Side Story: See Into the Future
Words: Dan Kamys
Pavers
Pine Hall Brick's PaverScape Visualizing Software enables customers to visualize projects in advance.
PaverScape Visualizing Software enables landscape designers and their customers to see how their finished patios, walkways or driveways would look with clay pavers in place before work begins.
The software is available free from Pine Hall Brick and its distributors nationwide and uses a digital photograph of the project as the starting point.
The first step is for the homeowner to take a digital photograph of the area where a driveway, walkway or patio is desired. To get a digital image of the project as it would appear after completion, the homeowner can go to the nearest Pine Hall Brick distributor (check www.pinehallbrick.com under Distributor Locator). Some distributors can design on the spot, or may have free PaverScape CDs available for the customer to take home. In addition, many landscaping design firms have a copy of the software or can get one from Pine Hall Brick.
From the PaverScape software, the digital photograph is opened, the areas that are to be paved are defined and the software shows the customer how the completed project will look with Pine Hall Brick pavers. It will also calculate how many pavers will be required. Customers can choose from any one of 24 styles of paver, laid in any of six patterns.
Out in the field, the software works well. Tim Hanauer, the founder and president of Earth Graphics, a mobile landscape design franchise company with five locations in the Carolinas, says the addition of PaverScape Visualizing Software has been a good fit. Earth Graphics uses specially outfitted office vans and does landscape design on site, using digital imaging.
Hanauer says homeowners have been especially impressed by the software's ability to immediately superimpose the bricks as they will appear on a driveway, a walkway or a patio at the project site. They're able to instantly compare the bricks and patterns.
Bringing digital imaging into clay paver design will help meet what's expected to be a high demand for brick pavers in 2008. The Brick Industry Association is, infact, predicting a market growth at roughly 50 percent over the next three years. For more information on Pine Hall Brick, call 800-334-8689, or visit www.pinehallbrick.com.