SUMMARY
When it comes to building homes along Lake Michigan, Cottage Home knows the need for products that start beautiful and stay beautiful. A custom builder located in Holland, Mich., Cottage Home has been building homes on the lakeshore since 2000. Since 2001, the company has relied on LP® SmartSide® Trim & Siding to provide beautiful, versatile designs that can stand up to Michigan's four seasons, explained Jeremy vanEyk, vice president and construction manager for the company.
OBJECTIVES
When it comes to building homes along Lake Michigan, Cottage Home knows the need for products that start beautiful and stay beautiful. A custom builder located in Holland, Mich., Cottage Home has been building homes on the lakeshore since 2000. Since 2001, the company has relied on LP® SmartSide® Trim & Siding to provide beautiful, versatile designs that can stand up to Michigan's four seasons, explained Jeremy vanEyk, vice president and construction manager for the company.
"Lake Michigan is beautiful on the days it's beautiful, but it's absolutely brutal in the winter or during storms. We have four seasons. Each one can be as dramatic as the other. When we choose products, they have to endure the gamut of the seasons we deal with and the environment that we build in."
And for the exteriors of its lakeshore houses, Cottage Home relies on LP SmartSide Trim & Siding and LP® SmartSide® Soffit.
IMPLEMENTATION
"SmartSide has helped us build homes that start beautiful and stay beautiful," vanEyk explained. "When you're living on the lake, you spend a lot of time outdoors. We needed an exterior product that was just as beautiful from the street as it was up close for the homeowner sitting next to it. SmartSide gives us the authentic look of wood that continues to hold up over time."
That's because the SmartGuard® manufacturing process ensures all LP SmartSide products deliver strength and durability. The process begins with geometrically controlled pieces of wood bonded together using advanced resins created specifically for the exterior of a home. Zinc borate, a recognized wood preservative for engineered wood siding, is also distributed throughout the wood substrate prior to an overlaying process that provides additional protection against the elements and creates a paint-ready surface.
With more than a decade of extensive testing in laboratory and real-world environments, LP is able to confidently offer a 5/50-Year Limited Warranty on the product.
"SmartSide is also at a price point we can afford for the types of homes we're building. There's a lot of value there. And I don't need special parts and pieces to make it work," vanEyk said. "Plus, SmartSide is available in 16-foot lengths, which means fewer seams, less caulking and more beautiful homes."
OUTCOME
"Both the product and the paint on our older homes have held up well over the years even with the Lake Michigan climate," vanEyk explained. "We started with one project in 2001 that has turned into fourteen completed homes all with SmartSide. Today we use the product on all of our homes. It allows us to provide an authentic, unique look for each home while keeping all of our custom-built homes under the Cottage Home image."
