The modern home trend is the leading façade design which is being driven by the ‘mixed cladding’ look, which combines a range of materials from weatherboard, a range cladding profiles, to render.

Combing a number of building products on one façade can be aesthetically challenging as well as impact budgets and timelines while involving multiple trades. James Hardie’s EasyTexTM fibre cement panels give an embedded render-look finish, to achieve the style without the need for wet trades or expensive render texture coatings.

“Making savings while ensuring quality will become increasingly important in 2020,” James Hardie Australia product and strategy manager Ronnie Nunez says.

“Consumers’ budgets are being impacted by rising house prices on one hand, while labour costs are also increasing on the other. As such, builders need to find new ways to reduce costs, increase efficiencies and still deliver high quality homes.

“EasyTex provides a solution that is up to 50% quicker to install than rendered brick and Autoclaved Cellular Concrete (ACC). This results in an on-the-wall cost that is also up to 45%2 less than rendered brick and ACC.”

EasyTex comes pre-printed and can finish with just two coats of paint. This gives not only a more uniform look than a traditional render, but is less prone to dirt build-up and doesn’t suffer from cracking as others may be prone to.

It can provide up to 122.27m² of additional floor space over traditional masonry on renovations for upper storey additions and ground floor extensions.

Orbit Homes has used the EasyTex product on a range of medium density and dethatched home products. Managing director Craig Milson believes in the product: “EasyTex is easy to use, achieves the look I want and is faster and more cost-efficient to install than traditional materials.

“I can also use it in non-combustible applications, and being lightweight means, I can use it on second levels where masonry would be too heavy. It’s my go to for any modern home.”