Authentic Cedar Lap Look of CertainTeed Fiber Cement Siding Helps Commercial Building Meet Historic District Requirements
(Valley Forge, Pa.) – With its authentic cedar lap siding appearance, CertainTeed® WeatherBoards™ fiber cement siding recently helped a commercial building in Holden, Mass., meet the exterior cladding requirements of the town’s historic Main Street district. Built in 1968 in the style of a late 1700s Garrison home, the building had long been a funeral home before a national pharmacy chain bought it a few years ago.
The chain had plans to demolish the building and construct a new pharmacy, but a Holden businessman approached them with an offer to buy it and move it next to his gas station on Main Street. His offer was accepted, and the building was moved, following the conditioned approval of the Holden Historical Society. One condition was that the building’s original vinyl siding must be replaced with traditional wood clapboard siding to meet the exterior cladding requirements of its new historic neighborhood. However, the owner wanted a lower maintenance material on the building’s exterior. With the help of architect John Boyce, remodeling contractor Holden Home Modernizing Inc. and CertainTeed Senior Territory Manager Jay Cahalane, he was able to convince the historical society to allow WeatherBoards fiber cement siding as a viable, low-maintenance alternative to wood.
“The historical society wouldn’t allow any kind of vinyl detail on the exterior,” Boyce says. “Fiber cement siding came up as another wood-emulating low-maintenance material option, so we submitted it to them, and they accepted. They weren’t familiar with the product, but were happy with it because the look and the feel is so similar to wood. Until you go up and actually touch it, you don’t realize that it’s not wood.”
Holden Home Modernizing removed the building’s vinyl siding, installed CertainTeed CertaWrap™ Weather Resistive Barrier over the exterior sheathing and about 30 squares of WeatherBoards 5-1/4-inch Cedar Lap fiber cement siding featuring the ColorMax® finishing system in the color Silverplate. The crew also installed CertainTeed Restoration Millwork® solid cellular PVC trim on corners and around doorways. The job ran smoothly and garnered excellent feedback from the building owner, his neighbors and his customers at the gas station next door.
“The building had become a bit of an eyesore after it was moved, so I think the neighbors were glad to see all of our exterior improvements, and the building owner is very happy as well,” says Alan Vilian, owner of Holden Home Modernizing. “He’s told me that people sometimes get out of their cars at the gas station and say they didn’t realize that the siding on the building next door was wood, and he’ll say ‘It’s not wood—it’s fiber cement.’ For a pre-finished product, it has a beautiful and authentic look.”
WeatherBoards fiber cement siding features CertainTeed’s exclusive TrueTexture™ system, which utilizes a direct transfer system from real cedar boards to create an authentic wood appearance. Backed by a 50-year limited transferrable warranty, the product has a Class A (1) flame spread rating and is impact-resistant, impervious to wood-boring insects, resists UV rays and will not rot. WeatherBoards siding is available in 16 solid colors and 6 natural wood stains through the ColorMax finishing system or can be primed and sealed for painting after installation. It is the only fiber cement siding with a third-party validated life cycle assessment, is NAHB Green Approved and third-party certified for recycled content by GreenCircle™ Certified, LLC. For more information, go to www.certainteed.com.
About CertainTeed
Through the responsible development of innovative and sustainable building products, CertainTeed, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pa., has helped shape the building products industry for more than 100 years. Founded in 1904 as General Roofing Manufacturing Company, the firm's slogan "Quality Made Certain, Satisfaction Guaranteed," quickly inspired the name CertainTeed. Today, CertainTeed® is North America’s leading brand of exterior and interior building products, including roofing, siding, fence, decking, railing, trim, foundations, pipe, insulation, gypsum, ceilings and access covers.
A subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, the world’s largest building products company, CertainTeed and its affiliates have more than 6,000 employees and more than 60 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Canada. Recognized as a 2009 and 2010 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CertainTeed earned the 2011 and 2012 ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award, the highest level of recognition for outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through energy efficiency. The group had total sales of approximately $3.2 billion in 2011. www.certainteed.com
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