Marc’s south-side addition exterior complete, finished by Render Construction with matching vinyl siding and the introduction of faux, which was also included in a lineal pattern on the existing portion of the house.
Existing portion of Marc’s house, which includes in a lineal pattern of faux stone also introduced by Render Construction on the south-side addition.
A long journey from idea to fruition, and a personal Christmas gift. That’s what the completion of the exterior of my south-side addition — a full month ahead of schedule, and before the snow flew — means to me.
The exterior finishing design had always called for matching elements of the existing portion of the house; chocolate brown fascia, gutters, and downspouts, and linen-coloured soffits and siding. The defining aspect of the exterior design, however, is the introduction of a three-foot-high faux stone accent along the base of the new addition. And to tie-in this new esthetic feature, lineal elements of the same faux stone were added along the face of the upper floor above the balcony, throughout the second floor just above the first-floor roofline along portions of the existing house.
To achieve the finishing in a precise and timely manner, the decision to sub out the finishing tasks had been made sometime during the framing process. I only realized how crucial a decision this had been, following the installation of my windows and doors, and after the roofing had been completed. Already burdened with the tasks of completing the upper balcony and railings, with the hint of a chill of an impending winter looming, there would have been no way to stay on schedule had I undertaken these exterior finishing tasks myself.
I called upon a good friend of mine to discuss the exterior finishing design I had envisioned. Ivan Reimer, from Render Construction Incorporated, visited my job site and we discussed my intentions. Reimer recalls, "I met Marc in high school — he was my driver’s ed instructor, believe it or not. Marc and I also share a passion for writing music. Marc mentioned his recording ‘Studio 59’, and thought we should record a couple of tracks. We spent many hours recording together, and ‘a couple of tracks’ turned into the pursuit of completing a full-length record." The hours spent with Reimer in the studio showcased that he is meticulous by nature, a character trait I can relate with.
Curious, I wondered how Reimer had gotten involved in exterior finishing, as I had not seen him in a while. "After high school, I didn’t want much to do with construction or working with my hands. However, I knew I needed a full-time job and found an opportunity as a general labourer for an exterior siding company. It didn’t take more than a couple of months for me to fall in love with exterior finishing — I enjoy the rush of providing a quality first impression on a project. Although a couple of other ‘start-to-finish’ construction jobs ensued, I soon realized my passion was in exterior finishing. In May of 2015, with about five years’ experience under my belt, Render Construction was born, specializing in siding, soffit/fascia and eavestrough in renovations, residential housing and commercial projects with the focus of providing quality finishing, as well as a positive work environment, valuing each individual team member from labourers to supervisors. By September of 2016, I partnered with Marsha, who is also my mother, as our CFO. She has a 15-year background in private banking with TD and has been a key member in managing our growth and continually developing our business plans, as we run multiple crews within the city of Winnipeg and surrounding areas."
Although it was quite obvious that my new south-side addition begged for matching vinyl siding, and the expected colour combos of soffits, fascia and gutters, I knew that the lower portion of the addition also required something other than siding down to ground level, perhaps the introduction of a new texture… faux stone?! The key would be NOT to infringe upon, detract from, or overtake the existing brick of the house by causing visual conflicts. I spent a few weeks sorting through a plethora of stone options. After narrowing it down to just a few styles, a quality faux stone called Ledgestone Light Brown seemed to best emulate my initial design concept. The size and shape of the faux stone blends well with the existing brick, and the variety of colours of the stone ties in the darker elements of the brick, and the colour of profile shingles found on all rooflines.
I asked Reimer about his crew, and what tasks they would undertake on my project: "Our crew for Marc’s project consisted of a supervisor and two labourers. This crew takes care of all our renovations and aluminum package projects. With so many details involved in renovations/additions, they would be the right fit for this project." Reimer continued "We completed the full exterior envelope on the addition with rigid foam insulation, Tyvek house wrap, taping and flashing. Finishing with vinyl siding, the faux stone, aluminum soffits, fascia, eavestrough and downspouts to match the existing house. On the existing portion of his home, we followed Marc’s lead by tying in the exterior elevations with faux stone accents to match the addition as well."
The Render crew spent a couple of weeks on-site. They were very diligent, paid much attention to detail, always willing to break away from a current task to discuss and verify that key aspects of the installation process were to my satisfaction. Each member of the crew was courteous, and respectful.
These guys embody a great work ethic, another trait I appreciate very much. And despite a few days of adverse weather conditions, the tremendous winds, the crew would arrive as scheduled to "give it a go." Reimer would also swing by on occasion to evaluate the ongoing progress, and paid one last visit once the crew had completed all tasks.
"We are very pleased with the results on this project, from matching colour and profile selections, to the process of installation. Our favourite aspect was that we installed the eavestroughs within the soffits below the balcony, so it is hidden from view, as per Marc’s design. The balcony design and Marc’s execution is how it was built and turned out wonderfully. The beauty of this project is that once it was completed, the addition simply blends in, and in no way stands out. The south-side addition’s structure offsets the north side of the existing house, and the design accents with faux stone tie the whole house together quite nicely. All the exterior components complement one another extremely well," Reimer says. He then adds, "It was a pleasure collaborating with (you) Marc on his project — he knows what he wants, designed it well and appreciates quality workmanship".
With the exterior now completed, the interior tasks will occur throughout the winter months. Reimer and his Render Construction crew did an amazing job — without their involvement, there’s a very good chance I’d still be out on ladders and scaffolding, in an attempt to complete the exterior myself… and if that were indeed the case, it’s very likely I would have eventually abandoned these tasks and sought the services of the Render pros anyway.
The project turned out so well, and the house looks so good, I have already consulted with Reimer on a spring project, for a client of mine. It’s nice to not have to do EVERYTHING myself for a change. Sounds like a New Year’s resolution I should embrace…
Merry Christmas everyone!
BossEnterprise@outlook.com
