BPD April 2019

BPD

APRIL 2019

Building Products Digest

THE VOICE OF THE LBM SUPPLY CHAIN — SINCE 1982

HOW TO SELL PRESSURE TREATED WOOD • TOP TREATERS • PREMIUM EWPs

800.482.5717 • biewerlumber.com

CONTENTS

April 2019 Volume 38 n Number 4

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Special Focus

Features

Departments

10 LEARN TO SELL TREATED WOOD

11 TOP TREATERS 2019

8 ACROSS THE BOARD 18 COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE 20 OLSEN ON SALES 22 THE REVENUE GROWTH HABIT 24 TRANSFORMING TEAMS 32 MOVERS & SHAKERS 50 NEW PRODUCTS 60 ASSOCIATION UPDATE 63 DATE BOOK 64 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE 64 IN MEMORIAM 65 ADVERTISERS INDEX 66 FLASHBACK

THREE LOOKS AT HOW DEALERS ARE

RUNDOWN OF THE NATION’S MULTI-SITE WOOD PRESERVERS

FARING IN EDUCATING THEIR CUSTOMERS ABOUT CHANGES IN PRESERVED WOOD AND HOW THEY CAN BENEFIT THEIR BUSINESS BY UPPING THEIR GAME.

BPD

30 THINKING AHEAD

NOT ALL ADVICE IS GOOD ADVICE

42 INDUSTRY TRENDS

WOOD DECKS GENERATE TOP RETURNS AMONG REMODELING PROJECTS

APRIL 2019

Building Products Digest

THE VOICE OF THE LBM SUPPLY CHAIN — SINCE 1982

HOW TO SELL PRESSURE TREATED WOOD • TOP TREATERS • PREMIUM EWPs

48 MARGIN BUILDERS

UPSELL PREMIUM EWPS FOR SHEATHING AND SUBFLOORING

55 EVENT RECAP

NAWLA LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

58 PHOTO RECAP

800.482.5717 • biewerlumber.com

Digest 4-19 Layout.indd 1

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April 2019

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President/Publisher Patrick Adams padams@526mediagroup.com Vice President Shelly Smith Adams sadams@526mediagroup.com Publishers Emeritus Alan Oakes, David Cutler Managing Editor David Koenig • dkoenig@526mediagroup.com Editor Stephanie Ornelas sornelas@526mediagroup.com

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Contributing Editors Carla Waldemar, James Olsen, Alex Goldfayn, Claudia St. John Contributors Butch Bernhardt, Marcelle Lacy, Susan Pale, Belinda Remley, Devin Stuart Director of Sales Chuck Casey • ccasey@526mediagroup.com Sales & Marketing Coordinator Julie Conlan • jconlan@526mediagroup.com

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BUILDING PRODUCTS DIGEST is published monthly at 151 Kalmus Dr., Ste. E200, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, (714) 486-2735, www.building-products.com, by 526 Media Group, Inc. (a California Corporation). It is an independently owned publication for building products retailers and wholesale distributors in 37 states East of the Rockies. Copyright®2019 by 526 Media Group, Inc. Cover and entire contents are fully protected and must not be reproduced in any manner without written permission. All Rights Reserved. BPD reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising matter, and assumes no liability for materials furnished to it. Opinions expressed are those of the authors or persons quoted and not necessarily those of 526 Media Group, Inc. Articles in this magazine are intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, financial, or business management advice.

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ACROSS the Board

By Patrick Adams

The power of a word just returned from a really sexy trip, in a sexy place, while I was attending a very sexy trade event! Everywhere I looked, there were sexy people, who work in a sexy industry that does sexy things. And what they all talked about most was how hard it was to recruit for the many open positions across our industry!

The answer? That “we need to make our industry more SEXY”! Come on! More sexy than we already are???

At some point in the event, one of the industry’s younger recruits came up to me and she said, “You know, we might have better luck attracting women and younger people to this industry if a bunch of old, white guys stopped saying that we need to make sure everyone knows how ‘sexy’ the wood industry is!” That, ladies and gentlemen, is what the “young” people now refer to as a “mic drop” (go ahead, Google it… I had to).

I have to fall on the sword a bit here. As a publisher, it is our job to scrutinize every word and understand how to most effectively get our message across. I am proud to say that we have not (until this article) published the words “lumber is sexy.” But, we have attended almost 100 industry events in the past year where at almost every one of them, this same mantra was repeated during the discussion of the industry’s largest challenge—how to recruit the next generation. I have heard this uttered so many times that perhaps I don’t even really hear it anymore!

But, this brings me to the point. Words do matter and the words we choose send a powerful message whether we intend it to or not. Granted, I haven’t yet seen anyone use it in a job description or at a college job fair—“Interested in more than just a job? Do you want a career full of reward and opportunity in the sexiest industry on the planet? Join the wood industry!” No, not sure that hits the mark.

Even though we’re not using it in ads doesn’t mean that WE are hitting the mark in our efforts. If we can all sit in a room and utter these things without bursting out in laughter, then maybe we should ask ourselves if we have a clear view of our target? Come on… say it right now out loud and imagine sitting in front of a Millennial that you want to come to work for you (or anyone for that matter). I’m not sure any of us actually believe this, but it’s just a word someone picked to illustrate that our industry is amazing! Not the best word, but a word none the less.

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Here’s what I say to potential recruits: we are an American bedrock industry full of the hardest working and kindest people that I’ve met in all of my worldly travels. We know each other’s families because we know this is why we do what we do—for family. Competitors would give the shirt off their back to help in the toughest of times because above being competitors, we are colleagues and friends. We do in some cases millions of dollars in business on a handshake because if your word isn’t good, what good is a contract?

No, we don’t have bean bag chairs in our offices or “yoga Thursdays,” but we care—about our industry, about each other, and about our staff. We would like for you to be a part of that.

Yes, it takes longer to get across than saying we’re “sexy.”

But then again, I don’t recall ever being told that was one of my stronger traits by my wife and we’ve been together for 26 years! Maybe there’s things more valuable than just being “sexy.”

“Words are containers for power. You choose what kind of power they carry.” ~ Joyce Meyer

Patrick S. Adams Publisher/President padams@526mediagroup.com

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SPECIAL Focus

By David Koenig

Are dealers doing enough to ensure builders buy the right treated wood? ffective with the AWPA Niece Lumber & Building 2016 Book of Standards, Supplies, Lambertville, N.J.; builders of decks and other Marc Currie, president: I’m outdoor projects were required not sure most of our customers to use high-retention, Ground are aware of the treated being Contact-treated wood in a ground contact. Unless a buildgreater number of applications, er was burned in the past by including some components treated lumber, the move to which never would come in Ground Contact treatment may contact with the ground. not have hit home for them.

Sellers of treated lumber sponsored a flurry of initial END TAGS identify retention level of pressure treated wood.

