The earth tones complement a palette that includes natural materials, such as bare wood cladding. Kipnis used dyed pine, stone pine and painted wood in his project. For the appearance of modern wood, Donatelli prefers darker tones of shou sugi ban, a Japanese technique that preserves wood by scorching it with fire.
He also likes the durability of Accoya modified wood, and for perfect installation, he is a fan of Grad System, which is a product from Wood Haven, Kansas, which uses a rail and clamp system to install the company’s pre-ground wood panels, reducing The fault-tolerant rate during the installation process saves valuable on-site time. “The more preparations you can do before the project enters the project, the less work you can do on the scaffolding,” Donatelli points out. "And the more you can do on the ground with two feet, the better."
Facts have proved that as the adoption of off-site components accelerates, the COVID-19 pandemic affects not only the choice of exterior cladding, but also their installation methods.
Chris Donatelli, President of Donatelli Builders in Downers Grove, Illinois, knows the advantages of preparing components before they reach the construction site, but also knows that the importance of doing so has never been more important, because builders seek faster and better Inexpensive, and more flexible and predictable construction methods to save money, simplify installation and help maintain physical distance of staff to minimize contact.
At UberGreen Spaces & Homes in Louisville, Kentucky, founder Sy Safi promotes prefabricated panels with continuous thermal insulation as a low-carbon footprint cladding material that can complete work faster. "During the pandemic, we had to adjust our direction," he said. "We are working hard to expedite the work we have done on the prefabs... and send the wall panels to be installed on site, and the exterior wall panels are already on them."
UberGreen Spaces is using its knowledge of prefabrication to move projects faster on the site while still providing cladding options for builders.
For example, if the exterior wall design requires bricks or other real on-site construction materials (such as wood or stone), UberGreen can provide panels that are ready to accept these cladding materials, for example, placing fur strips in the appropriate direction. "Builders can install any exterior wall they like," Safi said.
Megan Mazzocco is a freelance writer in Chicago.
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