A few trends have been on the rise in recent years. Naturally, some are based on larger design trends — like dark tones and mixed materials — others are unique to roofing and cladding.
“The exterior cladding market has changed considerably over the past 5 years. With more choices than ever,” says Ted Talboom, Manager of Retail Sales at Gentek Building Products. “Traditional cladding is being combined with a wide variety of other exterior cladding such as real and faux stone, brick and shake, stucco and wood.”
In addition to this, Talboom notes that consumers are also looking for distinctive designer looks that can make their home stand out. Designs using, “rich dark earth tone colours edged in black trim combined with stone, or wood looking accents are very popular.”
At the same time, they are looking for roofs that are sustainable, functional and last. “Roofing is a grudge purchase,” says Rene Laplante, President and CEO at Ideal Roofing. “You replace the roof because you have to. But at the same time,it’s the most important part of the house.”
Mixing and Matching Materials
Homeowners are continuing the trend of mixing textures and materials to create their customized look and to up the curb appeal, experts say.
“We’re seeing a lot more instances where there are 100 or 200 sf of brick or stone being complimented by vinyl cladding and then a third material, be it printed aluminum such as our Cedar Renditions line, or shake or board and batten,” says Gary Taylor, Vice President of Sales, GM Aluminum Products at Royal Building Products.
John Vukanovich, Vice President of Marketing for Ply Gem Building Products / Mitten Siding & Accessories, agrees. “Homeowners don’t want to see a single colour and texture and that’s leading them to combine different materials such as vinyl, stone, and shake.” To add to the unique profile, Vukanovich notes homeowners and contractors are also often changing the direction siding is applied.
“People are looking for more, they are looking for something that pops on their homes,” says Wade O’Brien, Vice President of Retail at Kaycan. He says that his company’s polypropylene shakes and aluminum sidings are becoming fashion statements for the home face. To meet this demand, they are releasing a new longboard-like woodgrain product dubbed Urbanex and has also started to distribute Versetta Stone Siding.
Although in recent years, vinyl siding has lost some market share to competitive products, Talboom says it remains his company’s top selling material and owns approximately 30% of the market. This, he says, is because it’s durable, maintenance-free, economical, easy to install and has a flexible design that lends itself to a combination of other claddings.
Richer, Darker Colours
A siding trend that started in western Canada towards darker colours is making its way across the country, moving homeowners to request darker tans and reds, as well as dark blues and greys rather than traditional earth tones.
The ability for Royal Building Products to offer darker printed aluminum siding and richer wood-like textures evolved out of technology developed for the garage door industry to stamp printed metal into doors, Taylor says. “The paints weather really well, and the difference is that the technology of multi-coat printing has improved greatly in the past 10 years.”
It’s tied to roofing colours, Vukanovich suggests, which are, of course, traditionally on the darker side. Homeowners are looking for these darker colours in siding, as well as windows and other exterior products, in a bid to compliment their roofs. Of the 37 siding colours his company offers, 21 are darker, bolder ones.
“And they perform very well in terms of heat gain, last a long time and don’t fade.” He attributes this to the R&D his company has done around vinyl formulation and additives.
Laplante says his company is seeing blues and reds give way to blacks, browns and earth tones for customers of their metal roofing. “Black used to be 6th or 7th on the list of colours, but now it’s 1st; brown has moved to 2nd and charcoal gray is 3rd,” he says.
Metal Roofing Taking Off
In past decades metal roofing was viewed primarily as a commercial or agricultural trend, but residential metal roofing is the fastest growing residential roofing product, says Steve Brooks, Business Development Manager, Vicwest Building Products.
While interest in metal roof products started in the ’90s, it has been climbing exponentially in the 21st century as “more and more consumers are looking for sustainable, eco-friendly and energy efficient home improvement materials,” Brooks says. He adds that steel roofing like that offered by Vicwest is a maintenance play. “In this day and age people want a product that you have to install once. You never plan on redoing the roof, it’s just an expense that happens,” he says. “With metal roofing, it’s done for life and there’s no maintenance. That’s the long-term effect.”
In 2018, Vicwest will also be releasing a metal siding line it will name Balera. Brooks says Balera, which is expected the mid to end of the second quarter, will offer designers, architects and contractors another option to differentiate themselves. The product will be appropriate to accent, layer or pattern various looks to create exclusive aesthetics, but with the maintenance benefits of steel.
Photo courtesy of IKO Industries
Because of the greater visual depth provided, and its ease of install, consumer demand has been moving towards laminate architectural shingles, says Rob Davidson, VP of Residential Sales in Canada, IKO Industries. “Consumers are pretty well-educated on the differences between laminate and traditional 3-tab shingles,” he says.
Recently, he’s seeing a rise in demand for bolder colour patterns in his company’s laminate architectural shingles. To that end, IKO has released its Dynasty line, which boasts a more succinct blend of tones and colours for quick, secure installation.
Dynasty architectural shingles also boast a feature many contractors will love, Davidson suggests: a reinforced nail line with a larger “sweet spot” to prevent the shingles from blowing off while making it easier to use air nailers for quick, secure install.
Complete System and Warranties
BP Canada has similarly developed a half-inch nail line to its Weather-Tite shingles to create a wider nailing zone. It’s one of several new features the manufacturer has released with the contractor in mind, including longer shingles and a second line of adhesive to prevent blow off in strong winds (up to 135 mph) and the resulting call back contractors would face.
For roofing, longevity is the name of the game. While warranties of 20 years are common, Mathieu Bergeron, Technical Advisor at Resisto, compares his company’s two-ply roofing systems for flat roofs with that of a car.
“With a car, you have a warranty of five years, but after that you can continue to use it for many years beyond that. Our Basic Waterproofing and HR (high resistance) Cap Sheet are like that,” says Bergeron. “Our products will last easily 25 or 30 years if the roof is properly insulated and well maintained.”
An impact resistant shingle developed out of BP’s Edmonton plant has begun to gain traction outside the west due to the unique UV-resistant capabilities discovered in the compound. This year, the company will be offering its Vanguard IR shingles in the east for those with an eye on longevity.
To help ensure longer-lasting roofing systems, BP Canada has started to manufacture or distribute accessories that maximize life expectancy. Because of this, it has been able to extend its warranties on its BP Weather-Tite Roofing System.
“We’ve seen a lot of response in the marketplace,” says Gilles Landry, Roofing Product Line Manager at Building Products of Canada Corp. It’s a welcome step beyond the usual roofing system sale, which is focused on appearance, he suggests. “We sell aesthetic. It’s the first thing people choose,” he adds. “After all, the roof surface is 40% of the house itself.”
Visualization Tools
Nothing is worse than making a major purchase and being disappointed with the result, and to avoid that dissatisfaction, contractors are urged to point customers to the many visualization applications offered by manufacturers on their websites.
These online design tools can help contractors who might otherwise be worried about overwhelming their customers with options. Typically, they allow siding or roofing to be applied to a photo of the home. “The homeowners can experiment with colours and get an idea of what works. Most can’t afford to have a designer on staff,” he says.
Ultimately, it’s all about helping homeowners make better choices with the abundance of options currently available.
“It’s powerful,” Vukanovich says of his company’s iPad app. “Because now homeowners can participate; be shown options and, as the name implies, visualize. They can make better decisions about what they want.”