Northwest Ranch Supply, marketing to ensure builders Kremmling, Co.; Rory were buying properly treated materials. Now nearly three Menhennett, VP: Most of our professional customers are years into the change, BPD asked a group of leading LBM familiar with the changes in the building codes with treated dealers how aware their customers were with the changes, lumber. and what they are continuing to do to make sure contractors are using the right retentions for the job.

Lowe’s Cos., Mooresville, N.C.; Chad Sanders, treated lumber merchant: Lowe’s pro customers have a good How Familiar Are Your Pro Customers with understanding of Ground Contact uses vs. Above Ground.

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the Code-Change-Mandated Move to More Ground Contact-Treated Materials?

Harbin Lumber Co., Livonia, Ga.; corporate sales manager: Our larger builders are very familiar with the change; the implementation of that change; however, I have found them to be somewhat inconsistent on. Because they tend to be so much more focused on price rather than quality, I’ve noticed, for example, that when they question you on treated pricing, when we bring up the fact, “Ours is Ground Contact, what is the competition’s product?” you typically find that they don’t know. Further, on all of their price lists they send out for bidding purposes, not a single one of these large builders have changed their bid sheets to show a distinction, and I’ve seen a lot of them!

The custom builder I have also found to be very knowledgeable of the change, and I think this segment of builder is probably addressing the issue the best, as are the dock builders.

The remodel/small additions builder, at least in my experience, has been the least knowledgeable.

McCabe Lumber Co., Loveland, Oh.; Matt Wilkes, sales: I would say our professional customers are becoming very familiar with the GC code, especially deck builders.

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What Is Your Company Doing to Ensure the Proper Materials Are Being Used in Customer’s Projects?

Nabors Home Center, Houston, Ms.; Lee Nabors, president: We have posters and brochures in all of our stores. Our staff members are consistently briefed on the differences. In addition, Nabors Home Center stocks Ground Contact only.

Abita Lumber Co., Abita Springs, La.; David Melton, general manager: Almost all treated SKU’s at Abita Lumber are Ground Contact treated. Above Ground-treated materials are rarely found in our market. Customers have not questioned this because of the obvious, potential claims.

Only time will tell whether or not the chemicals and retention values used in today’s micronized ground contact are the magic formula to get us back closer to the quality of treated lumber that we once had in CCA. Lowe’s: At Lowe’s, we leverage in-store signage, endtags, and our associates to help educate consumers. We have also seen an increasing number of customers utilizing online resources such as our Treated Wood Use Guide.

Building-Products.com

Capps Home Building Center, Moneta, Va.; Bruce Shelton, general manager: We moved all of our treated (with the exception of pickets) to Ground Contact. This eliminates the Ground/non-Ground Contact discussion and the possibility for future claims.

Northwest Ranch Supply: Since we can’t always be sure what the treated lumber will be used for, we only stock dimensional treated in the ground contact variety. That way we can be sure no matter what they are using it for it will meet the right specs.

Harbin Lumber: When the change took place, we began sending out flyers in the statements, we made copies of the explanations and gave to all of the OSS, we had the treated vendors come and talk to us, we emailed the flyers … communication on this was well above average. But in the end, we chose to go all ground contact because it was a looming nightmare for not only uneducated customers coming in, as well as the yard staff having to pick and choose what to use; far too many variables were coming into play for a potential mistake, so we went totally Ground Contact.

Niece Lumber: For our sales staff, Ground Contact is the norm. Most of our people have stopped talking about it.

We are partnered with Madison Wood. They were the first to switch all their material to Ground Contact. Madison had plenty of marketing materials available for our sales team and our customers. Although our customer base is very skilled, the brochures and best practices provided by Madison was a great refresher for them.

Common sense is also important in how you use treated or any other wood product. Regardless of what treatment was used, its always wise to keep the wood away from direct contact in soil, flash your ledger properly and top your joists with a joist flashing tape.

McCabe Lumber: Nothing special on the GC vs. Above Ground contact, as far as telling the customers. Other than the fact that we tell them that we educate our customers verbally on why we only sell Ground Contact even if it is above ground (ie., moisture in the air, close to the ground, etc.). We also have all of our customers keeping tags for the homeowners in case a warranty claim is needed.

Lumber Traders Inc., Port Angeles, Wa.; Kelly Fox, CEO: As things go, we stock only Ground Contact-rated lumber as a point of difference between us and our competitors in incised treated wood. Our Appearance treated wood is Above Ground use and we have always been clear to our customers when we sell it by noting it on our invoice as ground contact or not.

When we made the switch to the higher rated product, we advertised the reason why and what it means to the life of a project. As much as we thought it would matter, our customer just expected us to have the right treated wood regardless of what others did or may have sold. We went to the expense of creating the literature spelling it out and creating web content just the same and it is hardly touched.

I think this issue is more important to dealers than it is to our customer base. They want the right product and they trust us to provide it. The guys at the building department in the county and city trust that we do the right thing. That trust is the back bone of our business and not something I will give away for a lower grade or low cost alternative to a customer that does not know or does not care.

Building-Products.com

2019

Top Treaters

The following are the 14 wood preserving companies in the U.S. that operate at least three treating plants. They are ordered by the number of treating plants they possess, NOT by production volumes.

Universal Forest Products, Grand Rapids, Mi., owns 24 treating plants across the U.S., offering ProWood brand MCA, CA-C, borates, FRT, water repellent, and colorants.

Great Southern Wood Preserving, Abbeville, Al., has 14 treating plants in the South, Midwest and mid-Atlantic, offering a range of YellaWood branded treatments.

Hixson Lumber Sales, Pine Bluff, Ar., has 11 treating plants from Texas to Illinois. Treatments include CCA, ACQ, MCA, borates, FRT and water repellent.

Culpeper Wood Preservers, Culpeper, Va., operates 10 primarily mid-Atlantic facilities, each offering a different mix of MCA, borates and/or CCA. Hoover Treated Wood Products , Thomson, Ga., has 10 treating plants from coast to coast. Best known for its Pyro-Guard and Exterior Fire-X, it also offers ACQ, MCA, CCA and other industrials.

Spartanburg Forest Products, Greer, S.C., has eight treating plants in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Virginia, using MCA, CA-C, EL2 and water repellent.

McFarland Cascade, Tacoma, Wa., a division of Stella Jones, operates six plants in the West and Southwest—three residential, three industrial. Treatments: CA-C, ACQ, borates, CCA, penta, QNap, penta, and creosote.

Bestway Enterprises has five plants from the Northeast to North Carolina, using MCA, FRT and CCA. Allweather Wood , Washougal, Wa., a Mendocino division, is the largest water-borne treater west of the Mississippi, with five plants for ACQ, CA, borates, PTI, CCA, ACZA, FRT, and water repellent.

