Valley Forge, Pennsylvania (January 4, 2008) — CertainTeed(R) building products reached toward the sky last year in a unique renovation of two silos on Carlton Island in the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York.

The silos, standing more than 80 feet tall, stood dormant for several years on a 19th Century farm owned by Bill Ferguson and his wife Lynda. Bill Ferguson had considered tearing down the dilapidated silos before learning that it would be against the law to do so. The silos had held their spot along the St. Lawrence for so long, that they had been added to the river’s navigational charts as landmarks for Great Lakes freight ships. So, the creative farm owner got an even better idea. He called up custom homebuilder Steve Hall, President of Steven J. Hall, Inc., in Cape Vincent, N.Y., and discussed building two little houses on top of the silos for entertaining guests. The two began drawing up plans for the interesting renovation.

As this project involved tall structures located in a maritime region, it was important to choose durable, wind-resistant products to guard the exterior of the two houses. Hall specified CertainTeed’s vinyl siding, trim, roofing, windows and railing and decking.

For siding, Hall chose CertainTeed(R) Monogram(TM) 46L Vinyl Siding, a product strong enough to resist the region’s strong winds, which average between 80 and 90 miles per hour. Monogram 46L siding features RigidForm(TM) 180 technology and has been tested to withstand wind load pressures up to 180 miles per hour. Monogram 46L is the longer-length version of CertainTeed Monogram 46 Vinyl Siding and reduces seams by up to 47 percent. It closely emulates the classic appearance of real cedar lap siding with its TrueTexture(TM) low-gloss, rough cedar finish molded from real cedar boards. Monogram has a Class 1(A) fire rating and is virtually maintenance free — an especially important aspect when the siding is to be installed more than 80 feet above ground.

“I wanted the exterior products, especially the cladding, to be easy to maintain and long lasting,” Ferguson says. “We have cedar shake siding on our house right now, and I have to repaint it every three years. Fortunately, I won’t have to do that with the CertainTeed vinyl siding.”

Keeping with the low-maintenance, high-durability theme, Ferguson and Hall also specified CertainTeed’s EverNew(R) Vinyl Railing and Decking, backed by a limited lifetime warranty, for a 16-foot bridge between the two silos; CertainTeed Vinyl Carpentry(TM) Triple 3 1/3″ solid vinyl soffit panels, backed by a limited lifetime warranty; and CertainTeed New Castle XT(TM) Vinyl Windows, backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

For the roof, they chose durable CertainTeed Landmark(TM) Premium luxury shingles, weighing in at 300-330 pounds per square and backed by a lifetime, limited transferable warranty. All of the CertainTeed products used in the projects were furnished by Erie Materials, a distributor in Watertown, N.Y. The products were installed from an 80-foot hydraulic scissor lift last fall and are performing well against the area’s powerful winds.

“Since we put all of the CertainTeed products on the silo houses, the wind load pressure on Carlton Island has hit 90 miles per hour, and we haven’t had any problem with them,” Hall says. “I’ve been using CertainTeed products for 28 years. They’re very good products, and we try to use them on every project.”

Bill Ferguson was so happy with the outcome of the project that he hired Hall to refurbish his house last fall — again with a full list of CertainTeed products: Cedar Impressions(R) polymer siding, Vinyl Carpentry Beaded Triple 2” Wainscot Style Soffit and New Castle XT Vinyl Windows and Patio Doors.

“Projects like these really give a good view of all that CertainTeed has to offer building professionals,” says Peter Dachowski, President and CEO of CertainTeed Corporation. “CertainTeed has a large variety of products that will hold up well — even in extreme climates — and still look great many years down the road.”

About CertainTeed

Through innovation and creative product design, CertainTeed has helped shape the building products industry for more than 100 years. Founded in 1904 as General Roofing Company, the firm made its slogan “Quality Made Certain, Satisfaction Guaranteed,” which quickly inspired the name CertainTeed. Today, CertainTeed is North America’s leading brand of exterior and interior building products, including roofing, siding, windows, fence, decking, railing, trim, foundations, pipe, insulation, walls, ceilings and access covers.

Headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, CertainTeed and its affiliates have approximately 8,000 employees and 70 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Canada. In 2006 the group had consolidated sales approaching $4 billion.

For more information contact:

Michael B. Loughery, CertainTeed
Communications Manager
(610) 341-7328

mike.b.loughery@saint-gobain.com
www.certainteed.com/pressroom