Batman's Secret Lair

It was Batman who created the original “man cave” during his comic-book adventures in the 1940s. A subterranean lair, deep beneath stately Wayne Manor, it was where Batman could solve crimes, tinker with the Batmobile and, on a Sunday night, watch the big game with Superman, Aquaman and The Flash.

Today, you don’t have to wear tights to have your own cave. In fact, an increasing number of homeowners have set aside a corner of the house – most commonly the basement – to be a “male only” space;  where husbands can slink away to play poker with their buddies. CNN even published an article suggesting that a man cave is an essential ingredient to a happy marriage:

“Separate time is important,” says marriage counselor Steve Brody, a clinical psychologist from Cambria, California. “A good relationship has both intimacy and independence. Man caves may just be the 21st-century wrinkle to it.”

But creating a unique man cave design is a challenge – one in which stone veneer panels can prove invaluable.

Going Caveman

“Part of the appeal of a man cave,” said Pat, a homeowner we spoke to, “is that it’s a uniquely masculine space. There aren’t any throw pillows, china ornaments or frilly curtains – none of the stuff my wife insists on having in the rest of the house.”

“My man cave is in the basement,” he explained, “so the first thing I wanted to do was give it a real ‘cave like’ atmosphere. Stone veneer panels were perfect for that.”

Regency Stacked Stone

This is why Pat chose to line one entire wall of his man cave with Regency Stacked Stone Veneer Panels, in realistic Earth tone. It gave appearance of rough, hand-stacked stone and instantly delivered an evocative, subterranean atmosphere.

“The great part was that I could install them myself,” Pat explained. “In fact, it took me just a day to put the panels up, and I could even cut them to shape myself with tools I already had in the garage.” He installed them with nothing more than a combination of construction glue and strategically located screws – and less than a day later, had transformed his boring basement into an authentic looking “manturary” any self-respecting caveman would be proud to call home.

Pub Life

Another man caver, David, moved to America from Great Britain about fifteen years ago. When he set about transforming the basement of his split-level ranch into a man cave he had a different set-up in mind.

“I wanted to recreate the look and feel of the old pubs I went to when I was younger,” he explained. “After all, our basement mostly gets used when my friends come over to drink beer and watch sports.”

To that end, David created a stylish wooden bar from scratch, and added shelves, a dart board and even a kegerator tap to pour fresh, foaming beer straight from the barrel.

To complete the look of the classic English pub, David chose to line the walls in a mixture of  a Dark Red Oxford Brick Veneer Siding and Oxford Rustic Barnwood Artificial Panels.

“Most of the pubs in London were built in the Victorian days,” David explained, “you have a lot of red brick and dark, aged wood.” He used the Barnwood Panels to complete the bar area of his man cave and the Brick Siding to give his plasterboard walls the appearance of aged London brickwork.

Dark Red Oxford Brick

Again, the panels made installation easy:

“Although I did get my friends to help,” David admitted. “After all, some of them are over my place so often, it’s almost as much for their benefit as mine.” The only time they swapped the veneer panels for the real thing was a section of hardwood surrounding the obligatory dart board – while the Oxford Siding and Panels are made of hardy polyurethane, David was the first to admit he didn’t want to poke holes in them.

“And after a few pints, my aim isn’t all that good.”

In both Pat and David’s examples, the strategic use of brick, stone (or wood) veneer panels helped them create an undeniably masculine man cave within a very short time frame – and with a budget that’s just a fraction of what it would have taken with real brick and stonework.

Modular Homes

In the past, adding the look of stone or brick masonry to modular homes wasn’t really a possibility. The real stuff’s weight, complicated installation and difficult transportability limited the modular home’s design reach. Luckily, the invention of polyurethane stone and brick paneling allowed modular homeowners to get the look and feel of traditional construction without all of the expense and hassle. Now you can spiff up the exterior with a foundation covering, exterior siding or an entrance column, or warm up the interior with brick or stone in the kitchen, family room, around the fireplace and more.

Wine Cellars

If you’ve made the investment of adding a wine cellar to your home, you want to make sure that it’s walls mirror the sophistication and taste of the wine it houses. Luckily, stone veneer panels offer a simple, easy to install solution to help
create an inspired interior design. An added benefit is the panels’ imperviousness to moisture, a particularly important factor for a room that is often located in the basement level of a home.

Business Signs

In most cases, the first thing your clients or customers lay eyes upon when visiting your place of business is your sign. First impressions are key, so you want to make sure that your business sign invites confidence with a professional and attractive look. Many of our customers have found great success by using stone veneer panels to surround or accent their outdoor signs – a project that can be done quickly and with little expense to complete your sign on time and under budget.

