Lasting Protection For Roof and Walls at 10,000 feet

Green Builder Media President Ron Jones talks about the siding, roof and wainscotting choices at his high elevation, off-grid sustainability center.

In this video, Ron Jones, owner and builder of VISION House Mariposa Meadows, discusses the variety of factors that went into choosing exterior products for the project. With high winds, large amounts of snow, sub-zero temperatures and the risk of wildfire, it was essential to select durable, resilient products.

“Our primary objective was to reduce our risk of damage from wildfire. So, anything that we could do in our specification to help mitigate our risk and to assure the longevity of these buildings was paramount,” Jones says.\

To start, he selected James Hardie fiber cement siding to armor the buildings against moisture and wildfire. “There is no maintenance required,” he adds. “I'll never have to raise a paintbrush to any of this. And it is really durable.”

The fiber cement material naturally resists mold, pests, and rot. Jones notes a nice benefit of James Hardie siding: “we noticed right away that we don't have any woodpecker problems anymore. The woodpeckers love to drill on wooden soffits and fascias and things. We don't have any woodpeckers hanging around here.”

On the roof, Fabral supplied the beautiful standing-seam metal panels. Jones’ decision to not penetrate the roof (for ventilation, solar racking, etc.) will help the roof last longer, and avoid moisture infiltration. Jones notes that “the roof will outlast almost any other component. It's going to be there 50 years from now.”

To finish off the exterior, Jones selected wainscotting from Creative Mines. He describes this feature as "very important from an architectural standpoint."

Jones explains, “The Creative Mines selections are extremely broad, and we were able to choose a version of material that is so close to the natural stone that we have on site. You can lay pieces side by side, and you'd be lucky to guess half of them right.”

Watch the video for more information on product selection at VISION House Mariposa Meadows, and stay tuned for more videos in the future.