Case Study: Ladue, MO

Ladue – ranked the wealthiest city in Missouri – is a prestigious community located just outside of St. Louis. Ladue has been a destination for new construction and is currently experiencing a surge of new houses relative to its size of just under 9,000 residents. Throughout 2021 and 2022, the city approved the construction of 31 new homes.

Everlast siding earns approval amid strict local Architectural Review Board standards.

However, builders are required to adhere to strict building guidelines with regard to permissible exterior cladding materials for homes in Ladue. This has historically limited their choice of siding materials to wood, fiber cement board, or specific types of metal cladding. Ladue prohibits the use of vinyl siding, which posed a challenge for builder Pagano Land Development. Unaware of the restrictions, the Pagano team had already completed a new build at 10 Daryl Lane in Ladue using vinyl siding. Consequently, the city would not grant occupancy to the homeowners.

Chris Pagano, owner of Pagano Land Development, needed a new siding solution but had serious concerns with each of the approved siding materials included in the city’s guidelines.

“The list of approved siding materials in Ladue was not sufficient,” said Pagano. “Each approved material had inherent character flaws and would fail the consumer for one reason or another. Wood will rot and produce a home for termites, fiber cement board will expand and crack, and metal will dent easily and not hold its integrity.”

Therefore, Pagano proposed a modern, high-performance siding option to the city’s Architectural Review Board (ARB): Everlast advanced composite siding.

With support from the product manufacturer, Chelsea Building Products, the Pagano team met with the ARB in an effort to prove the viability of Everlast siding.

“The board showed some initial resistance but quickly came to realize that Everlast siding is a far superior product than anything currently on the market,” said Pagano.

With Chelsea’s expert guidance, Pagano delivered a presentation of facts, figures, and success stories supporting the use of Everlast siding. The outcome was approval by the ARB, and they even acknowledged the need to stay up to date on new materials and innovations and regularly review their guidelines.

“Not only was this a win for the homeowner, but it was a win for the city of Ladue and other contractors in the area,” added Pagano. “We hope that this accomplishment will set a precedent for other municipalities around St. Louis that also have strict product specification guidelines.”

For the home at 10 Daryl Lane, Pagano and the homeowners selected Everlast Board & Batten Siding in Natural White for clean, contemporary curb appeal. Everlast Board & Batten features an integrated 2-inch-wide batten with a 9-inch face, delivering a broad 11-inch reveal. The product comes in 12-foot lengths, which helps to eliminate seams or transitions for applications that may otherwise require multiple panels.

Pagano entered conversations with the ARB with confidence and a firm belief that Everlast siding was the superior option over traditional materials. Pagano was confident that Everlast siding offered a more durable and aesthetically pleasing alternative to the ever-popular fiber cement board on many other homes in Ladue.

However, unlike fiber cement, Everlast siding is designed to last a lifetime with minimal maintenance, reducing long-term costs by not requiring repainting every five to ten years. Everlast siding also removes concerns about peeling, flaking, rotting, or cracking. Its durability and longevity can be credited to its rigid, solid composite substrate incorporating C CORE^® material technology and polymer resins, which makes it thicker and more durable than traditional vinyl siding and much stronger than fiber cement. All Everlast siding planks are embossed with a UVstable acrylic capstock and a textured CedarTouch^® finish, delivering an authentic top-grade cedar appearance.

“Everlast siding is just a better product overall and offered us the best of both worlds,” said Pagano. “It is extremely durable and looks very clean and modern. We especially love the board and batten style vertical siding used on this project.”

According to Pagano, Ladue’s strict building standards makes it one of the toughest municipalities in which to build. Therefore, having Everlast siding approved by the ARB sets a precedent for future projects in the city. This decision is a critical one that places new siding options at the disposal of contractors and homeowners when building or retrofitting homes.

Chelsea Building Products and Pagano Land Development’s efforts to challenge the status quo proved significant in making positive change for the future of construction in Ladue.

Pagano completed the build at 10 Daryl Lane in August 2023.