Home builders today are challenged as never before to deliver quality homes at affordable prices. The current economic climate -- reduced access to credit, lower prices, and nervous investors -- means builders must compete in a tough buyer's market. It's essential to reduce costs wherever possible.
Yet, home buyers still demand top quality and enduring beauty.
Increasingly, builders are solving this dilemma by taking advantage of modern materials like artificial stone veneer, sometimes referred to as a stone facing, manufactured stone, or faux stone. This remarkable material makes possible fresh and innovative designs, greater flexibility, and reduced costs, all adding up to the ever-important curb appeal that attracts qualified buyers.
Out With The Old
Traditional brick is a proven building material and has been used for centuries. But it is also expensive, both in its initial cost and in the added costs of shipping, masonry labor, and reinforced foundations required to support its extra weight.
To counter these drawbacks, builders have lately turned to vinyl siding, drawn by its cheaper cost, lighter weight, and easier installation. But these advantages are not enough to overcome a major drawback: the tendency to use the siding in unimaginative, even boring designs.
The popularity of brick and the convenience of vinyl siding has inhibited creativity and led to a rash of new subdivisions filled with repetitive designs that look as if they all came off the same assembly line. Limiting themselves to these conventional materials means many builders miss opportunities to attract new and design-conscious buyers.
In With The New
Countering this trend, savvy builders have discovered the range of possibilities provided by artificial stone veneer. Modeled after natural stone and virtually indistinguishable from the original, artificial stone veneer is manufactured from a formulation of Portland cement, natural aggregates, and carefully selected pigments. Durable, light weight, and easy to work with, the material can substitute for wall stone in both interior and exterior projects ranging from chimneys and fireplaces, to fences, pillars, stone walls, and stone facings.
There is also the option to add stone veneer to popular traditional materials like wood siding, stucco, and board-and-batten, giving your home a custom-built look at affordable prices. Now, in combination with stone veneer accents, these techniques make possible unique designs that are more attractive then vinyl siding and less expensive than traditional brick.
Solid Savings
Using artificial stone veneer instead of traditional brick leads to remarkable savings. Besides the lower cost of the product itself, artificial stone veneer's light weight means a substantial reduction in the cost of shipping, labor, and foundations and footings. For example, builders can easily achieve a savings of between $1,700 and $4,000 (Canadian) on an average-sized detached home.
When selecting a vendor for artificial stone veneer, it's important to look for a company with both a superior product and a solid reputation. For Canadian builders, Stone Selex satisfies both requirements.
In addition to its existing product line from Artistic Stone, Stone Selex is now an authorized distributor for Canyon Stone, giving customers -- builders and renovators alike -- even more options for creating stunning stone designs to attract buyers and increase the value of a home. For your security, they offer a 50-year warranty on every stone they sell, keeping you covered for generations to come.
Contact Stone Selex to find out more about how you can achieve real savings with artificial stone.
Jerry Lebiedzinski is the President of Stone Selex, a premier supplier of artificial stone wall and manufactured stone in Canada. Visit Stone Selex at http://www.stoneselex.com for the best options in manufactured stone veneer
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