Homeowner Is in Love with Rich Color, Confident of Moisture Resistance
As a fifth-generation carpenter, Jim Stoll, owner of James Stoll Builders in McKean, Pa., was born into the home construction industry. He does interior and exterior remodeling with about half a dozen siding replacement projects on his schedule during a typical year.
“Construction is natural to me,” Stoll said “You have to be able to envision things that aren’t there and problem solve.”
For siding replacement projects, he has two key priorities when selecting siding for a job: durability and ease of installation. So, when an opportunity to test the new Ply Gem ELEMENTS’ siding appeared, he was all-in to see what the new, composite siding product would deliver.
What is Ply Gem ELEMENTS?
Ply Gem ELEMENTS composite siding is the first truly innovative, patent-pending exterior cladding material that will change the way contractors and homeowners think about siding. Using natural materials, including sand, it is a water-resistant, lightweight and flexible composite siding that is beautiful and built to withstand whatever Mother Nature, and everyday life, throws at it.
Its composite construction means it produces minimal dust when cut for a healthier work site and less cleanup. Plus, it’s 40% lighter than fiber cement siding, making it easier to carry multiple boards at one time and install.
It’s lighter than HardiePlank and Boral, so it’s definitely easy to install. I liked that it’s light to work with; one guy can install a panel by himself and that is a nice feature.
No-Fuss, Midwinter Installation
Stoll brought his years of expertise to a whole-home siding replacement project for Dan Stevenson, who lives in a one-story ranch home in Fairview, just outside of Erie. Built in the 1980s, Dan’s home had yellow aluminum siding with brown brick accents from the home’s original construction. He had repainted it once and decided that it was time to replace it.
Stoll’s crew of four removed the old siding, installed OSB board and house wrap and installed the new siding over the course of four weeks in December with temperatures in the teens. He cited two key benefits of using Ply Gem ELEMENTS:
- Easy, all-weather installation: “The product doesn’t have much thermal expansion and contraction, so the way you install it doesn’t vary much from summer to winter.”
- Lightweight and easy to handle: “It’s lighter than HardiePlank and Boral, so it’s definitely easy to install. I liked that it’s light to work with; one guy can install a panel by himself and that is a nice feature.”
In addition to the aesthetic benefits of the home’s new siding, Stevenson especially liked that Ply Gem ELEMENTS is moisture resistant.
“With the snow we get four to five months of the year, plus being near Lake Erie, we wanted something that could stand up to that,” he said.
Beautiful, Lake-Inspired Color Scheme
Both Stoll and Stevenson pointed to the eye-catching, blue-gray with white trim color combination that makes the house pop.
“The house looks fantastic,” Stoll said. “I was over there a week ago to show it to someone, and it just looks stellar. We used nice, white, crisp corners, soffit and fascia with contrasting dark blue-gray siding, and the contrasting colors make it look really nice.”
Stevenson said they selected the color because it was a newer siding color. He held up samples against the side of the house at different times of day, so his wife could see them under different light.
“It looks like a totally different house,” he said. “We get compliments every day from somebody new. We could not be happier.”