A new design tool that anyone trying to choose exterior mouldings should look at

“Our customers were always overwhelmed when trying to select the right combination. With over 100 shapes in our catalogue, we understood how they felt and created a real time rendering program to make the selection process easier”, says Davide Aternino of Mouldex.

If you have tried it, you’ll understand why.Once you’re logged in, a pre-selected section of a home appears with a random design already loaded. The bottom selection shows the current combination. This is the area that allows you to change any of the features on the home with the click of a button.To change the wall facade, crown moulding, window and door trims, window sills, band and columns, simply click “Change” and your options will appear on the right hand side. Then click on any moulding and it will instantly appear on the home. Every one of their profiles is available to view and in proper scale. Mix and match any variation according to your taste.

Homeowners and stucco contractors alike will get a kick out of this program. It’s the first of its kind and best of all, it’s free to use. Mouldex still does custom 3D renderings for those who want a clearer peek of their actual home but to test different moulding combinations with each other, this does the trick.

For more information on Mouldex Curb Appeal, please visit http://www.mouldexcurbappeal.com.To find a reliable and reputable stucco contractor in North York, Toronto, Moncton or anywhere else in Canada, please fill out the form below and we’ll get in touch with you within 24 hours.

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- the stuccocontractors.ca team

 

- the stuccocontractors.ca team

Turning something old into something new: Retrofitting with stucco/EIFS

If you live in a large Metropolitan city, the reality of looking for a new home at an attractive price point is getting increasingly difficult given the current state of the real estate market.

Jason and Valentina from Mississauga are a text book case. “We were tired of the bidding wars”, says Jason. “We went to an open house last weekend, Val and I both loved the house, we could have definitely called it home but we saw there was plenty of interest from all the agent cards left at the front door. Our own agent advised the house might get an extra 20-25k above asking.” If you were listening and watching Jason tell their story, you could tell this was a battle they didn’t win. “When it came time on Tuesday to make an offer, we didn’t even get a call back. We found out the next day that the house sold for $181,000 above list! How can we compete with that?! We’ve made a conscious decision to stay here but it does need some improvement. Instead of putting money into buying a new home, we’re going to improve ours.”

Renovating or retrofitting with stucco/EIFS is a good choice for older homes. First and foremost, you’ll be adding curb appeal to your home by giving it an exterior facelift. Second, you’ll be bringing your home up-to-speed in terms of energy efficiency. And third, stucco/EIFS requires very little yearly maintenance.

CURB APPEAL
We could always use more, the exterior of our homes is usually the first and only impression it will make to passers by. And when it comes to curb appeal, EIFS ranks as a top choice  with its endless array of options. First, you can pick any colour under the sun. So if you want a Peacock Blue home, you can have it. Second, there are many different textures you can select. We have a whole section on stucco colours and textures on our website, including a colour selector and tips on how to choose the right stucco colours, visit www.stuccocontractors.ca/choosing_a_stucco_colour for more information. It really is a handy guide and a great starting point.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The old adage certainly applies when we say, “Things just aren’t built like they used to be”. And it’s no different when we speak about houses. Older homes are great, they have a certain aura of design that is rarely seen in today’s construction. While modern building can certainly take some notes on design of old, there is still one thing that needs to be addressed. And it’s a big one. Energy efficiency.

The ADEXRES-VLS system is a perfect and inexpensive system for retrofitting.

If you live in an older home, you’re probably used to high heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer. The fact is, insulation standards have a come a long way since then and living green not only for the sake of the environment but for our pocketbook as well is an issue that won’t go away unless it’s dealt with.

The EIFS system to the left is a popular choice among retrofit projects because not only does it properly address the issue of energy efficiency, it also comes at an attractive price point.

Here is how it is put together;
1. Membranes
2. Polyisocyanurate board
3. Basecoat and mesh
4. Finish coat

The insulation factor is supplied by #2, the polyisocyanurate board, hard to pronounce, even harder working. Polyisocyanurate are very light insulation panels whose compressive strength and components allow them to be installed directly on a building’s vertical furrings.  Add this and you can put those savings from your energy bills into landscaping the front yard.

MAINTENANCE
Wouldn’t life be better if it were maintenance free? If your lawn just cut itself every week, your garden planted its own seeds and the wood portions on your home re-painted automatically? You’d have more time on your hands than you’d know what to do with. Unfortunately, such is not the case. While you can put Astroturf on your lawn to rid of the weekly cutting, there’s a way to reduce the amount of time spent on re-painting exterior wood portions on your home. Replace it with stucco/EIFS.

Imagine getting rid of removing peeling paint, priming, 1st finish coat, 2nd finish coat… and this just doesn’t only apply to walls, but for mouldings too.

Pre-based foam mouldings are made from foam and cement, a completely inorganic duo that is  unaffected by Mother Nature’s elements. Rotting? No. Warping? No. Insect troubles? No. And the only reason why you would have to re-paint? If you wanted to change colour. And it comes in plenty of styles to suit your home’s design. We have a page dedicated to exterior stucco mouldings, how they’re made, how to select the right ones, please visit http://www.stuccocontractors.ca/exterior_stucco_mouldings_and_trim

We may be biased because we work in the stucco/EIFS industry but with what other material can you get maximum curb appeal, optimum energy efficiency and an exterior that requires little yearly maintenance?

To find a reliable and reputable stucco contractor in North York, Toronto, Moncton or anywhere else in Canada, please fill out the form below and we’ll get in touch with you within 24 hours.

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- the stuccocontractors.ca team

 

North York Stucco Contractor – Just Finished

A harmonious effect is created when the wall colour is the same as the mouldings (Click to enlarge)

We stopped by to see Glen and Erica after one of our North York Stucco Contractors just recently finished their stucco project.

