Fooled by faux

No kidding - some synthetic building materials are better than the real things

House Doctor | Gary Dymski

March 31, 2005

This house only looks as if it has clapboard siding and slate roof tiles, but the siding is fiber-cement and the roof tiles are a composite of fiberglass and asphalt. (Certainteed Corp. Photo / March 31, 2005)

When passersby look at the new roof on the recent addition Mark and Carolyn Lamarr put on their center hall Colonial, it doesn't seem any different from the others in their Garden City community of slate-roofed homes that are more than three quarters of a century old.

But it is. That's because it isn't slate - it just looks like slate.

The roofing shingles on the $125,000 addition are actually made of a lightweight rubberized composite that comes with a 50-year warranty and costs less than half of what a real slate roof would.

More and more, homeowners like the Lamarrs as well as builders and contractors are "going faux," selecting synthetic building materials that look and feel like the real things - wood, stone and slate, for example - but are more durable or less expensive, or both, than their natural counterparts. "Some products look so real you have to go up and knock on them and say to yourself, 'Wait a minute,'" said Brian Rosenstein of S&H Building Material Corp. in Medford.

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The list of such products includes polyurethane foam that can be carved to copy intricate architectural millwork and plaster ceiling medallions, cultured stones that appear as if they were lifted out of a Rocky Mountain river bed, and fiberglass doors with grain patterns that look so much like red oak you have to touch them to be sure. And, thermoplastic rubber roof shingles like the ones the Lamarrs used that resemble slate.

For the Lamarrs, the faux slate shingles were a logical choice. Natural slate tiles to complement the existing roof on the rest of their house would have cost nearly $20,000. Asphalt shingles would have been less expensive, "but we just couldn't do that . . .," said Mark, the hockey director at Cantiague Park ice rink in Hicksville. "It just wouldn't have looked right."

Instead, they decided to fake it and went with a roof of Lamarite, a rubberized composite by Tamko that cost nearly $7,000 - about four to five times more than the asphalt option but less than natural slate. And they maintained the aesthetic integrity of their house as well as that of the neighborhood of homes built by the Mott brothers in the 1930s.

Looks also mattered to Peter Caradonna of Stony Brook. That's why the architect called his choice of exterior siding on the historic cross-gable farmhouse he remodeled a few years ago a "no-brainer."

He picked fiber-cement siding - Hardiplank lap siding and shake shingles by James Hardie Corp., an industry leader in the faux material that looks and costs almost the same as cedar. "The home goes back to the 1890s," he explained, "and we set out to reconstruct the original design."

Caradonna, whose architectural firm is in Setauket, dismissed wood because of its high maintenance and weak performance against insects and the humid Long Island summers. "Vinyl was out, too, because it emits toxic gasses when it's improperly disposed of in the ground or when it burns. And I wanted a material that passes what I call the five-foot test," he said.

To translate, Caradonna's test means the fiber cement looks so real it can't be distinguished from wood until you get within five feet. And even then, most people who touch the synthetic lap siding and cedar shingles still can't be sure. Besides, he said, "with fiber cement, you know it's going to last."

Which, of course, is important to builders and contractors, who also are embracing these products. Contractor Mike Cannavale of Diversified Contracting in Bellmore has been using EverGrain, a synthetic lumber, to build decks the past few years. "Unlike wood, it has a consistency in color and size," Cannavale said. "It doesn't crack or splinter, and homeowners like it because it is virtually maintenance-free."

Natale Borriello of NBC Corp. in Woodmere has built three covered porches using TenduraPlank, a tongue-and-groove synthetic porch lumber. Although it can be brittle and crack during installation in cold weather, Borriello loves the way it looks when finished. "I'd definitely use it on my own house," he said. "It looks absolutely wonderful."

On a larger scale, two new developments feature fibercement siding. The Holiday Organization of Westbury is using a line of CertainTeed fiber-cement siding on all 102 homes in its Hamlet Estates of Jericho. And Pulte Homes of Medford is covering the exterior of the 189 villa-style and semiattached houses in its Westhampton Pines with Hardiplank siding. "When builders start using these materials," said S&H's Rosenstein, "it's a sign they've become acceptable, that they are durable, reliable and low-maintenance."

NEW AGE MATERIALS FOR MODERN HOME CONSTRUCTION

CULTURED STONE

Also known as artificial stone and brick veneer, these materials are created by pouring lightweight concrete into molds made from real stones and brick. Manufacturers can copy natural stone and a variety of brick styles to the tiniest detail. Because shapes and sizes of stones used to make molds are hand-picked, the artificial versions are easy to piece together. Cultured stone is used as exterior siding, in fireplace surrounds, landscape borders, security fencing and to decorate interior walls. It's lighter than natural stone, so there are significant savings in labor. The cost ranges from one-third to one-half less than natural materials.

FIBER-CEMENT SIDING

This high-end siding - made of cement, sand and cellulose fiber cured with pressurized steam - mimics wood planks, cedar shakes and vertical panels. The fiber helps prevent cracking, a common problem in concrete, and provides dimensional stability so the material can bend without easily breaking. Although it costs almost the same as premium cedar wood siding, fiber cement resists fire, insects and moisture and is impervious to UV rays. Most manufacturers offer several styles, including a cedar shake, and all have limited warranties.

FIBERGLASS DOORS