Sunbelt Forest Products, Bartow, Fl., treats with CA-C, borates, EL2 and water repellent at four Southeast facilities.

Biewer Lumber, Lansing, Mi., treats with MCA, ACQ, CA, FRT and water repellent at three Great Lakes region plants, plus a FRT-only facility in Athens, N.Y. Conrad Forest Products, North Bend, Or., has three West Coast plants supplying CA, borates, ACZA, CCA, QNap, penta, creosote, FRT and Bluwood.

Fortress Wood Products’ three North Carolina plants treat with CA-C, MCA, CCA, FRT and water repellent.

Southeast Forest Products, Montgomery, Al., is the new name of three-site treater Southeast Wood Treating.

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SPECIAL Focus

By Butch Bernhardt

Train your sales staff to boost treated wood sales ales guru Zig Zigler advises, “There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.”

When it comes to increasing preserved wood sales, you can go that distance by getting your salespeople up to speed to help customers buy the right wood that will last.

A number of tools have been developed to bring that knowledge and training right to your lumberyard or office. These are available at no cost, yet provide solid value that can transform your business from preserved wood order takers to solution providers.

These resources range from online

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training for both preservative- and fire retardant treated wood products to support guides and publications to smartphone/table apps. Each have been fully researched to support all pressure-treated wood produced by western treating companies.

Start With the Basics Knowing the product is the first step in building sales. Western Wood Preservers Institute has created an eUniversity that covers the basics of how preserved wood and fire-retardant wood products are made, specified and used. Working with the online education service AEC Daily, the

ANSWER questions on the spot using WWPI’s Treated Wood app. (Photo by WWPI)

SALES PERSONNEL should be armed with answers to the most frequently asked questions, such as the use of treated wood in raised flower beds and gardens. (Photo by Lonza)

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eUniversity courses are available 24/7 and can be downloaded for use anytime and anywhere.

The two courses are certified for continuing education credits from over 20 different organizations, including American Institute of Architects and National Association of Home Builders. At the end of each course is a 10-question quiz to ensure students fully understand the information.

Later this year, WWPI will release multimedia versions of the courses, complete with narration and video.

Building-Products.com

libraries, both websites offers key information on preservatives or fire retardants, uses in construction and supply sources.

Be Ready for Any Question

PRESERVEDWOOD.ORG offers a wide range of treated wood guidance, from AWPA Use Categories to tips on specifying fire retardant treated wood.

Get Backup Material Sometimes it’s helpful to have something in hand to guide customers to the proper product. WWPI’s website PreservedWood.org offers a full technical library of publications and guides that can be printed or downloaded and sent as attachments to emails.

Need guidance on what level of EEWP-BldgProdDigest April treatment19-0307 is needed for a project? Get the PreserveSpec guide Specifying

with AWPA Use Categories. What nails or screws should I use with treated wood? Download the one-page PreserveTech sheet on fasteners. Do I put something on the cut ends of the preserve wood? Print the PreserveTech field treating guide.

For fire retardant wood products, there is a similar library at FireResistantWood.org. All titles can be downloaded and printed from any Ad-HI.pdf 1 3/7/19 PM computer, in either5:08 color or black and white. In addition to the publication

Utilize today’s technology to answer any question that might arise with the Treated Wood Guide app.

Available for both Apple iOS and Google Android smartphones and tablets, the free app puts up-to-date information at your fingertips.

The app offers all the information needed to select the proper preserved wood product through the Use Categories. One section in the app allows you to select the exposure where the wood will be used and list the common wood products, preservatives and required retentions that are appropriate for the conditions.

With these tools and other resources available, your sales staff can increase its preserved wood IQ and boost sales as well as customer satisfaction. A small investment of time and effort will become the extra mile on the path to better profits.

– Butch Bernhardt is senior program manager for the Western Wood Preservers Institute (www.wwpinstitute.org).

We Know Engineered Wood.

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SPECIAL Focus

By Belinda Remley

Educating the informed consumer about buying treated wood ey, Siri,” “Okay, Google, can you find …,” or “Alexa, can you help me with ….”

These voice commands along with others have changed the way the world researches and makes decisions.

The rise of Social Media and having the world at your fingertips (or voice command) gives consumers so many avenues of influence it has become more difficult to navigate exactly how to get your message out and on the minds of buyers.

When consumers, armed with knowledge affected by the Internet, walk down the lumber aisle, how can your voice guide them to what they need to make their project a success?

“It all starts before the consumer walks through the door,” explains Chad Sanders, Lowe’s divisional merchandise manager-lumber. “The key is to get in front of the consumer during the decision-making process.

This helps get that buyer into your retail location.” Chad says that Lowe’s has been effective at marketing to consumers and contractors through television and radio advertising as well as making good use of Internet presence through targeted advertising, social media, and their website.

A good website is important.

According to a recent study commissioned by Lonza Wood Protection, 86% of professionals specializing in building with preservative treated wood do some research prior to pur-

“H

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EDUCATING your customers should begin long before they ever reach your lumber aisle. (Photo courtesy WWPI)

chase. More than 40% of those professionals get their information from store/retailer websites.

“Not only should your website be clear and easy to navigate,” said Matt Roughen, head of marketing North America for Lonza Wood Protection, “it should also provide information that is easy for pros and consumers to digest. And, it should have links that will add credibility and additional resources for your potential customers.”

April 2019

The decision-making process usually does not have just one stop for consumers. So, what other avenues do buyers use to gain knowledge before making a purchase? They rely on store associates, manufacturer websites, search engines, and trade publications, to decide what preserved wood they need for their project.

“Knowing that consumers rely heavily on in-store guidance, retailers should arm their associates with the education to help both DIYers and Building-Products.com

contractors make informed decisions (or purchase the appropriate materials for each project) in the lumber aisle,” says Chad. Lowe’s utilizes a variety of training tools, including an extensive video training program that helps its associates learn about treated wood.

“Because 42% of DIYers and 38% of pros depend on store associates, it is important to arm those associates with in-aisle materials they can quickly reference,” Matt adds.

“Standard in-aisle resources are tear pads, banners and FAQ cards. While providing technical data is good, it is really important to make sure the information provided is useful and helps the associate sell.”

Often, even when consumers do their research ahead of time and know what they want before they get to their retailer, they still want help and reassurance before making a purchase.

“So, associates should be ready to answer a question like ‘can I use pressure treated wood for my raised bed garden?’” Matt says. “The answer is yes, by the way; and the associate in the lumber aisle should be able to answer that question with confidence.”

Other frequently asked questions associates hear in the lumber aisle include: What is the difference between Above Ground treated wood and Ground Contact treated wood and what is the proper use of both? What kinds of preservatives are used? Will the pressure treated wood last? And can I paint or stain my project?

