James Hardie has released EasyTex, which offers an embedded render-look finish without the need for wet trades.
EasyTex comes pre-primed and can be finished simply with two coats of paint. According to a product description it is also less prone to dirt build-up and doesn't suffer from cracking or lime staining.
The 'modern' home aesthetic is the leading contemporary façade design and accounts for 61 percent of detached houses in Australia. The trend is being driven by the mixed cladding look that, traditionally, combines a range of materials like weatherboard and render and can require multiple trades to complete. EasyTex presents itself as an alternative.
"Consumers' budgets are being impacted by rising house prices on one hand, while labour costs are also increasing on the other," says Ronnie Nunez, product and strategy manager at James Hardie Australia. "As such, builders need to find new ways to reduce costs, increase efficiencies and still deliver high quality homes."
Nunez says EasyText is up to 50 percent quicker to install than rendered brick and autoclaved cellular concrete (ACC) and up to 45 percent cheaper.
EasyTex is available in an 8.5mm thickness and a range of panel sizes (2440x1200, 3000x1200, 3600x1200 and 3000x1350).