Welcome to our new Exterior Portfolio by Crane blog. We created this blog to have an open and honest communication format with our distributors, contractors, homeowners and of course our employees. We really only have two requests of anyone posting here. First that your communications are open and honest and second that they are respectful and courteous. 
What can you do in your home in order to live a “Greener” lifestyle?
Green, sustainable, waste, reuse, recycle and many other words are part of what has become a daily environmental discussion in today’s world. The English have a proverb “Great talkers are little doers.”
Turn talk into doing. Here are 10 Sustainable tips for you to try in your home which will save on energy and money
1. Unplug appliances (i.e. cell phone charges, TV’s) when not in use. It has been estimated by the EPA that electronics drawing power when turned “off” cost the average homeowner $100 per year.
2. Install compact fluorescents. They use a fraction of the energy consumed by old-fashioned incandescent bulbs. This can save you over $40 a year.
3. Repair leaky fixtures. One drop per second from a leaky faucet can waste as much as 10 gallons of water each week.
4. Water your yard & garden at the right time to reduce water usage. You minimize evaporation by watering early in the morning or at sunset when the temperature is cooler.
5. Set a five minute timer when you get in the shower to help you use less water. If you hear the timer go off then you know you are taking too long and using extra water.
6. Lower the Flow. Perhaps your old shower head delivers a lot more water then you really need. Reduce that to 2.5 gallons a minute or less with today’s standard shower head – it can make a difference in your water bill. For a more significant savings, replace your old toilets with today’s standard low flush models that use 1.6 gallons or less per flush.
7. Set your thermostat a few degrees lower this winter to save on heating cost.
8. Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. As much as 85 percent of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the water. Hang-dry your clothes as much as you can.
9. Maintain windows & Storm doors and consider window treatments. A close fitting shade can reduce heat loss in winter by 20 percent or more.
10. Keep the doors that lead outside your house closed. This will help reduce the amount of energy needed to cool or heat your home.
Great Performance in Darker Colors
I often get asked if siding in darker colors such as our Coastal Shores Collection are more prone to warping or “oil canning” than lighter ones. The short answer is, not if the siding is installed properly… Let me explain. We all know that darker colors absorb more heat than light colors. Just think of walking down your cement sidewalk on a hot day in your bare feet and stepping onto a blacktop driveway. Big difference. Well the same goes for siding products. On a sunny 55ºF day the surface temperature of beige siding for example, could be 70ºF, whereas a dark brown siding could be 100ºF or higher. Given that Vinyl products expand when they are hotter and contract when they are cooler, it’s understandable that darker colored vinyl siding products move or expand and contract more often and at lower ambient temperatures than do lighter ones. Therefore, it is vital that the dark colored products be installed to the manufacturer’s specifications. If care is taken to insure freedom of movement, these dark colored products will perform wonderfully, giving you a beautiful long lasting, low maintenance exterior for your home.
Social Marketing Tools - Twitter
Its hard to deny that the economy is floating along in the gutter behind a row of houses that are in desperate need of some curb appeal. Jim Crane, who founded Crane Plastics in 1947 was recently heard saying that this economy is the worst he’s ever seen. Mind you, Mr. Crane lived through the Great Depression.
Economic conditions are forcing Exterior Portfolio to rethink how we are to do more with less. We are being asked to rethink our own processes and become more and more efficient which will result in higher levels of service to our customers. Fortunately, web-based technologies such as Twitter as well as other social media opportunities have emerged seemingly just in the nick of time. Twitter has given us a free tool to become engaged in real-time conversations with the people in our communities who could be the next potential customer.
There’s hardly a local or national news station, talk show host, cable television station or celebrity that hasn’t jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. These organizations are fighting for the consumer’s ear and have become virtual masters of micro-blogging overnight. Thanks to Ashton Kutcher, Oprah, Ellen and others, Twitter has become the phenom of the year touting nearly 20 million users, up from 5 million well under a year ago.
But like any other marketing tool, there are a few rules of engagement. Social media needs to be regarded as a virtual face to face encounter. If you typically wouldn’t interrupt 2 strangers on the street only to talk to them about your services, you shouldn’t attempt the same on Twitter.