“With the proper training and in-aisle tools, associates can answer all of these questions letting the pro and the DIYer know they have come to the right place to buy treated wood for their project,” says Matt. He goes on to add that when consumers leave the retail location with a sense of satisfaction and confidence in their purchase, they are more likely to return for future purchases and refer friends and neighbors to also shop that particular location.

“The real take-away,” Chad says, “is that a knowledgeable sales associate yields a confident buyer, which leads to a better bottom line and repeat customers.”

– Belinda Remley has been promoting the wood industry for more than 25 years.

She is a marketing communications specialist with Lonza Wood Protection (www.lonza.com), a leader in wood preservation.

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SPECIAL Focus

By Butch Bernhardt

MANY WOOD treaters offer TSO—Treating Service Only—to meet the demand for hard-to-find products. (Photo by WWPI)

Go beyond basic treated wood products with TSO on’t limit your pressure treated wood sales to just standard dimension or plywood products. Answer your customers’ SOS for hard-to-find preservative-treated products with TSO. Treating Service Only, or TSO, is available from many treating companies to get customized preserved wood products that aren’t typically stocked or available. TSO is a great way to reach into new markets and differentiate your offerings from the typical treated wood products.

In TSO projects, the treater does not take ownership of the wood. The untreated material is usually sourced by a distributor, either from their yard or directly from a mill.

The stock is then transported to the treating company, pressure treated and then shipped direct to the customer.

TSO is used for a variety of products, including posts and stakes for agriculture, bridge timbers and guardrail posts for transportation projects, glulams and building poles for construction, and pilings and dock materials for maritime applications.

from other sources. It can keep them from going to another distributor to find what they need.”

“If a distributor wants to get into a new market, TSO can get you the right treatment on the wood products required,” said Danny Sosa of Thunderbolt Wood Treating in Riverbank, Ca., which specializes in TSO services.

“We give people options beyond buying from traditional inventories of treated products.”

Both Farley and Sosa said it is critical to engage the treater early in the process.

“You have to know the right questions to ask,” Farley explained. “It really helps to see the specifications for the job so we can determine not only the preservative and treating, but cutting and fabrication that should be done before the wood is treated.”

“The first question I ask is ‘What do you want to use it for?’ said Sosa. “From there I can guide them to what it will take to get that item.”

Proper Preparation

Miguel Gutierrez of Gemini Forest Products, a distributor in Stockton, Ca., specializing in TSO products, advises to plan for long lead times.

“I tell my customers that special orders might take up to 60 days, depending on the product or the treatment,” said Gutierrez. “If you need a custom size or if remanufacturing

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Utilizing TSO requires planning and leg work by the distributor. But the payoff can be great.

“It’s a lot more than just calling up with purchase order,” said Jerry Farley with J.H. Baxter, which offers TSO exclusively. “But the time and effort required can pay off in delivering something your customer can’t get

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Longer Lead Times

(Continued on page 62) Building-Products.com

COMPETITIVE Intelligence

By Carla Waldemar

Mountain Time:

Set the clock back 20 years he folks at C&M Lumber of New Meadows, Id. (pop.

500 on a good day), have yet to launch a website.

Phone service is often spotty; same for the Internet. I’d been warned to set my clock back by 20 years. So, when I finally reached Mark Peterson, co-owner along with his brother, Chris, I expected to hear the story of a mountain outpost selling sticks and nails to pioneers.

Turns out, the “pioneers” are city slickers, escaping the rat race, who are building second-home retreats that range from $500,000 to $1 million. Because of technology (when it works), they can choose anywhere on earth to live, so how about New Meadows, nicknamed “a home in heaven?”

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“Last year was a very good year, and 2019 looks terrific, too,” allows Mark, who’s a third-generation owner, with generations four and five coming up in the ranks behind him. (By the way, C&M’s name was not chosen to represent Chris and Mark, who weren’t even born when the grands picked it to represent its market: Cambridge and New Meadows.)

Cambridge, 40 miles west, is where those grandparents operated Cambridge Lumber, which they built in 1931.

They sold it to a cousin in 1962 to move to New Meadows to retire. But (aha!) they hung onto some of the inventory.

Turns out, grandpa viewed retirement as a cuss word and

IDAHO DEALER C&M Lumber has carved its place in the Mountain Region selling materials for second-home retreats.

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set that inventory into a 900-sq. ft. building close to the crossroads of two of the state’s busiest highways. (“We’re in the middle of Idaho, two hours away from anywhere—a good site,” says Mark.)

The boys’ dad, a U of Idaho grad, worked for the FAA until its demanding regime of road travel got old. He moved back to New Meadows to follow in his father’s footsteps, eventually taking over to help out his mom.

New Meadows stands in the shadow of Mt. McCall with its legendary ski resort in the Boise National Forest, renowned for its abundant powder snow. Originally it was a farming, ag, timber and mining community. Then some of the large, family-owned cattle ranches got sold in blocks and subdivided into development sites. Tourism came into play, and discovered C&M was there, happy to help.

Chris and Mark purchased the operation in 1998.

Twelve years ago, they moved it to a new location to take advantage of the highway’s expansion, now a quarter-mile away. “We now have 10 acres; we’re using three and will soon get to five. Formerly, customers had to park on the street. Now, for ease of shopping, there’s a parking lot.”

Both brothers are there “elbows on, every day.” But each has his area of expertise. For Chris, it’s computers, inventory, purchasing and receiving. For Mark, sales and customer service. Their staff of 20 each boasts a niche as well, but all are trained to be adept at jumping in wherever needed.

When it comes to clientele, the divide runs 50/50, contractors and retail shoppers. “We serve A to Z,” as Mark describes the reach, “and I enjoy the mix. Every sale counts, and deserves the same respect and attention. Our pros build everything from mansions to decks, add-ons, and pole barns. The walk-ins run the full gamut. We provide one-stop shopping: Lawn and garden, heating, paint, flooring and livestock needs to key-cutting, glass reglazing and pipe threading. Chicken feed to hot-tub chemicals and power tools. As one customer said to me, ‘Wow! A mini Home Depot in the mountains!’

“When we moved here, we had 25,000 sq. ft.

We’ve since added a 10,000-sq. ft. covered warehouse.

Contractors love it, and they like our personal service, guiding them in making strong, fundamental choices.

We host vendor-sponsored events for them, too, like our upcoming LP function, for which 50 pros have already registered.

“Also,” he adds, “half our staff serves as volunteer EMS firefighters. So if you’re ever in need, it’s likely an employee of ours will show up at your door.” Mark himself serves as assistant fire chief, and Chris sits on the school board. “Our parents instilled community values in us, so we’re glad to help our schools, senior center, churches and library. And we’re involved in the town’s biggest event of the year, Meadows Valley Days.