To see even more ways stone veneer has been used in these applications, visit the Modular Home, Wine Cellar and Business Sign photo galleries.

Mr. Ellis first built the frame with pressure treated lumber and used exterior grade, 3/4 inch plywood for the sides and underneath the counter top. Stainless steel T-Nuts were then placed on the bottom; 4 in front and 4 in back to level the structure and keep the wood off the concrete pad.

After mitering the corners, the Wellington Dry Stack Panels were installed on the frame with Buff-colored caulk applied to the corners and just a little paint from the Tierra Gold touch-up kit to blend everything perfectly.

With a porcelain countertop, dishwasher and a 4 burner stove top added, the final result was a great-looking, convenient poolside kitchen – keeping the fun of outdoor meals going year round.

Gain some inspiration for your own home makeover project from our photo gallery.

Before

A great recent example of this comes out of Calgary Canada, where Thea and Rick Connery revitalized the exterior of their cozy cabin with Multi-Color Wellington River Rock Panels. As you can see in the “before” photo above, the bottom section of the home’s clapboard siding was beginning to rot, evidenced by the ripples and buckling. After a quick and easy installation of the faux rock panels with gray trim, the home’s exterior is brought to its full potential – looking amazing against the rich red color of the wood.

After

After

Not Just a Pretty Face

Another bonus to this story is that the original rotting of the wood was caused by a combination of rainwater up-splash from the deck and snow accumulation. The River Rock faux panels are made from a closed cell polyurethane, so by replacing the wood clapboards this rotting problem will never happen again. Even after years of Canadian winters!

So see more of what you can do with faux stone and other types of exterior siding and panels, browse through our photo gallery.

This project in particular made us wag our proverbial tails. This month the “Fauxny Award” goes to Jerry Floyds of Knobs, Indiana. Mr. Floyds is in the business of constructing small outbuildings and was presented with a particular challenge using faux brick panels.

Wanted to send you a snapshot of the specialty dog barn that was constructed using your product. Because my customer had a neighborhood covenant requiring all out-buildings to look like his existing home (even a dog house) we used your Oxford panels to make the dog’s home look like his masters! Very impressed with the quality and ease of installation and I look forward to using this product on other small out-buildings that I produce. – Jerry D. Floyds

“Ben” is a lucky dog. If you need more design ideas suited for the 2-legged variety of occupant, take a browse through some of the other project photos we’ve received.

When you cover a wall with fake stone panels, one of the classiest ways to treat electrical switches and outlets is to surround them with beveled stone frames. The frames are part of our Wellington line of dry stack fake stone wall panels, but you can use them with other panels as well. They come in seven colors, so you’re sure to find one that coordinates with just about any panel color.

Ah, but you say: “What about double and triple switches?”

I’m so happy you asked. The answer’s in the picture:

You see the trick right away. But let’s spell it out and fill in the details. First, for a double switch.

• You’ll need two frames for a double switch. And you’ll need a tube of matching textured caulk to form the “grout line” between the two frame pieces.
• Cut each of the two frames into a C shape, keeping the legs of the C as long as possible without cutting into the miters at the corners.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Dry fit the two pieces together and lay your switch plate on top to check for size. You’ll want just enough space between the legs of the Cs to form a nice-looking grout line. If the legs are too long, carefully trim off a bit.
• You can assemble the two pieces in place on the wall, or on a work surface ahead of time. If you assemble them on a work surface, lay down a sheet of wax paper to work on. Apply a little grout to the ends of the legs, and position the pieces together so they’re square, even and properly spaced. Then carefully wipe the caulk to form a neat grout line. Leave the assembly undisturbed while the caulk firms up, and then handle it gently when you glue it to the wall the next day.

For a triple switch, you follow the same procedure, but you need to add straight pieces between the legs of the Cs to make the frame wider. So you end up with two grout lines top and bottom.

The good news is that you can cut these two extra straight pieces from the leftover bits of the two frames you’ve already cut. You don’t need to buy and cut up a third frame.

Norwich Colorado Stacked Stone Desert Sand

The list of remodeling ideas in your mind’s eye can sometimes be overwhelming. Should we rescue the kitchen from its tacky 1970′s wallpaper and formica? Does the fireplace look crumbly and uninspired? How can I make the patio be more inviting for my guests?

We’re excited for spring’s arrival and to see all the new ideas and projects our customers come up with. To help them on their quest, we’ve stocked up on some new panel styles from the Norwich line. As we’ve said before, seeing homeowners’ final results with our paneling is the best part of the job.

We have samples of all the Norwich styles and colors to help pick out the best one for you. Go get some spring in your step…and your walls.