natural stone siding... rockin' it

This is part of our continuing series on siding materials for your home.  In today's post we will talk about natural stone.  Natural stone can be an elegantly magnificent choice for a wall system for your home.  When natural stone is used for modern building purposes it is often called dimensional stone because the natural material has been processed from the earth and reformed in some manner to be used as a building material.  Stone consists of various types of natural rock extracted from the earth; granite, travertine, and limestone are just some of the more popular choices.

A stone wall can be a simple wall system that consists of stones and a mortar to "glue" them together; this is a mass wall system and has been in use since antiquity.  Some of the benefits a mass wall has compared to a more modern wall system (discussed further below in this post) is that a mass wall has thermal mass, doesn't require a structural wall to hold the stone, and can be fairly simple to build.  Some of the drawbacks to a mass wall is that it can be hard to keep water from infiltrating the system and the wall takes up more space than a conventional wall.  In a tight floor plan a mass wall may not be an option unless you are willing to give up space on the interior of your home.  Another variation of using this material for a wall would be a Gabion, but I would like to limit our discussion to walls that are intended to create tempered space isolated from the exterior.

The modern use of stone as a siding material would be the use of dimensional stones in a cavity wall.  This application is a more recent use of the material than its mass wall ancestor; this wall system is similar to the system used with siding materials we have already discussed (wood, composites, metal, and manufactured stone). In a cavity wall the stone veneer will have to be hung off the backing structural wall.  While this will add to the structural requirements of your stud wall, a cavity wall configuration will also provide some increased benefits to water infiltration (due to rainscreen principles) and total insulating value (because you can add rigid insulation in the cavity if you desire) of the wall.  If you are going to use a dimensional stone veneer for your siding, then I would highly recommend implementing a rainscreen wall.  The benefits will be worth the extremely minor amount of additional work and cost it will take to upgrade.  The cost, however, for either wall system is going to be expensive.  The amount work it takes to extract, refine, ship, and install stone as a siding material is quite onerous, and your budget will take the brunt of this work.

Now that we know some very basic differences between the types of stone walls, let's talk  about aesthetics.  Stone has always been one of the more beautiful building materials.  There is an intrinsic quality to stone.  We understand stone innately.  Stone has been used as a building material for thousands of years.  When local stone is used it can evoke a sense of place and a timeless nature; a sense of place in that the building that uses the local material literally comes from the place it is built, and this connection is deeply understood and felt.  The use of the material in this manner connects with the earth and springs from the earth all at once.  When an exotic stone is used (material transported form another place on the planet) the material can seem other worldly, but yet the material stills feel natural and familiar.  This duality in feeling I think has helped to create some spectacular civic and residential architecture.  These qualities of duality, permanence, familiarity, etc. are what make stone such a desired building material and such an ageless addition to our palette of material and form in architecture.


For more proof,  you should click on this link to read about this wonderful project Scotland.

   

manufactured stone...friend or foe?



Cultured stone should mimic real stone construction.



This is part of our continuing series on siding products for your home.  Manufactured stone is a fairly new product.  It has risen to prominence in the "McMansions" of the early 21st century.  Manufactured stone (or cultured stone, or technically "adhered concrete masonry veneer") is essentially a concrete masonry product finished to look like quarried stone (real stone mined from the earth).  Concrete is poured into a mold, and then the appropriate amount of color and texture is added to create a product that looks like its associated real stone counterpart. 



If I put my personal bias aside, this product does have a broad appeal and some aesthetic qualities for use on your home.  However, when this product is overly used, used in way that defies the laws of gravity, or used in a manner that highlights the material as a fake stone, the application can feel unnerving and tacky.  Manufactured stone can provide the feel of permanence, sense of place, and mimic the beauty of natural stone if used tastefully.  I would suggest using the material exactly like you would be forced to use real stone.  Use it as a base to build the rest of your home from.  Real stone buildings are thick by necessity and manufactured stone is only a few inches thick so don’t highlight the fact that manufactured stone is of lesser substance.  Using manufactured stone as a surround for thin columns is an application that feels uneasy.  Using the material in large swaths is great, especially in a modern design, but if you are going to suspend this product off the ground than you better be bold.



Same home as above.  Nice use of stone in thick walls.

 The other issue you should be aware of is that this system appears to be prone to water damage if not installed perfectly.  With all building systems, time is what determines the ultimate success of new building technologies.  Manufactured stone has not been around long enough to know if this type of building component will fail when applied to a home for 50 years.  As I alluded to earlier, new residential construction over the last 10 years has seen a boon in this type of siding system and I would caution you in using this product.  See here for a great article from an inspection expert regarding some issues that have cropped up with the installation of manufactured stone.  The problem is that manufactured stone is applied to a wall like stucco (essentially glued with mortar to the outside of your wall).  If any water makes it past the face of this system then you are trapping water in your wall and, in turn, creating the potential for mold, mildew and rot.  Before installing manufactured stone on your home please ensure that either you or the contractor hired to install this product follows the guidelines provided by the Masonry Veneer Manufacturers Association.  Their website is here.

metal siding...not just for the shed

Another post in our continuing series about siding.  This time I'm here to talk about metal siding.  Now, metal siding can be tricky aesthetically.  It can be done in a way that works, and it can be overdone like some cheesy, pseudo-industrial pub that no one really wants to hang out in.  When this siding material is used appropriately it can be a stunning and durable choice for siding. 