“It’s held on Labor Day weekend, when the town of 500 expands to welcome 1,500 additional visitors. They enjoy everything from the pit barbecue to a crazy contest called Heartland Fiasco.” (Let’s just say that that particular mayhem involves chainsaws and axes.) At Christmas, C&M brings in Santa for photo ops, along with its annual Yule Tool holiday sale. At Easter, out hops the bunny, who oversees the egg hunt and hands out cake.

That kind of community spirit keeps drawing customers back; yet that has become a harder and harder challenge to surmount since the onset of smart phones. As Mark explains, “We’re going head-to-head with Amazon every Building-Products.com

day. Say, we’re selling something for $9.99. On Amazon it may be a dollar less and arrives the next day. Still, we provide a knowledgeable staff, and they can’t. If your toilet flush quits working, we’ll give you advice on installing a new one. And not one person on our staff will not share his cell phone number on a Saturday, so if something breaks down on a Sunday, they’ll come in and get you your part.”

The downside, as Mark is fully aware, is the area’s phone service (or not). And when it comes to social media, he reminds me to set the clock back 20 years. “We just started making inroads, and we plan to improve during 2019,” he promises.

Regardless, “business looks good. (We’re only 120 miles from Boise, the capitol.) If the U.S. does well, we do well, too. And up here, we experience all four seasons— three or four feet of snow in winter, when the temperature can drop to -30 or -40 for two weeks at a time. Then in summer, everybody needs AC,” he laughs.

Mark has one son and Chris boasts two. “We are the third generation and they are the fourth.

The grandkids coming up represent the fifth, so the future looks good,” he reports with wellearned satisfaction. No need to re-set the clock.

Carla Waldemar cwaldemar@comcast.net

April 2019

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OLSEN on Sales

By James Olsen

The hard way is the easy way ales doesn’t care what we want or how we want to do things. Sales has a structure that when followed makes our lives easier and more profitable. When we try to take or make a shortcut—the “easy” way—that’s when sales is frustrating and less profitable.

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Goal Setting

Sitting down and writing out action specific, time-sensitive goals is work. It is easier to just think and dream about what we want and then go for it. Only 3% of people have clear and written goals. Most people spend more time planning their vacation than they do on goal setting for success.

Goal setting sets our subconscious to work on our goals.

Our brain is the biggest muscle in our body and works for us 24/7, even as we sleep, so we need to feed it positive messages about exactly where we want to go.

Most sellers get very little accomplished after lunch.

Master Sellers sell up to the moment the final bell rings and then they prepare their calls for the next day before going home. Many sellers spend the first hour(s!) of the day getting organized. Master Sellers hit their phone and their desk at the same and have made 20 quality sales calls before the easy way salesperson has finished their first donut.

Master Sellers get the nourishment they need before they come to work. The easy way sellers show up right on time to be late and then eat their breakfast at their desk.

Funny thing, they never eat their lunch at their desk, unless of course they took an hour and 15 to work out first.

Pre-Call Planning About 80% of sales calls are an open or thinly-disguised version of “What do you need today?” This brings no value to the customer. In fact, it creates more work for them. The easy way salesperson is saying, “Tell me what you want, how much you want, and what you want to pay for it.” In essence, “Mr. Customer, get to work for me!” This is why most sellers get treated badly and have poor margins.

Master Sellers load the gun (the night before). When they get on the phone or in front or their customers, they have several options, ideas, plans and products that will work for the customer. Preparing these calls takes time and concentration, which in theory is harder, but in the end is much easier. Master Sellers make the buyer’s job easier and more interesting. They have a partnership relationship with their customers, thus sell more and with better margins.

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Prospecting Looking for new business is one of the toughest challenges we have. The easy way is to: (1) Wait to be given accounts.

(2) Wait for a co-worker to quit.

(3) Prospect when it’s slow.

(4) Prospect when I lose a key account.

(5) From time to time.

None of these strategies provide consistent, ongoing growth. Master Sellers prospect all the time. They schedule specific times to look for new business.

Overcoming Objections Overcoming objections is the hardest thing to do in sales. To many, it feels like arguing. Once someone has said no, their mind and the ego are involved. Most sellers take the easy way and lower their price or walk.

Master Sellers want to get objections out in the open.

An objection that is unspoken cannot be overcome. The hard way is to be emotionally (stay calm) and intellectually (know what you’re going to say) prepared to discuss options with the customer on how this deal can and will work.

Closing Most sellers were raised by someone who taught them to hate pushy salespeople. They are so afraid of being pushy that they don’t ask for the order. They describe the product and wait for the customer to buy.

It’s easier on their inner child’s psyche, but murder on their pocket books.

Master Sellers overcome unfounded fears and teach themselves to ask for the order and teach their customers to expect them to ask for the order.

Most sellers are so afraid of the no they take the easy way and don’t ask. Master Sellers have trained themselves to want to hear the “no.” That’s when the fun begins.

James Olsen Reality Sales Training (503) 544-3572 james@realitysalestraining.com Building-Products.com

THE REVENUE Growth Habit

By Alex Goldfayn

The gratitude of selling

tudy after study finds that in the workplace, grateful people outperform those who are not grateful. And, critically, the research shows that it’s the gratitude that leads to success, not the other way around. That is, gratitude makes us successful, but success does not make us grateful.

If you are not grateful on the way to success, you not only have lower odds of reaching it, but you will not suddenly become grateful if you get there. Among salespeople, gratitude is sometimes a rare commodity. It’s understandable why: We get rejected all the time.

Customers tend to only call when they have a problem, or need something urgently, so we are only hearing from our customers when they are upset or angry. (Even though the vast majority of your customers are happy, but they are not the ones who are calling.) So, we’re solving problems all day.

And the 10% of customers who call us, who we spend 100% of our time interacting with, are always unhappy.

Tough environment to be grateful in, right? Totally understandable.

But in the interest of increased sales success, and bringing home more money to your family, and making customers happier so they can pay you more, let’s consider all there is to be grateful for.

You have customers who have been with you for years, and if you do not, your company does. They been with you for five or 10 or 20 years for a reason: They are happy. Even if they have a problem today, you will resolve it, and they will be happy again. How lucky are you, that you have customers who trust you, depend on you, and turn to you for help when they need it.

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This is certainly something to be grateful for. You deal with problems all day, right? Well, you get to solve your customers’ problems. And you’re damn good at it. How lucky are they to have you? I’m sure they are grateful for you. (Customers of my clients frequently tell me this when I interview them as a part of the revenue growth projects I do.)

You get rejected all day? Welcome to sales. In baseball, if you fail 70% of the time, you go to the Hall of Fame.

Each rejection brings you closer to the next yes. We have to work through the losses in order to reach the victories.

Also, every important success is almost always preceded by a bunch of failure. Want to do something important?

Plan to fail a lot first.

