Ceramic Siding

June 21, 2005 - July 11, 2005

      Many of the D.R. Horton homes in Osprey Lakes suffered some water intrusion as a result to the hurricanes in 2004.  It is not clear whether the relentless horizontal rain from those storms actually penetrated the walls or if water was driven under the eaves to enter the home.  What we did know is that some water got inside.  And on the outside, paint blistered off the stucco as if it were lightly sand blasted.  As young as these homes are, many residents have already contracted painting services.

      We felt that we needed to have our one year young home newly painted too.  Additionally, coats of a water barrier material such as DRYLOK® would be needed.  But earlier in the year we learned about other solutions at the Orlando Home Show.

      Stucco needs to be repainted every few years to be ideally maintained.  It also cracks in the Florida sun and it requires regular maintenance to keep the home looking its best.  We already found that stucco breaks down in persistently strong winds and horizontal rain.  If we simply paint the stucco, even with an added water barrier treatment, we might still find ourselves faced with cracked and rain-ripped surfaces the very next time a fierce storm crosses Florida.

      There were a number of companies at the Home Show that offered alternatives to repainting.  Ultimately, Florida Ceramic Exteriors (FCE) offered us the most compelling reason to choose their product and installation services over all the others. 

      To the point, FCE kept their appointment to see us in our home and we were attracted to a number of benefits of the product.  Ceramic siding promises to never crack or fade.  It withstands winds to 200 mph.  It water proofs while we are still allowing the home to "breathe".  Hence, its stops mold and mildew.  We would save a lot of money in the short term by simply repainting, but all it would take is one more storm and we may feel that we have to think about painting again.  Moreover, it made sense to us to apply what we had expected to pay to paint the house to a much more superior solution that protects and adds value to the home.

      The Orlando Home Show generated a lot of leads for FCE and they were quickly booked solid; especially as hurricane season kicks in.  Once we decided to move forward, it has taken several weeks for work to get underway.  On Tuesday, June 21, it all started.  A crew of three arrived and began the prep work.  By day's end, most of the downspouts were removed, the entire house was power washed and fixtures were taped to keep them safe from overspray.

Each evening, Lynn and I walk around the house and inspect the work after the crew has gone home for the day.  As with any job, we find things that we have questions about and I make a short list to ask about them the next morning.

      So far, we are very pleased, but there were a few items we noted after the first day.  One was that the fixtures were not removed, they were taped.  The salesman told us the process included the removal of fixtures.  This is important in case the fixtures are ever replaced with something that has a differently shaped mounting.  A new fixture might allow an untreated area to be exposed.  The crew readily agreed to remove the fixtures after this was brought up, but we have had to identify them almost one by one.

      A second note we made was that a big selling point the salesman brought up was how the area around the house would be trenched to allow the material to be applied beneath the grass line.  The crew did a great job getting started with this step and they did an even better job after we pointed out a couple of areas that needed a little more elbow grease.  A third note was that any chipped or open areas in the stucco was to be patched prior to applying material.  Being just over a year old, the house didn't need much of this, but the salesperson found one spot and just this evening, we found a couple more.  Each time we point these out to the crew, they handle it promptly.

      It is clear that this is a conscientious group of people, but like anything else, it always helps to make sure you get what you pay for with frequent inspections.  They seem to appreciate knowing what concerns me before they complete the work.  It is a lot easier to work that way than to have to start a number of small projects after the work is otherwise complete.

      We've invested more than a shiny nickel to protect our home in this way and the crew seems to appreciate our rights to ask questions and ask for a bit more perfection here and there.  At the same time, we make an effort to understand what is being done and limit requests for those things we know really should be addressed.  The crew deserves to be respected for their expertise and relatively free to continue their work without undue interruptions.  At least those our our philosophies and they seem to work well for us.

      Above are images of the house at the end of each of the two first days.  On the left, the house has had the prep material applied and most of the primer.  The right photograph was taken Thursday afternoon.  The entire house is white with primer.  Originally, I was advised that the final coats of paint would be applied on Thursday, but the crew found that their inventory did not include material with mixed color.  As a result, we may be faced with a house that essentially has all windows and doors masked off throughout the weekend.  I will learn in the morning whether the properly mixed top coats will be ready or not.  I was asked to be prepared for the worst and expect the job to be completed on Monday.