 Metal siding can be a great siding product if used and installed correctly.  The main issue with metal siding is it typically is more complicated to install than your wood siding or composite siding.  Metal siding will most likely require you to build your exterior wall with the rainscreen principle in mind.  Most sidings, and the wall they enclose, are built with a face-sealed system, and if water gets past the paint or caulking then you have the potential for water damage to your house.  A rainscreen wall, in principle, is a better wall system for the long-term health of your structure.  Metal siding is very low maintenance (compared to wood and composites) and can be extremely durable over the life of your home.  One area that you need to be careful is in choosing the gauge, or thickness, of the metal siding.  If you go too thin (i.e. less money) on the gauge of metal siding you will get oil canning.  Oil canning will happen less with corrugated or ribbed metal siding than it will with flat panel profiles due to inherent strength in the corrugated profile of the material.  Metal siding is also not recommended in marine environments and can rust if either left unfinished or damaged; exposing the metal to oxygen and water (know as oxidation with causes the metal to decay) will cause rust.

The beauty of metal can provide an industrial, modern or rustic aesthetic to your home.  Be careful about the proportionality of the panels or ribs to the size of your home.  The examples in this post all use proportionally small profile corrugation in order to make the repeating pattern fit the scale of their respective home.  These applications create, in my opinion, a great texture to their respective buildings and a feel that is both permanent and familiar.  I think metal siding can be a great alternative to create either a modern or more familiar traditional aesthetic.

  

The last thing I will point out is that metal siding can be a good choice for a product in terms of environmental friendliness.  Some of the metal siding products out there are from mostly recycled content, but the real key is that metal siding has a longer life-span than most other building materials.  Metal siding can also be completely recycled when it is no longer wanted or in working condition.  No siding product approaches wood in it's environmentally friendliness (wood is a carbon sink), but sustainability is not only measured in the amount of carbon it takes to make a product or how much the product holds, but also how many times it has to be replaced.  The life-span of a product is a key cog in the wheel of sustainability.



composite siding...it's everywhere

Welcome to our continuing series.  Composite siding materials are all over the map, both in range of options and their ubiquitous use.  In North America, if I had to guess, I would say this is the most widely used form of siding today (see here, here, and here).  Composite siding ranges from wood composites, fiber-cement composites, recycled materials, and much more.  The reason I see why these systems are so popular is due to their low cost, versatility, and wide variety of styles.  These systems will buy you a reasonably priced siding option, but it will not provide any distinct aesthetics.

Composite sidings come in so many different varieties, it's almost all you see.  Composites have been made to replicate all traditional wood siding installations.  Before we had modern wood stains, wood siding was painted to keep moisture and pests out.  Now, most painted homes you will see are actually composite materials painted to look like traditional wood siding installations (this is why if you are going to use wood, don't paint it).  Composites are cheaper and have some benefits over wood when painted.  Here lies the kicker, you really must paint these products.  Some come in pre-finished options, but they are generally more expensive and don't offer an exceptionally wide variety of choices.  These products also need to be painted in order to keep moisture out of your wall and out of the product.  Any moisture that gets into these products usually causes irreparable damage to the siding and to your home and the siding will have to be replaced.  Regular maintenance and proper installation are essential to keeping your home value up and not spending more money than you need over the life of your home.  

Aesthetically you will hear claims that these materials are just as nice as real wood siding, and I take exception to that claim.  If you want to paint your wood siding then composite siding is comparable to wood, but even then when you see the two compared side-by-side there is still a substantial difference in the aesthetic quality of wood over composites.  The human eye can quite acutely sense the difference between a natural product and one that is man-made.  This is also apparent in "fake stone" products versus real stone products.  Some of the more intriguing applications of composite sidings are panelized options.  These eliminate the trick of making them look like a wood product and instead reveal them as modern, man-made materials.  A general theme in my design flavor is that buidlings have more impact on us artistically when they are honest about their use of materials and the way they are built. 



Before (more interesting)



After (like everything else)



Environmentally, composite sidings can vary in their impact.  Wood composites offer some of the same environmental benefits as wood siding.  Specific products and their impact on the environment will have to be discussed based on their individual basis due to the large variety of products that fall under this category. 

P.S. - We will not discuss or recommend vinyl siding on this blog due to it's incredibly harmful nature.  A product that lasts forever, as any self-serving industry might claim, is not a good thing!  I urge you not to use vinyl siding, and if you already have vinyl siding please recycle it from the list provided here.  To learn more about PVC's and vinyl go here.