Home Siding & Design

Now that we're gearing up for spring, it's a great time to begin performing basic home maintenance on your house or replacing roofing & siding.  Over the past few years, A&E has completed numerous siding projects that have dramatically enhanced the look of a home. Today, we want to show you the design process that goes into each of our siding installations.  

A&E proudly installs James Hardie siding.  Hardie siding is one of the premiere brands in siding and features ColorPlus Technology, which provides a vibrant finished color that is very durable in all weather elements. The house above was done in Hardie Siding's classic Monterey Taupe shade. 

We work with our clients to provide a detailed design for their siding needs.  The A&E design team will create a 3d rendering featuring any color a homeowner chooses from the Hardie collection.  This gives homeowners an accurate idea of what their home will look like upon completion, while also providing them with a wide range of choices. 

A&E Siding Design

The Pennington house above was sided with Hardie Boothbay Blue.  The family wanted to maintain the look of their original home, so the Boothbay Blue provided a complimentary match to the original paint.

Just recently we worked on a design for a family in Princeton who wanted to install new Hardie Siding.  After going through several designs to achieve the perfect look, the family ultimately choose Boothbay Blue as well.

Before

Red

Monterey Taupe

Autumn Tan

Boothbay Blue

The Design is in the Details: Small Changes for Major Home Improvements

We've shown you everything from additions and kitchens to bathrooms and pool houses.  Today, we want to focus on showcasing how small changes can lead to big transformations.

Sometimes you don't have the money or the time for a major kitchen renovation or a family room expansion.  Despite this, you can still make dramatic improvements to a room by simply installing new lighting, new windows, or knocking down a wall.

A&E Construction performed remodeling work in this Pennington family's living room.  The family wanted to expand the living room area space and update the look of the room without having to do an addition.  The owner of the home is a designer, so A&E was able to implement her ideas with provided sketches as well as the custom-picked contemporary baseboards and bamboo flooring.  

Because the existing living room was limited in space, A&E expanded the area in the room by installing vaulted ceilings and light bamboo flooring to create a more open, spacious design. 

Drawing upon the owner's desire for a modern living room design, A&E replaced the existing wall paneling and beadboard ceiling with beige painted walls and accent lighting. A&E added more interest to the room by utilizing wall space and building a unique over-sized wall niche on the left wall. 

The wall niche provided a distinct texture to the living room while also creating necessary storage and display space, leaving more room for furniture and other room accessories.  

A&E added some final finishing touches to the room by removing the original window and replacing it with a triple casement Marvin window.

With the goal of designing a more modern living room space, the owner chose a tall, contemporary style baseboard moulding. 

Most homes feature a very small two inch built up moulding, but for this living room, the taller baseboard moulding provides a distinctive detailing that compliments the modernized design while also being more proportional to the vaulted ceilings.   

Update: Pennington Porch Addition

In our last post, we filled you in on our progress in completing a porch addition for a local Pennington family. 

The owners of this home had wanted a porch for years to tie in the garage and the side of the home.  


A&E was able to create a design of this Pennington porch addition that showcases the stone walkway and walls as well as the railing and roof.

At the time of our last update, we had finished installing the natural blue stone walkway and field stone walls leading up to the porch. 

To complete the porch and walkway, we installed a stone base for the post light and light aluminum railings with a rich mahogany capping. 

A&E's initial conceptual design intended to create a smooth transition from the owner's home to the garage.  

Our final day on the job proved that we were able to do this while still making the porch stand out with a natural stone veneer and a modern flat fiberglass roof design. 

The only thing that's missing is some green spring grass and a flower bed!

Pennington Porch Addition

Pennington Porch Design

For several years now, the owners of this Pennington home had been dreaming about adding a porch to the front of their house.  This year, with the help of A&E's excellent design, this dream was realized and a new porch was born!

A&E began by making a conceptual drawing of the proposed addition. As you can see from the design picture, we were able to create a smooth transition from the home to the garage while also adding street appeal with a natural stone veneer on the porch and the stairs.  

The columns on the outside resonate with a traditional porch design while the stone adds a distinct texturing to the original exterior of the home.

Early on in planning our designs, we overcame a challenge with the existing low pitched shingled roof.  Because this type of roof didn't allow for a conventional porch roof system, A&E succeeded in creating a flat roof system made of fiberglass.  

A flat roof system helped tie in the main house to the garage while also providing proper drainage. 

Fiberglass roofing is a lesser-known roofing choice, but it is great for dressing up the exterior of a house while providing a functional, durable surface. The new fiberglass roof on this porch is further complimented by a hidden gutter and an elegant perimeter of crown molding. 

Keeping the interest of ease of maintenance in mind, we installed Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) posts for support.  These PVC posts take on the appearance of an elegant wood construction, but don't require nearly the same amount of maintenance. 

In addition to building this porch, the owners of the home wanted to incorporate a stone element to the design. A&E accomplished this by installing field stone walls on the perimeter. 

Natural Stone Veneer and Walkway

These stone walls created an elegant transition to the blue stone walkway and also serve as a natural outline for the surrounding flower beds. 

Our Pennington porch project also includes a beat-board ceiling with recess lighting for a nice warm glow at night.  You can check out more of A&E Construction's Princeton and Hopewell specialty projects  in our portfolio. 

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on the finished porch to see the stone base for the post light as well as the installation of light aluminum railings and a rich mahogany capping.