Exterior finishes can make houses feel more like homes and Eastview’s architectural design service will go one step farther as they customize the look and feel using a wide range of building materials and colours available today. Styles and materials popular in the nineteen seventies such as aluminum siding, random flagstone, and curved archways can define the age of a building. Additionally, as well as being out of date, older claddings are less efficient than modern materials in terms of their insulation value, flammability and ease of cleaning. Good exterior renovations resurface older houses with durable, more efficient, and more aesthetically pleasing finishes that can actually improve living conditions inside the home and enhance the whole neighbourhood. One or two exceptional residences can raise the value of every house on the street.
Replacing the windows and entry doors can make houses more energy efficient. Today’s windows and doors are provided with an Energy Star ratings to help owners gain more insight into their purchases. New windows and doors will save owners money while adding to a new exterior design with their size, mullions and colour.
Aluminum siding is ‘datable’. Styles have changed over the years. Originally there were only a few manufacturers offering limited choice.
The house seen above was the subject of a recent exterior home renovation by Eastview Homes. It’s an unpretentious side-gabled two-story prairie-style home with a two-car garage inside the building’s rectangular footprint. When the photo was taken, it had stone-veneer siding on the main floor which more-or-less matched a random flagstone path to the front door. Combine these two elements and they imbue a sense of the old country. The second floor was covered with aluminum siding from the early nineteen seventies that was fashioned to resemble smooth wide planks without any texture or any attempt at authenticity.
The main floor living room gets lots of sun because of the bowed-bay window on the south side of the house which some manufacturers call a ‘circle bay’ window. It’s defined as a window with glass panes on three sides of the bay. Circle bay windows typically feature the most intricate moldings and ornamental details of the exterior, and they’re the most difficult windows to install. The three-paneled window design is timeless, but Eastview’s architects decided on something more efficient.
To build a house with wood and stone is Biblical. It’s a classic design theme in the history of art and architecture. But in this case, it was a façade because the stone was just a veneer and the wooden plank walls on the second floor were fashioned from aluminum. Eastview decided to present the homeowners with something more authentic.
Eastview Homes’ Architectural Design Team envisioned an all wood exterior.
The plans called for a natural finish with Maibec wood siding above a short stone skirt that wraps the entire building. This granite wainscoting is approximately thirty inches in height around the garage and eighteen inches at the door.
Maibec is a family run business that develops, manufactures and sells exterior siding systems. Their most well known siding product is CanExel which is made of white cedar they source from partners they’ve developed over many decades in the lumber business. Each piece of siding is treated with their own blend of paint and preservative and the mixture is factory-applied on all six sides. The resulting product is very high quality and the company is so confident they guarantee it wont need replacing for fifty years, if properly installed.
Prior to the application of paint, each piece of siding is kiln-dried long enough to remove all moisture from the cells. After the timber is removed from the oven, when its fibers are thirsty and seek liquid from any source, chemical solutions are applied to seal the lumber and essentially change its composition. The resinous paint transforms the wood tissue into a strong and almost impermeable siding material.
Maibec comes in a wide variety of shapes, styles, and plank sizes. Wood grain patterns are not repeated endlessly as with other makers. Maibec’s CanExel product, their signature offering, presents a wide variety of wood grain patterns that create an amazing, authentic and exclusive style.
Maibec wood siding, is a catalog of many colours.
Maibec gives renovators access to a colour catalogue on their website and below is what’s offered in Beige – Yellow category. The house in question was resurfaced in Camel Tan 374. Maibec’s signature Can-Exel product comes in many colours and shades, and they also make and sell wood stains which can preserve the natural colour of untreated wood.
Maibec is a trusted brand in exterior home siding.
Maibec has a strong presence on the east coast of Canada and in Quebec and they’re steadily becoming more popular here in Ontario. They’ve been around for over half a century, having operated sawmills in Quebec and Maine USA since the 1960’s when they sold pressure-treated wood to the building trades. They got more heavily involved in specialty wood products in 2012 and sold their sawmills In 2018 to focus exclusively on factory-stained exterior siding.
Every significant renovation begins with demolition and Eastview Homes started this job by removing the stone siding on the ground floor. The picture below was snapped at the end of Day 1.
The windows have been replaced.
The second story is complete.
Is it okay to put wood siding over exterior brick walls?
Installing new wood siding over brick walls is hard, but not impossible. It requires the addition of furring strips, a layer of sheathing atop the brick to ensure the new cladding has something to which it can adhere. That means drilling into the brick (and not the grout) and using special screws.
Waterproofing is also necessary because the wood siding won’t be completely airtight without such flashing and caulking. Eastview always pays special attention to the parts of the house which are the most prone to leaks, and this includes areas with sharp or perpendicular angles.
When it comes to wood glue, Gorilla Glue advertises itself as the toughest adhesive on the planet and we know it’s good for exterior applications because it’s waterproof and doesn’t melt or crack in hot and cold climates. Gorilla Glue will bind wood with brick, stone, metal, and fiberglass. It dries quick, and we especially like using it when working at heights because it’s thick and doesn’t drip on our hands and heads. Also notable is a product called CT1 made by C-Tec which is also terrific adhesive for binding wood to brick and delivers durable results.
Why was the bay window changed to a window box?
There are few disadvantages to having bow windows in a residential house, but Eastview’s designers nevertheless made-over this architectural feature by inserting a window box in its place. The bow bay window illuminates the living room and adds value to the home by offering unparalleled views of the surroundings, more sunlight, and increased ventilation and airflow assuming some portion can be opened. The problem Eastview solved was having too much light.
Sometimes the extra sunlight from bay windows can be too much. Morning and afternoon rays must be cut with blinds and shades, which are hard to fit and not easily managed. In the summer months, air conditioners work overtime to combat the solar heat gain and there’s more heat loss in the winter. Additionally, circle bay windows are louder because they catch sound from three different angles.
Window boxes front and back make the house seem more uniform as per the architectural sketch seen above.
Will Maibec’s wood siding’s colours fade over time?
Yes, wood siding colors do inevitably fade, but not much and the discoloration may not even be perceptible to the homeowner or anyone who views the house regularly. To ensure excess humidity doesn’t penetrate the wood and lead to rot, the siding must be properly sealed. Stain erosion and fading are considered normal and are not unique to Maibec products
How much does Maibec wood siding cost?
There are many types and styles of wood siding which will determine the final cost. Wood siding costs can fall anywhere between $1 to $30 per square foot making it one of the more expensive options. But all natural wood siding will improve the curb appeal of your home, and will last for generations.