CASE STUDY

WEATHERING THE STORMS
CraneBoard® SOLID CORE SIDING® protects homes during powerful 2004 Floirda hurricanes.

By Mark Axelrod, Director of Marketing

Floridians will always remember the late summer and early fall of 2004 when the devastating winds, rains and storm surge from four powerful hurricanes—Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne—battered the state. An estimated 37,000 homes were destroyed according to the Florida governor’s office. With more than two million insurance claims totaling more than $20.4 billion, these four storms were the most damaging and costly natural disasters ever for the property insurance industry in the United States, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

While the storm damage from the 2004 Florida hurricanes was severe, it could have been much worse. Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the previous property claim record holder, prompted Florida state, county and city building officials to amend codes. The result was the most stringent building codes in the country related to building methods and materials. The Florida Building Code (FBC), for example, requires homes in coastal communities to withstand winds of 100 to 150 miles per hour depending on location. No other state makes such demands on building products related to wind load.

LEARNING FROM DEVASTATION

While it was widely reported that more than 15,000 insurance adjusters flooded Florida after each storm battered the state, engineers from hundreds of building product manufacturers also arrived. The Florida hurricanes provided manufacturers with a firsthand look at what severe wind and rain can do to building materials such as shingles, siding, soffits, windows and doors.

For Crane Performance Siding®, headquartered in Columbus, OH, the results were eye-opening. With hundreds of homes in Florida sided with its CraneBoard® SOLID CORE SIDING®, company officials came to hurricane-affected communities to witness the damage firsthand. The results blew them away.

Some of the worst coastal damage occurred when Hurricane Ivan hit the Florida Panhandle in September 2004. According to Matt Baumeister, general sales manager, American WallZone Supply, there has been a lot of new construction in the coastal areas the past few years. American WallZone Supply is a siding distributor with locations in the Panama City, FL, area.

“New construction is exploding in this area,” Baumeister said. “Many of these homes are being built right on the beach or within a half mile of it. With limited space, many builders are going up and building three- and four-story town homes. These are million-dollar homes that are every bit as beautiful as their view of the Gulf of Mexico.”

For the past decade, many builders had been using either fiber cement or engineered wood as their siding of choice. While builders and homeowners liked the initial appearance, neither has weathered well and maintenance is a problem. Because much of this new construction was in areas threatened by hurricanes, many American WallZone customers inquired about alternative siding products that combined strength and beauty. That’s when Baumeister introduced them to CraneBoard®.

A SOLID ALTERNATIVE

CraneBoard SOLID CORE SIDING features two distinct wide panel configurations: three, six-inch boards (Triple 6) or two, seven-inch boards (Double 7) on top of one another to match the profile and look of cedar. Each board features insulated foam backing for increased energy efficiency, greater impact resistance, improved sound deadening and a perfectly straight profile.

Matt Ketter, owner of MSI Exteriors, said many of his customers were looking for a low-maintenance siding. MSI Exteriors, located in Fort Walton Beach, FL, specializes in siding new construction projects across the Florida Panhandle.

“Because of the price and location of these homes, many builders give their customers lifetime warranties,” Ketter explained. “Several builders were very frustrated with the yearly maintenance that fiber cement requires. Re-caulking joints and seams every year can be quite a job when you’re working three or four stories up. Fiber cement also needs to be repainted.”

In 2004, Ketter introduced his builders to CraneBoard. Ketter said all it took was one look. “They really liked the CraneBoard appearance,” Ketter said. “And the soffit and corner posts finish the job beautifully. I literally could show them the CraneBoard literature and tell them their homes would look every bit as nice. This siding sells itself.”

Karl Romero, general manager, Bay County Aluminum, said CraneBoard has become one of his best sellers. Bay County Aluminum installs siding for remodeling and new construction projects within a 100-mile radius of Panama City.

While Romero thought most of his builders would like CraneBoard because of its wide profile and low-maintenance features, he was surprised many liked its energy efficiency and other performance features. CraneBoard features an R-value of 3.0 to 4.0, depending on product style, which is significantly better than wood, fiber cement or traditional vinyl siding.

“All we had to do was show our builders the CraneBoard samples and they switched,” Romero says. “It is a significant upgrade in the insulation package many of our builders were using.”

IT’S NOT JUST LOOKS . . . IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE THAT COUNTS

While CraneBoard’s appearance and low-maintenance features were important to both Ketter and Romero’s customers, both agree CraneBoard’s wind load made it very attractive to builders whose developments were right on the water.

Crane Performance Siding tests all its siding in vacuum chambers to determine wind load ratings for its siding. With a wind load rating of up to 130 miles per hour, CraneBoard is designed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane according to the Saffir/Simpson Classification System for Hurricanes.

While no siding or home can escape damage from a hurricane or tornado, based on previous storms, Crane Performance Siding engineers were confident that SOLID CORE SIDING could weather a powerful storm. The true test for CraneBoard came when Hurricane Ivan hit the Florida Panhandle with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour, with gusts topping 140 miles per hour.

After Ivan hit the Florida Panhandle, Crane Performance Siding representatives toured the damage in Pensacola with Ketter. While they expected good results, everyone was shocked by what they didn’t see. Every street in the areas hit by Ivan was lined with broken or damaged siding, but the homes sided with CraneBoard survived the storm with no damage.

“Right next to homes we had sided with CraneBoard were homes sided with fiber cement where the boards were ripped right off the walls,” Ketter said. “In some case the fiber cement was pulled from the center of the wall. All that was left was the nails. Nobody thought fiber cement would blow off like that.”

CraneBoard wasn’t the only product from Crane Performance Siding that remained intact. During a hurricane, wind and rain are violently forced in all directions. Soffits connect the siding to the roof and protect porch ceilings, eaves and overhangs in a hurricane or strong windstorm. The soffit products in Crane’s line are all engineered with added thickness for increased rigidity and strength. While the Florida Department of Community Affairs Building Code Information System collected many examples of soffit failures, which led to roof and interior damage, Crane’s soffit products stayed intact.

NO CALM AFTER THE STORM

After the storm, Crane Performance Siding received only two warranty claims related to CraneBoard from the Florida hurricanes. Amazingly, none of the claims came from homes in the Florida Panhandle, which was devastated by the storm.

Since Hurricane Ivan, both Ketter and Romero have been very busy. Word has spread about how well CraneBoard withstood Hurricane Ivan. Many builders who were using other siding materials are now calling. Ketter recalls one recent conversation.

“I had a builder tell me he will never use fiber cement again,” Ketter said. “He said it wouldn’t even be an option now. He used fiber cement on his homes and now is replacing it with CraneBoard. Seeing a house sided with CraneBoard with no damage right next to two houses where the fiber cement siding was ripped right off the wall was all the proof he needed to see.”