Here’s some help. Be open and honest about who you are. Twitterers are experts at sniffing out the phonies. Listen to what people are saying. Engage in real conversations that may not orbit around you selling your wares. Follow people with whom you have common interests. Become acquantences first then mention your business intentions. Build relationships with people who will someday become evangelists for your services. Finally, have something real to say when you begin posting about business services. Constant and blatant advertising are a huge turn-off to the Twitter community.
Twitter success doesn’t happen over night. I recently blocked someone who had become a “follower” because after viewing their profile I realized that I was among 60+ thousand others that Twitter member was following. Seeing that staggering number just sounded like a pathetic attempt at selling a useless kitchen utensil. The question becomes, how can you follow 60+ thousand people and positively contribute to the conversation? Start small and grow, just like you did at the beginning of your career.
If you’re already Twittering, I’d really like to hear from you and become one of your followers. I’m always interested to hear how our customers are using social media (as well as the web). Just shoot me an email: bworkman@exteriorportfolio.com
A Thousand Words…
A picture is worth a thousand words, right? And to me – I think a thousand isn’t enough.
I tend to be a more visual person. You can describe anything but if I can’t see it - it’s hard for me to picture it in my head – no pun intended. This goes for anything.
So think about changing the outside of your home. The weather is warming up for most of us. You go outside, start thinking about landscaping and gardening and then look at the outside of your home. Time for a change? Then your mind starts going – “What if I paint the front door?” “Roof is looking pretty worn.” “Maybe this is the year to remodel”. So you go to Google and start doing searches on exterior design.
What are you looking for? Images. Photo galleries. Ideas. Homes that are similar to yours. Before and Afters. What makes a better statement than “here it is today; here’s what it could be tomorrow?”
And now with the countless ways you can interact with a few clicks and a modem, you can design your house and email to your friends and family. Post an image to your blog or your own web page. The bragging rights are endless.
We like to brag too. We love exteriors. We love to see what others have done with our products and give them recognition. If you’re a contractor, what better way to show off your work than a photo gallery or a brochure that features your job? Or a homeowner who posted her new home on Facebook?
When I remodeled the exterior of my home, I went through all of this planning – from product samples to googling images to asking everyone I knew what they thought of the products and colors I selected. Once it was done, I e-blasted my new home photos to everyone in my address book. In this day and age of information sharing, why wouldn’t I?
Can you guess which Smart Styles I used??
So why don’t you do the same. Send us your photos. Tell us how you are using our products in designing your homes.
Again, a picture is worth a thousand words. What is yours saying?
Sustainability Continues to Grow
Sustainability continues to come up in more and more places. It is discussed with our customers, architects, suppliers, at universities on projects, and it came up loud and clear at the latest VSI Industry meeting attended by Jim Ziminski. This issue is clearly gaining momentum in the marketplace and there is no market leader in our industry. Hearing that tells us we have a distinct opportunity at Exterior Portfolio to be the market leader in Sustainability.
We recently announced that Sustainability was going to be a critical focus moving forward. Jim Hosley, Vice-President of Operations, has been asked to head up this important initiative for our company. His focus will be lead both internally and externally on the development of short and long term goals of Sustainability. Jim has a terrific track record of tackling complex tough issues and analyzing them to develop actionable plans to reach the goals our business needs to be achieved. These skills will be critical to the success of our goal which simply stated is to be the recognized leader in sustainability in the exterior cladding marketplace.
It will take a lot of focused research and work to become the leader but we can and will achieve this with the proper focus. When we are able to do this it will become a distinct competitive advantage for our company and our brand. The recent VSI Meeting taught us that a number of third party organizations such as NAHB (National Home Builders) and VI (Vinyl Institute) to name just a few that are getting ready to certify products “green” on their websites. We need to position ourselves as leaders in this area. This truly can be a new Blue Ocean for our company.
