Kyle Erdmann
Vice President, Erdmann Exteriors & Construction
Arlington Heights, Ill.
Fiber cement siding from James Hardie is a top product we offer our clients. But in the last few years, we’ve seen homeowners wanting the low-maintenance quality of fiber cement combined with the look of cedar, and we didn’t have a product to offer them.
Then our James Hardie rep told me about RusticSeries by Woodtone, a finish for fiber cement siding or engineered wood (James Hardie or otherwise) that mimics the look of cedar.
At first, I doubted that I could sell clients on a third-party finish with a higher price point than the James Hardie ColorPlus options. Why would they want to pay more for a product not offered directly by James Hardie?
But when I saw what the RusticSeries finish looks like on the fiber cement siding, I knew it would be an easy sell. The rustic look combined with the simple maintenance of fiber cement siding gives homeowners something that looks like authentic cedar but doesn’t take all their free time to care for. They also only need to remember one set of maintenance rules, rather than two for cedar and fiber cement.
As a company, offering the RusticSeries finish gives our clients more options and helps increase our revenue. I don’t have my guys running two installation procedures on a single project either, saving us time.
With 18 color options available for lap siding, shakes, panels, and trim, the RusticSeries lets us use James Hardie across the board and still offer that rustic feel homeowners want.