We get to be rejected. It means there is a market for our work. It means there is real interest in what we sell. And that’s a heck of a thing to be grateful for.

What else is there to be grateful for? You do good, important work in the world. Your customers need you.

They can’t help their customers without you.

Your can make more money by helping more people more. How cool is that?! Who else gets to do that? If you help more people some more, by definition, you will make more money. That’s amazing!

The amount of money you make is determined only by how hard you work, and how much you persevere. Your success if totally in your own hands. In my own work, I am incredibly grateful for this every day.

That’s an enormous amount to be grateful for!

Why is being grateful important in sales? Grateful salespeople also tend to be confident, positive, optimistic salespeople. Therefore, grateful salespeople offer additional products and services.

Ungrateful, or cynical, salespeople do not.

Grateful salespeople make proactive calls to customers and prospects, ungrateful salespeople do not.

Grateful salespeople follow up on quotes and proposals, and ask for the business.

Choose gratitude. It pays better.

Alex Goldfayn Revenue Growth Consultancy alex@evangelistmktg.com (847) 459-6322 Building-Products.com

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TRANSFORMING Teams

By Susan Pale

Planning to hire?

Let’s talk about pay ast month we talked about the tight labor market and some of the difficulties it will present for employers during 2019 and beyond. This month’s focus is the unique compensation challenges that occur when hiring a new employee.

Here’s the too-frequent dilemma. You find the perfect candidate for your open accounting position. They have the right skills, experience in your industry, appropriate credentials—everything you could want. There is just one problem— they want a starting salary that is $10,000 more than you are paying your other employees who do the same job.

Maybe this happens because you are not paying your current employees enough. Maybe your labor market is particularly competitive and that has caused wages to rise. It’s particularly frustrating if you have done your homework and tried to set your pay rates to be competitive with the market, and now you have to pay above market to hire someone with the skills you need.

In any event, this is a complex issue with no simple solution. There are some steps, though, that you can take to land that candidate without creating compensation chaos in the rest of the organization:

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1. Do your homework—up front Before you even begin the recruiting process, make sure you are aware of current market salaries for the position(s) you are recruiting for. If you haven’t looked at market salaries in a while, get ready for some sticker shock,

Q. Do you have any creative benefit ideas for trying to recruit new talent?

A. Absolutely! Here are some things you can offer: additional vacation days, reimburse student loan or credit card debt, allow your employee to work from home once a week or work from the office one weekend day a week, offer a sabbatical after five years of service, reimburse transportation or child-care expenses, pay for continuing education, and, of course, teach your prospective employees about any retirement benefits, such as 401(k) benefits. If you do get creative with your benefits, present them with your offer so that they can weigh the benefits along with your salary offering. Good luck!

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especially if you are in an area that is experiencing high job growth. It is also important that you understand who your competitors are for talent in your recruiting market(s).

Often your competitors won’t be in the same industry.

Several years ago a regional bank client lost the entire accounting department to a state tax department regional office that opened in the same small city.

2. Get creative with one-time payments The one-time sign-on bonus is the most common, but there are lots of other options. These payments can be structured to be paid out all at once or in multiple payments. Payments don’t always need to be up front, either. They can be attached to length or service or some type of defined performance milestone(s). Or split any way that can be easily communicated and is achievable.

3. Get creative with benefits Most organizations don’t do a good job of communicating this, but a typical benefit package is “worth” 30% to 35% of base salary. It’s possible to create a customized benefit package for a potential new hire that includes offerings like paying off student debt or credit card debt, an extra week of paid vacation, an increased contribution to health insurance, and/or reimbursement for continuing education. Presenting a total compensation package, rather than a straight salary offer, may be the key to landing that candidate you want.

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4. Consider more frequent salary increases It’s pretty common to give new employees an increase after six months, but a large number of organizations are giving increases after three months. If you’re having difficulty meeting the salary that a potential new hire is seeking, maybe negotiating for a somewhat lower salary up front and an increase after a shorter wait time will help you land that candidate. This type of strategy can be particularly effective with entry-level employees in industries such as retail and food service, where turnover during the first six months of employment frequently exceeds 50%.

5. Get creative with flexible schedules Many employers have been successful at retaining valuable employees because they looked beyond the constraints of the usual five-day work week. That might include working shorter hours, a four-day week, working at home one or more days, or working a schedule based on the availability of public transportation. And some employees might actually prefer working on a weekend day, when they don’t have to take their children to school or day care or contend with homework and after-school activities.

Alternative scheduling approaches can be particularly helpful in retaining entry-level employees, who frequently struggle with childcare and transportation issues.

6. Make sure your compensation policies reflect market reality If you have written compensation policies that haven’t been reviewed or updated, it is time to do this. You may not be able to follow those policies in today’s tight labor market. For example, organizations with more formal salary structures (pay bands or salary grades) often have policies that state new hires will be hired at a certain position or in a specific quartile of the salary range. These days that often isn’t realistic or doable.

Bottom line: get creative to meet today’s recruitment challenges.

Susan Pale, CCP Affinity HR Group contact@affinityhrgroup.com

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NJ’s DuBell Lumber Shuts Down After 97 years of business, DuBell Lumber Co., Medford, N.J., abruptly closed all operations on Feb. 9.

DuBell had operated stores in Medford, Cherry Hill, Pleasantville and Winslow, N.J.; a kitchen and bath showroom and K&B distribution center in Vineland, N.J.; and a truss plant in Millville, N.J. The closure put an end to 157 jobs.

Just two years ago, DuBell was granted an $18-million tax break by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, after promising a sizable expansion—a promise that will go unfulfilled.

Mans Filling Void in Ann Arbor

With Fingerle Lumber on its way out, Mans Lumber & Millwork, Trenton, Mi., will open a 4,000-sq. ft. showroom this month in Fingerle’s hometown of Ann Arbor, Mi. So far, Mans has hired about 10 former Fingerle emloyees, one as a VP, seven to work in sales in Ann Arbor and the others as drivers and yard workers in Canton, Mi. Mans broke into the Ann Arbor market with its recent acquisition of Washtenaw Door & Trim.

After 87 years, Fingerle is in the midst of liquidating.

Most of its real estate has been sold to the University of Michigan.

Aubuchon Buys Small Independent Adding to its store count of 103 locations, Aubuchon Hardware has acquired Lynde Hardware & Supply, Gardner, Ma. Jay and Celeste Drake had owned Lynde Hardware for 35 years.

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SUPPLIER Briefs GMS Inc., Tucker, Ga., acquired the assets of interior building products distributor Commercial Builders Group, with facilities in LaPlace and Walker, La. Millville Lumber, Snow Hill, Md., sustained a March

12 fire.

Mid-State Lumber is a new distributor for Vista Railing Systems to the New England and Mid-Atlantic markets from its branches in Branchburg, N.J.; Kingston, Pa.; Warwick, N.Y.; and Marlborough, Ma.

