Novik’s Bruno agrees. “Getting good labor today is a challenge, so builders are looking for easy, one-person installation options. That need draws them to stone panels. They’re just as low-maintenance as other types of siding and offer benefits in being good looking and easy to install.”
Stone panels can be installed by the same crew doing the siding, notes Boral’s Zimmerman. “Skilled labor is hard to come by, and it’s especially hard to get masons,” he says. “Stone panels help to speed the project and have it done right by allowing the builder to use the same installer.”
Performance Factors Vital In addition to aesthetics, homeowners also are looking at key performance factors. “Low maintenance is a critical issue, and new products are meeting that need,” says Ply Gem’s Blais. “Customers like the aesthetics that natural products offer, but they don’t want the maintenance needs or costs of the originals.” Studies have shown that “best value” wins out as the key to the sale, but that definition can vary. “It translates to low maintenance and durability,” Blais says. “Performance factors are three of the top five criteria mentioned, with design elements such as the profiles and colors as the others.”
Boral’s Zimmerman agrees. “Homeowners want low maintenance, but by emphasizing that, they’ve allowed the aesthetic side to slide some and have lost the architectural feel that they used to get for siding,” he says. “They assumed that was necessary in the trade-off they got. But that’s not the case anymore.”
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