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Exterior Door Trim Kit Installation Comparison
Research Summary: Conclusion
Fypon involves the home owner:
Using a Fypon catalog, the contractor would be able to show a customer the end product look without needing to have a sketch or blueprint developed of the actual deliverable product. Using a Fypon system would provide the customer with a predictable end-product in which they played a significant part in choosing.
Fypon provides better consistency:
Because the final output varied from contractor to contractor, if the wood system is used in repetitive scenarios, such as with Town Homes, Row Houses, or detached single family homes in the same subdivision, they are likely to look different from one another. This is especially true if different trades-people perform the installations. The Fypon system removes this problem and gives a consistent appearance regardless of the installer!
Fypon produces a better quality result:
Not a single carpenter could copy the supplied model correctly. The quality of the result of the wood system was also substantially different from one participating carpenter to the next. This problem would also be eliminated by using a Fypon system.
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Fypon is safer:
Nailing and routing of pilaster and cross-head details introduces potentially unsafe actions because of the small elements involved. When asked, all participants stated that accidents occur when working close to hands with nail guns, and other equipment. Because the Fypon system consists of larger molded elements, they are safer to work with and install.
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Waste is reduced with Fypon:
Fypon has less waste in application. One participant miss-cut a piece of crown and had to discard 5 lineal feet, thereby adding to the material cost for the job. Many cuts of lineal stock were observed when using the built-up method of construction. When using the Fypon system, only two pilaster cuts were required.
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Fypon is Faster:
Built-up construction systems require substantially more measuring, re-measuring and checking than the Fypon Kit. One contractor was observed measuring and re-measuring 7 times on one pilaster detail before cutting. 
First time Fypon users were observed to hesitate before making the pilaster cut and checked the measurements more than one time. Most participants agreed that the setup time at the jobsite to construct the wood system would be about one hour while setup time for the Fypon system would be ½ hour on average.
Fypon is the right choice:
All the participants in the study indicated that they would be using Fypon on their next door trim job. Following are participant quotes of several factors led them to this conclusion.
- Time Savings
- “All those little pieces are a pain in the rear.”
- “Fypon is easy – a few nails and some adhesive.”
- “It’s a better quality looking job.”
- “I could have a $10 per hour guy do this once I showed him how.” (Installation was not tested with $10/hr. people)
- “No warping or rot.”
- “With the time I save using Fypon, I can be doing other productive things.”
- “Less mess and waste over the traditional system.”
- “My customers will like this.”