We helped them find their contractor and just wanted to follow-up to see how everything went.

“We love our new home, the stucco looks great and the moulding work is seamless. Our contractor explained everything they were doing and aside from a few rainy days, stuck to their timeline and we were really pleased with that.”

And we love this home too. We’re big fans of keeping both the colour of the stucco wall and mouldings the same. It has a calming effect and really works well in light gray.

But what if it were another colour? Say a dark brown, would it give the same effect? In our opinion, not really. We feel when a homeowner chooses this technique, a light hue is the best route to go. This will allow the shadows, midtones and highlights to properly interact with each other  since the base colour is light. If it were dark, all three would get mixed in together and create a chaotic visual. While it may be bold, it will be for the wrong reasons.

That’s not to say we don’t like when the stucco and mouldings are different colours, we do as long as the combination works. We have a page dedicated on how to choose the right stucco colour and texture for your home. You can find that on our main website at http://stuccocontractors.ca/colours_textures.html.

And if you need advice, please give us a call a toll-free,  1 (888) 260 8899. We’ll be glad to assist as best as we can. But at the end of the day, you’re the one who will be coming back to your home every night so first and foremost, you should be pleased with it. Not your neighbours.

To find a reliable and reputable stucco contractor in North York, Toronto, Moncton or anywhere else in Canada, please fill out the form below and we’ll get in touch with you within 24 hours.

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Oakville Stucco Contractor – Proposed Concept

We completely transformed this once brick home into a stucco and stone masterpiece

One of the things we love about 3D renderings is the ability to let our imaginations run wild.

We started this with one of our Oakville Stucco Contractors and our client was very pleased.

We don’t have the before shot handy but here is what the home will look like when it is finished.

To give you an idea, the current lay of the land is all brick. After owning the home for just over a year, Vince and Tara thought it was time to personalize their investment with a complete exterior over-haul by adding their own curb appeal.

The idea is to add a stone skirt all around the house about 3′ in height from the ground. From then on, stucco will takeover, including the roof dormers that are at the moment, aluminum siding.

Vince and Tara requested that the stucco be a similar colour to their roof. We thought this was a wise choice considering their roof is quite high and attracts a high amount of visual attentiveness.

Each window on the lower floor is trimmed with MX126 from Mouldex Exterior Mouldings and uses the stone cap MX201 as the running sill across each elevation. On the dormer windows, a thinner version of the MX201 is used as the sill as a more subtle substitute.

One of the things Vince and Tara really liked was that we were able to match them with a contractor that does both stucco and stone. Their choice was a cultured stone and various contractors in our network are certified installers as well. So with one hire, they had one contact, one contract and one company which made figuring out timelines and schedules a whole lot easier.

We’re seeing the stucco & stone trend emerge more and more as of late, and why not? It creates a higher level of visual impact whether it’s a 3′ stone skirt or complete accent walls to better define the look of a home.

We’ll follow up with Vince and Tara as their project progresses.

To find a reliable and reputable stucco contractor in North York, Toronto, Moncton or anywhere else in Canada, please fill out the form below and we’ll get in touch with you within 24 hours.

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Toronto Stucco Contractor: Proposed Concept

3D Rendering of stucco house completed for one of our Toronto Stucco Contractors (Click to Enlarge)

We thought we would share our latest 3D rendering from a project starting next week.

This one was done in collaboration with Anthony and Wendy from Scarborough, ON and one of our Toronto Stucco Contractors.

The current house stands with brick and a stone entrance. We took their curb appeal to a whole new level, not only with stucco, but by  adding crown mouldings under the soffit and trim around their windows and doors.

We also used reveals to make their entrance stand out. We like to exaggerate front entrances because it’s the first place on-lookers see when they view your house. Why not make it pop?

And that wasn’t the only thing. To replace the corner quoins, we decided to run pilasters up the side, topped off by the crown at top. The crowns were built out around the pilasters to enhance each top corner. Nice effect that we rarely see.

We tied the corner pilasters into the design of the windows and doors by using the same shape, just a different size for proportion purposes. Half to be exact. Each window and door uses a 6″ pilaster on the vertical edges and a header along the horizontal. The bottom of the windows have a sill, complete with a slope and drip-edge for water management.

And to finish it off, to hide the expansion joint that would cut through the middle of the house, we used a mid-band that would also act as the trimming for the portico.

To find a reliable and reputable stucco contractor in North York, Toronto, Moncton or anywhere else in Canada, please fill out the form below and we’ll get in touch with you within 24 hours.

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How Architectural Foam Mouldings Are Made

Back in March of 2010, The Discovery Channel film crew arrived at the offices of Mouldex Mouldings to begin filming a segment for their How It’s Made program. After a solid 10 hours of filming, we now have a great understanding of the work these guys do day in and day out.

Mouldex Mouldings opened their doors in 2001 and have been providing quality exterior stucco mouldings (along with great prices and unmatched service) since. Please visit their website, www.mouldexmouldings.com or call them at
1 888 MOULDEX.

To find a reliable and reputable stucco contractor in North York, Toronto, Moncton or anywhere else in Canada, please fill out the form below and we’ll get in touch with you within 24 hours.

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- the stuccocontractors.ca team

 

Mouldex Mouldings on How It’s Made

 

Congratulations to Mouldex and their team, great job on their Discovery Channel segment

We’d like to congratulate Mouldex Mouldings for their appearance on How It’s Made on The Discovery Channel. They obviously put in a lot of hard work to make it happen and we have to say it was one greatly informative segment.

If you missed it, re-runs will be airing regularly and an online link will be posted shortly.

If you want to check out Mouldex Mouldings online, visit http://www.mouldexmouldings.com.

Until our next post,

The stuccocontractors.ca team