Derby Building Products’ Beach House Shake received a Notice of Acceptance from Miami-Dade County, as compliant and capable of withstanding the severe weather conditions of Florida’s High Velocity Hurricane Zone.

Palmer-Donavin, Columbus, Oh., is now distributing Derby’s TandoStone, TandoShake, and Beach House Shake exterior cladding products to Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, central Kentucky, and western Pennsylvania.

Raymond Corp., Greene, N.Y., was named to Fast Company’s 2019 Most Innovative Companies list, due to the impact its Raymond Virtual Reality Simulator tool has had on educating forklift operators.

Hixson Lumber Sales, Pine Bluff, Ar., is celebrating

its 60th anniversary this year.

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Troy Renames Preservatives ProTek ProTek is the new brand name for all wood preservatives from Troy Corp., Florham Park, N.J. The brand encompasses both new offerings, as well as any formerly Mergal branded products used in pressure treated wood. They include moldicides, borates, dissolved copper, quats and azoles.

“ProTek preservatives give treaters numerous options to protect their pressure treated wood from microbial growth,” said Geoff Webb, director-wood protection. “Incorporating some of the most advanced technology in the market, Troy’s ProTek satisfies the industry’s needs for long-lasting, highly effective preservation in an economical package.”

He added, “The ProTek name reflects the core of Troy’s preservation philosophy: to offer the best protection technology possible to treaters. The new line of ProTek preservatives does exactly that.”

Founded in 1950, Troy has sales offices throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America. Its materials are used and available in over 100 countries worldwide.

HOOD LUMBER

DEALER Briefs Wholesale Lumber Co., El Paso, Tx., has added a

branch in Clint, Tx.

Oconto County Lumber, Oconto Falls, Wi., was damaged by a warehouse fire March 15.

Glenn’s True Value, Lincoln, Ne., is liquidating its

five-year-old Piedmont store.

Patrick Building Supply , Stuart, Va., opened is Mountain View Home & Hardware,

second location, King, N.C.

Mutual Ace Hardware has purchased the just-shuttered Ace in Palatine, Il., will reopen this month.

M&S Hardware, Tamaqua, Pa., added a second loca-

tion in Lehighton, Pa.

Tomchek’s Ace Hardware, Waukesha, Wi., has TNT Ace Hardware, Delavan, Wi., from Mike

purchased Kostoff.

Columbiana Ace Hardware, Columbiana, Oh., is opening store #3 this spring in Boardman, Oh. Landrum Hardware, Landrum, S.C., has moved into its new, 15,000-sq. ft. facility, with an extra 5,000 sq. ft. available for future expansion.

Prairie Side True Value, Kenosha, Wi., received preliminary approval to build an Ace Hardware in town.

Silver Creek, MS

Metcalf, GA Waynesboro, MS Bogalusa, LA

Lester Building Supply, Martinsville, Va., has picked up the product lines of Southern States, Collinsville, Va., which has closed its ag co-op. Southern States manager Tim Smith and counterman Robert Lackey are now with Lester.

Leake & Goodlett Hardware , Tupelo, Ms., has

closed after 115 years.

Ace of Wallhaven owners A.J. and Elliott Metzger are adding a branch next month in Kent, Oh.

Hood Industries operates four quality Southern Pine sawmills in Mississippi, Louisiana & Georgia, specializing in superior SYP Lumber, providing a full product mix of 2x4 thru 2x12, small timbers, & lengths up to 24’.

“We go to great lengths to ensure your satisfaction” Phone 601-264-2559 Fax 601-296-4740

www.hoodindustries.com

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Cobb Building Materials, San Antonio, Tx., is now aligned with Do it Best.

Also recently switching to Do it Best from True Value are Brimfield Hardware , Brimfield, Il.; Otisville Hardware , Otisville, N.Y Hillsboro Hardware , Hillsboro, Ks.; and Mt. Pleasant Hardware , Mt. Pleasant, R.I. Menards is getting ready to open new stores in Avon, Brooklyn and Mentor, Oh.; is about to break ground in Athens, Oh.; and has submitted plans to expand its location in Germantown, Wi. Habitat for Humanity has added a 10,000-sq. ft.

Building Supply Warehouse behind its ReStore in Ogden, N.C. Economy Lumber, Tulsa, Ok., this month is celebrating its 85th anniversary, all under the same family ownership.

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THINKING Ahead

By Devin Stuart, Roseburg Forest Products

All the best (unsolicited) advice areers in the lumber industry may be forged from family connections and birthrights, serendipitous circumstances, or carefully planned academic study, among other pathways. Whatever road gets you here, you will undoubtedly encounter plenty of well-intentioned counsel along the way—whether you ask for it or not.

That advice will take many shapes—the good, the bad, and even the funny—but there is something to be learned from just about all of it.

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The Good

While a lot of the do’s and don’ts lobbed in your direction will be unsolicited, some of the best guidance I received as a newcomer to the industry was to seek out help proactively. Specifically, I was told to find a mentor—and not to limit myself to just one. What a gem that piece of advice turned out to be!

This is my fourth year in the business, and I credit the three or four workplace mentors I still have for helping me to get where I am so far. As someone who was hired right out of college, I didn’t really know what I was stepping into, the ins and outs of the industry, and how to navigate the professional landscape. But being able to turn to multiple people who are strong or knowledge in different areas has been an eye-opening experience and professional benefit to me over these past few years.

Depending on what the topic is, or who is available at the time, I’m able to bounce ideas off of these individuals who have the background to give solid feedback.

Nothing is off-limits, whether I want to know “How do you approach a conversation about A, B, C, or D with your boss?” or “What would you do if this was your situation?”

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The Bad

Here’s my disclaimer: not all advice is necessarily good advice. I remember some discouraging input I received when my company, Roseburg Forest Products, launched our social media presence in 2016. “We’re oldfashioned,” piped in one commentator. “Nobody in the industry wants to use social media; we call people on the phone, and we’ll never change.” “Don’t bother,” injected another.

Had we taken that advice to heart and let it hold us back, where would we be today? Well, we’d be without nearly 1,300 users who follow us on Twitter and not engaged with the 2 million folks we reach through Pinterest!

That’s the thing about advice: people may offer it with all the best intentions, but sometimes it’s just plain wrong.

Having mentors who can provide different perspectives will help filter out the good from the bad. So, too, will

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A Special Series from North American Wholesale Lumber Association

listening. The more advice you receive, the better you get at filtering and knowing if it is applicable to you and your situation. Even if you know you’re on the receiving end of some flawed logic, it doesn’t hurt to hear the speaker through to the end. I believe you can learn something from everyone, even if it is simply learning about who that person is and how he or she thinks.

