Creative Faux Panels

You remember Rapunzel, right? A wicked witch shut her up in a tower with no stairs or door, and the only way up was to climb her long, braided, golden locks. “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!”

Hey, I’m not making this up.

The point is, what would the story of Rapunzel be if there weren’t a fabulous stone window for her to let down her hair from? And the point also is, now you too can have fabulous stone windows that Rapunzel would be proud to call her own. The only witchery involved is using faux keystones, trim blocks, trim strips and ledgers.

Here’s what the blocky pieces look like. There’s the full keystone that goes in the center, the left and right keystones that fit against the center one, and square trim blocks. You buy each piece separately, so you can piece them together as you like. The closeup shows the nice depth and texture.

With these four simple building blocks plus trim and ledger pieces, you can create just about any look you want, from the simple to the fanciful. Here are eight examples (click to enlarge).

But, you may ask, what about that nice arched window Rapunzel is leaning out of in the photo? Not a problem (click to enlarge).

So what are you waiting for? You don’t need a stone tower or even a fair-haired maiden to make this project an enchanting success.

If the retaining wall in your yard is your pride and joy and the envy of all your neighbors, you can skip this tip.

In my case, my old railroad-tie retaining wall was so ugly, I finally had it ripped out and the whole yard re-graded to eliminate the need for it. But if I’d found this idea first, I would have given it serious consideration. I do believe it would have cost a heckofalot less.

The idea is to turn that ugly stack of railroad ties or poured concrete or masonry blocks into a nice faux stone wall. You know faux stone veneer works great outdoors, but you might not have thought of using it on this kind of wall.

The key to the project is not to just stick stone veneer on the front surface but to keep and enhance the look of a solid, thick wall. And you do that with wall caps. They absolutely make the whole project. They come in gray or tan to coordinate with just about any stone veneer you like, and they’re available in two widths for thick or extra-thick walls.

The wall caps are made of polyurethane just like the faux panels are, with all the same advantages of light weight, easy installation, and durable good looks.

The fact is, this is a project that delivers a lot of bang for the buck, and for the time and effort you put into it. You transform ugly into beautiful for a very reasonable investment of time and money, and have a blast doing it. It would even be a great starter project for someone who’s never worked with faux panels before.

Makes me wish I hadn’t torn out that old railroad-tie wall.

Of course you only want to do this to a retaining wall that’s stable and sound to begin with. If yours isn’t, then you may soon have more serious problems than your neighbor’s disapproving eye.

One of the best things that’s happened to building construction in the past 15 years is the Insulating Concrete Form, or ICF. This interlocking system for sandwiching poured concrete between two layers of insulating foam is the greatest thing since … well, you know.

Anyway, once you’ve made one of these energy-efficient wall sandwiches, you need to cover it with something. And one of the options, for the inside or outside, is faux paneling. Naturally.

So here’s the tip. To cover an ICF wall with faux paneling, use the quicker sticker upper. Otherwise known as Handi-Stick®.

Handi-Stick is a cross between standard construction adhesive and spray foam. It comes in a cartridge, and you apply it with either a pro dispensing unit or a simple straw applicator. It comes out just like a bead of regular adhesive, but foamy.

So why use it? Because you can apply it to the back of a panel, press the panel in place on the wall, hold it flat for a minute or two, let go, and — you’re done. That panel’s stuck for good. Tight, flat, permanent. No drilling, no screwing, no screw holes to fill. Next panel, please.

Of course you do want to make sure you’ve marked exactly where it goes before you start squirting the Handi-Stick. That’s true of any fastening method, but with this one we really mean it. You’ve got five minutes to make contact with the wall, and then just a few moments to nudge it into its forever home.

Click to learn more about Insulating Concrete Formsand Handi-Stick.

As we mentioned in our April 2nd post, our faux wood panels were featured on the April 4th episode of ABC’s Extreme Makeover – building a new home for the Beach family

The  Rustic Barn Wood panels were used to create wainscoting in the son’s “Tree Fort Room”. Browse through the Tree Fort room photos and take a peek at the virtual tour of the finished house – you’ll see our faux wood panels, together with Timber Planks from our sister company, Faux Wood Beams, that helped create this fanciful, “Boys Only!” inspired room.

Click on the image to see more
photos of the Tree Fort Room

Click on the image to the take the
Beach Family house tour

Garden walls can be a great addition to your home’s property – whether you want to line the entire perimeter, surround a little sitting area or just add a stand-alone accent.

This wall made with Stacked Stone Tudor faux paneling nicely curves into the natural formation of property’s slope, it almost looks like it just happened to form there by itself.

What’s a garden without a little watering? This photo shows an exterior wall with Random Rock panels in Desert Buff – installed with an added twist. A little water spout/fountain hangs off the wall for a beautiful final touch. For more water design ideas, see our other blog posts “And the Fauxny Award Goes To…” and “Spring Spruce-Up Series: Garden Fountains and Ponds”

These wall fences with Kentucky Gray Drystack offers the homeowners privacy and blends very nicely with the home’s exterior and the surrounding foliage. But with its pleasing coloring it doesn’t say “go away” either.

Whichever style you choose, try adding a garden wall this spring – good walls make for happy homeowners!

Entrance with Nailon Stone in Glacier White

There are two towns in the area where I live that are about six miles away from each other, yet virtually a universe apart when it comes to their building aesthetic. One of them is your classic New England village, with stately old whaling captain houses – lots of white wood and black shutters. The other is well…not. The majority of the town is covered in little summer cottages and restaurants that are every bright color you could imagine, usually in the pink and purple families. We’re not talking understated lavenders and roses here…

Exterior with Glacier White Nailon Stone

So shocking magenta or violet may not be your cup of tea, but the average white wood house isn’t really your bag either. You might want to consider the look of white brick or stone. White looks good with everything, no matter what your landscaping or surrounding areas look like, yet the texture can give your house that little something extra. And what a more perfect time to spiffy up your home’s exterior than spring?

Luckily faux panels are super-easy to clean, and if after awhile you feel like a change, they easily can be painted. You just might want to avoid that can of Pepto-Bismol pink.

Colonial White Nailon Brick