BellaStone Architectural Column Caps
Q. When Installing the cap onto my BellStone column, can I just glue it on or do i have to mechanically fasten it?
A. Just gluing is fine. We recommend a heavy duty construction adhesive such as PL400 Subfloor & Deck Adhesive or Titebond Heavy Duty Construction Adhesive. Run a 3/8″ bead of adhesive along the outer top edge of the column, then install the cap, pressing it into the adhesive.
Damaged Corner Post
Q. Can I replace a damaged vinyl corner post without tearing down all my siding?
A. Absolutley. You simply remove the facing of the damaged post and replace it with new the facing of a new post. There are detailed instructions and drawings contained on page 23 of the CraneBoard Installation Manual which can be found on our web site www.exteriorportfolio.com.
Philosophy of Service
Today’s economy and market conditions are a difficult reality we are all facing. We all have to make decisions about where, when, and how to use our resources. As consumers, these resources may include time, money, gas, groceries, family, friends, and co-workers. At Exterior Portfolio by Crane, service is the mission of our most valuable resource-OUR TEAM. Our team has a very simple mission: 4R-WE
• Right Product
• Right Place
• Right Time
• Right Cost
• Without Error
• Every time
This mission clearly supports our goal of Operational Excellence (OPX): “Continuous innovation & growth by delivering customers better service & quality at higher yields with faster throughput and less waste.” Our commitment to continuous improvement is our investment in the future. For many, these times are the most difficult that we have had to endure. As the requirements and expectations of our customers continue to rapidly change, the value of our team resource and commitment to OPX will continue to be our strength. Customer satisfaction is good, exceeding customer expectations is great.
Designing the Exterior of a Home with Our Dream Designer
At Exterior Portfolio, we believe design truly is for everyone and with our range of products, you can design the exterior of a home so that it really does become a one-of-a-kind in the neighborhood.
Because of our philosophy in exterior design, we began creating tools to help in that process. Not everyone is as adept as the characters we watch on HGTV. Some of us need just a little boost whereas most need a whole lotta help!
Last May we launched the online version of our Dream Designer which gives homeowners an opportunity to choose from 20 different architectural styles, and then design the exterior of that home. We’ve even woven our Smart Styles into the Dream Designer to give the homeowner a “creative kickstart” into the direction of exterior design. Smart Styles, our branded product and color combinations, have proven to be a perfect way for the homeowner to have an at-a-glance example of the various products and colors we offer, and how to use them in combination. And the online Dream Designer isn’t just for homeowners. Contractors as well as distributors are using the online Dream Designer on their own web sites.
Just a few months ago we launched the Dream Designer again, except this time it was a full application which installs right onto your Windows XP or Vista operating system - no internet connection needed. Simplicity was key to creating a tool we would give away. Our Contractor Edition gives contractors a means to take a digital photo of a home and import it into the application. After the installation the contractor simply maps out different regions of the house based on type (roof, siding, trim) then begins decorating. Honestly, its that simple.
When you’ve completed creating that perfect exterior design, you can print or share the house in PDF format with friends via an email function built into the application. The best part is, the house with all its mapped regions can also be sent to the web where you can go online and experiment with the various products and colors.
If you have questions about the Dream Designer give me a call - 800.366.8472 or leave your comment on this post.
Check out the Dream Designer here.
Product FAQ’s
Quite often we get questions concerning proper installation. Here are a couple of examples. As time goes on, I’ll be adding more and invite you to use this blog to ask any you may have.
BellaStone, can it be installed to or below grade?
Absolutely. This is one of the many benefits of installing BellaStone. Because BellaStone is made of a polyethylene base with real stone aggregate fused into its surface, it’s virtually unaffected by moisture. Therefore unlike many other stone products, it can be installed year round, in any weather and at or below grade making it easy to give your project the beautiful natural look of real stone.
Do I need to install a house wrap under CraneBoard?
This is a very frequently asked question. CraneBoard is designed for an exterior cladding, not a water-protective barrier. It’s designed to allow the material underneath to breath; therefore, it’s not a watertight covering. When considering a house wrap, we recommend first and foremost, that you review your local building code requirements. As best practice, we recommend that a weather- resistant barrier such as a house wrap integrated with code-compliant flashing, be applied prior to the installation of the siding.