Cladding trends: Deep colors, wood looks, faster installs

Orlando, Fla. — Vinyl remains the most common cladding used to construct single-family houses, and both siding and decking manufacturers are giving homeowners new reasons to stick with the exterior wall material.

PlyGem expanded bold color options for the Mastic-brand vinyl siding line it unveiled in 2016 with a protective layer called SolarDefense. The proprietary formula uses a reflective technology to guard against fading and heat distortion, according to the Cary, N.C.-based building products manufacturer.

In addition, Azek Building Products promoted the use of Azek capped PVC decking as a cladding rain screen at the 2018 International Builders' Show, held Jan. 9-11 in Orlando.

Azek Building Products, a subsidiary of Azek Co., which is based in Skokie, Ill., says the new application has a wood-look curb appeal that needs no painting and sealing and won't mold, rot, stain or scratch.

"There's a very strong exterior design trend of architects and homeowners incorporating wood planks as accent walls on homes to add a warm visual," said Patrick Barnds, general manager of decking at Azek Building Products. "It's really a natural progression for us to make our premium decking available as cladding."

Formerly known as CPG International LLC, Azek Co. is the 10th-largest pipe, profile and tubing (PPT) extruder in North America with estimated sales of $360 million, according to Plastics News'​ ranking.

Azek says it is the first "leading" alternative decking maker to obtain a code compliance research report for using its products for residential cladding. Azek's decking lines called Vintage, Arbor and Harvest, which have more than a dozen colors combined, all meet requirements for cladding applications.

PlyGem has been investing in new technologies related to the trend toward darker colors in siding, James Brouillard, Ply Gem's product marketing director, said at the IBS. With estimated sales of $1.5 billion, PlyGem is the second-largest PPT extruder, the Plastics News' ranking shows.

Brouillard described SolarDefense as three layers of protection against the sun.

"We have a substrate that withstands high heat," he said. "Then, we have the capstock and then a third layer — a film that goes over it — that increases reflectivity and also helps control the heat. All these things combined give you a stronger siding and a siding that reflects more light. For us, it has been so successful that in just a few months we will launch the next generation of this product in a new profile."

Vinyl was used on 27.2 percent of new houses built for single families in 2016, compared to stucco (24.4 percent), brick or brick veneer (21.8 percent), fiber cement (20 percent), wood (4.4 percent), and rock or stone materials (1.3 percent), according to the latest year of data available from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The construction outlook for single-family houses — and vinyl — remains positive. Starts are projected to increase 5 percent this year to 893,000 units, followed by another 5 percent in 2019 to 940,000 units, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Two other polymer siding products also are expected to make inroads with homebuilders and remodelers in 2018. CertainTeed recently launched Icon polyurethane composite siding, and Derby Building Products released two new colors of its Tando beach house shake, which is made of polypropylene.

Icon comes in 16-foot-long panels that resemble wide-plank cedar and are lightweight enough for one contractor to carry five at a time and install them in a few steps. The product can be cut and painted easily and has a patented stud-finder system and a 30-year warranty.

CertainTeed is marketing Icon as a high-performing alternative to fiber cement and composite wood.

"It's not going to expand and contract on the wall the way other products do," CertainTeed Marketing Manager Kelly Warren said. "It's not going to crack, delaminate and peel over time either because of the minimal moisture absorption related to this product."

Based in Malvern, Pa., CertainTeed had estimated PPT sales of $640 million in 2017 and is the fifth-largest extruder in North America, according to Plastics News' ranking.

Derby, which is based in Quebec City and was previously called Novik Inc., produces the Tando (professional) and Novik (more DIY) brands of cladding that mimic wood and stone and have no upkeep. The new colors are a mid-tone gray called Hatteras and a western red-cedar look called Pacifica. Like the rest of the line, the shake is designed to evoke a beach house feeling and can be used at the roofline or ground level because PP is impervious to moisture.

"With unmatched realism, every shake is as unique as a fingerprint, with a varied texture and no repeated patterns," Derby CEO Ralph Bruno said in a news release.

The beach house shake products are available across the U.S. and Canada and come with 50-year warranties.