      We decided on keeping all the colors the same because we liked the original choices and we wanted to minimize the chances for delay on having the project approved by the Architectural Review Board.

      Above are images inside the screened-in lanai.  We could have saved money and chose not to treat all or part of the lanai since much of it is rarely exposed to the worst of sun and rain, but we felt doing the entire project correctly once would be best and to add this area cost less now than to do it alone sometime in the future.

      In the photograph above left, the downspouts lie safely where they will not likely be taken or stepped on by local children.  With all the treefrogs that later emerged, I am glad that we did not store the pipes in the garage.  I am also glad that no snakes have appeared to be hidden inside.  Only one small baby snake was located and killed by the crew that I know of as they trenched around the house.  I wish they had placed it in a trash bag rather than on it for me to take care of, but of well.

      In the above right photograph, the crew has shielded the ceiling fan with plastic.  We originally thought that the fan would be removed, however, the way they handled it will be fine.

      The crew was unable to get the paint colors mixed in time to do any additional work on the home on Friday or the following Monday.  However, they did a great job keeping us advised and they arrived early on Tuesday, July 28 with the materials they required.

It has rained a lot during this week.  On Wednesday, July 29, the crew arrived early and did a great deal of trim work and clean up.  The crew boss is extremely detail oriented and, in some cases, has higher expectations than we do.                  The crew arrived in the afternoon on Thursday hoping the morning rains would be it for the

day, but it did rain again in  the late afternoon.  Although the crew did what they could in the rain to clean up and paint specific trim areas, we were advised that one last partial day for detail work would be needed.

      The good news for us is that all our mid-work concerns have virtually been addressed.  The colors are exactly what we requested and the majority of clean up has already been completed.

      On Saturday, July 2, Lynn and I were about to leave for a planned trip to see our daughter-in-law at Ft. Bragg over the holiday when Dean arrived to do final touch-up and clean-up.

      When we returned on Tuesday, July 5, it was late, so Lynn and I inspected the work on the late afternoon of July 6.  We are very pleased.  There are some instances of overspray and we did notice a different tone in gray in some of the touch-up work, but we are confident that can be remedied as soon as Dean stops back by.

Happy Ending . . .                           July 11, 2005.  Dean and his crew arrived early today armed with a final inspection checklist I had faxed to his attention earlier in the week.  As it turned out, I had taken Lynn to work earlier in the morning and gone back to sleep.  When I rose, the crew was well underway to complete the work.

CONCLUSION . . .

      There are several companies that provide superior paint applications using materials to stand up to Florida rain, sun and winds.  While we are not able to compare the work provided by FCE to all of the others, we can share what we did like and appreciate.

• The initial sales call was friendly and straight forward.  There is no way to eliminate the feeling of "being sold", but answers to our questions were forthright and apparently honest.

• Although the cost of this type of premium product and service is measurably greater than simply repainting the home, we didn't want to have to repaint the home year after year.  Weather experts predict we are amidst a long term hurricane cycle that may not end soon.  The ceramic siding on our home is guaranteed not to crack, peel or fade and it is guaranteed to allow the home to breathe while keeping hard driven moisture out.  It's another perfect example of getting what you pay for.

• The crew was always headed up by the same supervisor who seemed to not only be proud of the company he worked for, but also of his own work.  The salesman promised more than once that was an attribute of having their crews on their payrolls and not dealing with subcontractors.  We really feel that we benefited from that fact and it was one of the primary reasons we selected FCE over companies that simply sell the services of their subcontractors.

• The supervisor never expected us to become paint experts.  He proactively showed us what to look for, how he had already taken care of things we may have missed and welcomed our comments and questions throughout the process.  He NEVER argued with details we wanted to discuss or have addressed and NEVER attempted to sell us on settling with anything less than as perfect as a job as humanly possible.

• It is fair to note that from start to finish, the job took 21 days to be completed.  It was also several weeks after we decided to hire FCE that the work got started.  Typically, a home would take far less time.  In our case, the company accepted a paint delivery without our color mixed as it should have been.  That, combined with rain delays, contributed to the additional time.  However, we also made it clear that we didn't have a deadline and we didn't want the work rushed.  Just the same, it has become an investment of time as well as money to see the end result.

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