Creative Faux Panels

Check out this quick, easy and dramatic backyard design project – accomplished using our Nailon Granite Gray Stone Wall panels.

There’s no better way to enjoy the summer sunshine than by the water – and customers Jane and Jim Sheridan had a beautiful swimming pool to enjoy in the back yard of their Georgia home. But despite the combination of crisp blue skies and sparkling blue water, one thing was stopping them fully enjoying their poolside relaxation: an ugly retaining wall.

Bare wood got the job done, but this retaining wall was ugly and attracted mold

“It was just plain unsightly,” Jim wrote to us, with accompanying pictures of his poolside project. “The wall was made of untreated and ugly wood, which would get damp and attract mold. Trying to cover it was a Band Aid solution to a bigger problem – after a few weeks, the paint would repeatedly peel.”

Jim and Jane’s options seem limited. The foundation wall did its job, even if it was unsightly, and replacing it with brick or stone would have taken weeks and cost thousands of dollars.

“We were at a loss as how to renovate,” Jim told us – until he and his wife learned about our Nailon faux stone wall siding.

Made from durable and weatherproof polypropylene, our Nailon Granite Gray Stone Wall panels install just like regular siding – and are molded from real stone, intricately detailed to look almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

This gave Jim and Jane two important advantages. Firstly, the faux stone panels wouldn’t get saturated with moisture as the wooden wall did – making it resistant to ugly and unsightly mold.

Secondly, the Nailon Granite Gray Stone Wall panels looked amazing – giving the instant impression that the Sheridan’s serviceable wooden retaining wall was actually created from hand-laid stone bricks.

As you can see from these “before” and “after” photos, installing faux stone panels on the retaining wall instantly transformed the poolside; giving it a clean, beautiful, top-dollar appearance for a fraction of the cost of building a real stone wall.

Even better, the job was quick and easy.

Nailon Granite Gray Stone Wall panels transformed this poolside retaining wall

“The siding was applied as part of one of our weekend projects,” Jim admits. “It was breathtakingly easy to install.”

Both Jim and Jane are thrilled at the results.

“We’ve already had so many compliments about how much this has added and improved the area. The wall is a centerpiece of beauty and sets off the area complimenting the deck – we could not be happier.”

What do you think of the Sheridan’s new poolside view? And have you used our faux stone panels for your own poolside or backyard design project? If so, we’d love to see the pictures.  Send them to us at info@fauxpanels.com.

You’ll find full instructions for installing our faux stone siding on our website – but we’re always interested to see how customers do it. Our faux stone panels are easy to install, but it’s surprising the unique tips and tricks home installers come up with that even we hadn’t thought of!

Just recently, Denny Bushong from California sent us pictures of how he’d created a stunning faux stone façade over an ugly cement wall using our Novi Stone Wall Siding. It was a quick and easy way to turn an eye-sore into a backyard feature to boast about – and here’s how he did it:

STEP ONE: First Denny installed a wooden framework around the wall to make installation easier. Our Nailon siding is breathtakingly easy to install, and you can mount it just like you would regular siding, using nails or screws.

Denny installed a wooden framework on this concrete wall. This make installing his faux stone siding easy.

STEP TWO: Next, Denny started arranging the Novi faux stone siding panels to get ready for installation. As you can see, they’re designed to be interlocking for a really seamless connection. This means the end result looks fantastic – but it’s worth the extra time to lay the panels out to make sure they line up right.

Lining up the Nailon Stone Wall Siding prior to installation made the whole process easier.

STEP THREE: As you can see from the picture, the wall Denny was covering was about two-and-a-half panels high. This meant he had to cut the last row of panels to fit flush with the top of the wall. Because our Novi Stone Wall Panels are molded from polypropylene, this was an easy enough step. You can cut our faux stone siding and panels to size with a regular wood saw or electric circular saw.

Each Novi Nailon Siding panel interlocks, for a flush and seamless fit

STEP FOUR: Installation was straightforward. Starting from the bottom with a starter strip and working his way up, Denny installed each row by sliding the interlocking pieces onto the previous panel.

TIPS & TRICKS: A neat trick Denny used here is to offset each row of panels – preventing each row from looking too symmetrical to the one below and above it. You can do this by trimming the first panel of each alternating row in half.

As you can see, the results are amazing. Denny turned a really ugly cement wall into the centerpiece of his yard; and much more quickly and affordably than he’d have been able to using real stone.

The trick is to make sure you measure everything twice; to be sure you don’t waste any materials and you get a flush, seamless fit wherever you choose to install your faux stone panels. Check out our installation instructions and get familiar with them before you begin.

Then, after installation, comes the fun part! Just sit back and enjoy the attention and compliments your hard work will receive!

New styles, new colors, new projects, oh my! It was a year of creative abundance and renewal in all things Faux, and as the very successful year of 2010 winds down, we can only look forward to what’s in store for us and our customers’ homes and projects in the upcoming year. There’s so much that happened, it’s hard to encapsulate – but here’s a snapshot of what was a very merry year of Faux Panels.

New Lines and Styles

	Cambridge Panels
	Carlton Fieldstone
	Nailon Stone Wall Siding
	Raised Grain Panels
	Wellington River Rock Panels
	Windsor Random Rock Mailbox
	Woodland Panels
	Universal Accessories

New Colors for Old Favorites

New color choices were added to the ever-popular Carlton and Norwich lines, making it even easier to find the right faux panels for your design project, indoors or out. Harvest, Desert Sky, and Smoke are now available on Carlton’s Cobblestone, Ledgestone, and Castle Rock styles, while Norwich’s Colorado Stacked Stone is now available in Toasted Vanilla.

Ledgestone in Harvest

Cobblestone in Desert Sky

Castle Rock in Smoke

Stacked Stone in Toasted Vanilla

To see all the new customer projects, head over to our photo gallery and testimonials pages which just keep getting bigger! We hope the best for you in 2011 and can’t wait to see what you can accomplish with Faux Panels this year.

Craig W. from Florida completed renovations to his home prior to selling and sent in this photo of the house’s completed exterior with Nailon Desert Buff  faux stone siding. Craig’s finished result is an excellent example of a house with terrific curb appeal – attractive, tidy and ready to make a great first impression to prospective buyers.

 In addition to the fresh look of the installed paneling, you’ll notice a few elements of the front exterior of the home that would draw in potential buyers.

• The front door looks new and bright, with an interesting window detail in the middle to catch the eye.

• There is a nice mailbox with surrounding vegetation with the house number clearly visible.

• The bushes and flowers in the front garden are neat, well kept and symmetrical.

• The white stones bordering the flower bed and the walkway nicely set off the green grass.

• The white lattice on the right side is a nice visual touch while also hiding the gutter.

• Wind chimes hung by the door can create a nice welcoming sound for visitors – you should make your house appeal to all the senses after all!