I’m inclined to invest just as much time talking with someone whose advice is off as I would with someone who is on the same page, because I want to understand how that individual reached that particular perspective— even if I don’t agree with it—because it might just be appropriate at another time, under a different scenario.

The Funny

“Kid, you’ve got to work as long as possible to make sure my retirement stays funded!”

While my feelings about being called “kid” in a professional setting could result in its own article altogether, I do appreciate a good laugh. Moreover, I also know what this person was getting at: loyalty to the industry will reap rewards for many of us. I’ll grow my career and my leadership skills. I’ll have the opportunity to see monumental accomplishments during my tenure.

And yes, I’ll be carrying on a legacy of those who are retiring—something I do find empowering and important even as someone not born into the forest products industry.

All in all, conversations with people allow you to understand their perspectives and know their intent behind their words. I have found that conversations with people about the industry, my career, life itself lets me know people on a deeper level and connect better.

Corralling everything that I’ve learned so far myself, what I would tell her—and any other newcomer—is, first, understand your own strengths. Not only will this identify where the best opportunities are for you, but it also will expose the areas where you are weaker and could stand to improve. Based on the personality assessment that Roseburg administers to its employees, for example, the test indicated that I needed to further develop my management skills but that I have a knack for seeing the big picture.

Based on that feedback, and to make me better in that area and shape myself into a more well-rounded employee, I’m now enrolled in a masters program for project management.

Second, I would urge rookies to get as much clarity as possible on the industry as a whole—including how things fit together, what is expected of you, and how you’ll be evaluated on your performance. In that vein, don’t be afraid to ask for what you need and what you want.

About NAWLA North American Wholesale Lumber Association is the association that delivers unparalleled access to relationships and resources that improve business strategy and performance through sales growth, cost savings, and operational efficiencies for wholesalers and manufacturers of forest products and other building materials that conduct business in North America.

Learn more about how NAWLA can help your business at www.nawla.org.

Role Reversal

All that to say, as someone who entered this industry not even five years ago, I’ve received my fair share of advice on everything under the sun. Some of it has been good, some of it has been not so good, and some of it has been conflicting. “Make mistakes—it’s how you learn,” it was suggested to me early on, at the same time that I was warned that messing up in such a small industry would be the death of my career.

The bottom line is that you have to really consider who is delivering advice and whether you value that person’s perspective or opinion over someone else’s. I have a new appreciation for that today as I find myself in a position where a new hire fresh out of school is seeking out my counsel.

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Third, and maybe most importantly... PARTICIPATE. I spent a lot of time at the beginning of my career sitting quietly in meetings because I was nervous that I didn’t have anything valuable to say. But just because you don’t have all the experience or background knowledge doesn’t mean that you don’t have the latest education in the room or the most creative idea out there.

Don’t be afraid to speak up and share your ideas, because even as a newbie, you have something to contribute!

– Devin Stuart is marketing manager for structural products with Roseburg Forest Products, Springfield, Or. (www.roseburg. com), and a member of NAWLA’s marketing committee.

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MOVERS & Shakers Steven Fuchs, ex-DuBell Lumber, has joined the outside sales team at Woodhaven Lumber & Millwork, Lakewood, N.J. John Cusick, ex-DuBell Lumber, has been named general mgr. of Carter Lumber, Medford, N.J. Brad Marks has rejoined Culpeper Wood Preservers, Culpeper, Va., as senior sales executive.

Jeff Beckett is now a territory sales mgr. for PrimeSource Building Products, Norfolk, Va. Mike Essary is a new territory mgr. for Hickory/Lenoir, N.C. Lauren Warren is a new regional product development mgr. with BlueLinx, Tampa, Fl. Doc Sikes has been appointed store mgr. of McCoy’s Building Supply, Orange, Tx. Will Fritzlan is now store mgr. in Pasadena, Tx. Conrad Kempinska has been promoted to senior vice president, North America, for Koppers Performance Chemicals, Griffin, Ga. Todd Greer has been appointed VP, customer sales & service, and J.R. Virnich is director, industrial & commercial markets. Now reporting to Vinich in his new focus area are Greg Goergen, mgr.-environmental services, and Chuck Shaw, mgr.business development.

Jody Solesbee has joined Arauco North America, Atlanta, Ga., as senior sales mgr. for lumber & millwork. Mark Young has retired after 40 years in the industry, the last 21 with Arauco.

Dan Kappler is new to inside sales at MOSO North America, Pennsauken, N.J. Mark Whitney, H.G. Page & Sons, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., has been promoted to CEO. Troy Rosenberg, ex-Alexander Lumber, has been named general mgr. of Builders FirstSource, Oak Grove, Mn. Kathleen Marini is the new director of marketing at Richards Building Supply, Homer Glen, Il. Selene Byron has joined Huttig Building Products, Taunton, Ma., as Maibec product specialist for New England.

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Brett Reeves has rejoined Encore Building Products, Springdale, Ar., as an outside sales rep, after closing his 18-month-old Centerton Hardware, Centerton, Ar. Aaron Sooter has been appointed customer service mgr. for Viance, Charlotte, N.C. Dave Jones has been promoted to national account mgr./environmental health & safety specialist.

Matthew Scholl, ex-Great Southern Wood Preserving, has been appointed vice president of the Southern Pine Inspection Bureau, Pensacola, Fl. Chris Alderink has been promoted to branch mgr. of Standard Lumber Co., Grand Rapids, Mi. Matt Born, general mgr., 84 Lumber, South Houston, Tx., has been placed over the Denton, Tx., yard.

Garret Cockrell is the new owner of Big D Lumber Co., Richardson, Tx. Woody Miller has been promoted to VP-operational & facilities development at Winco Windows, St. Louis, Mo. O.B. Grayson Hall Jr., retired chairman and CEO of Regions Financial Corp., has been elected to the board of directors of Great Southern Wood Holdings, Abbeville, Al. Afton Yount is new to outside sales at Ridout Lumber, Fayetteville, Ar. Jeff Olson has been named VP-finance for The AZEK Co., Chicago, Il. Victor Cheikh is now AZEK’s area sales mgr. for New York City/Long Island.

Mark Depp, ex-Depp Lumber, has joined the National Hardwood Lumber Association’s Industry Services Team, as a national inspector covering the Southeast.

Joseph Hoekzema and Brian McGuire were promoted to directors of sales for Kemper System America, West Seneca, N.Y. Jamison Eige, ex-PGT Custom Windows & Doors, is now VP of sales & marketing for ODL, Inc., Gallatin, Tn. Charles Collins, L&W Supply Corp., Chicago, Il., has been promoted to North Region vice president.

Brian Kimber has been appointed executive vice president of sales for GAF, Parsippany, N.J. Jim Durkin succeeds him as senior VP, steep slope systems sales.

Nicholas Fink was named president and chief operating officer of Fortune Brands, Deerfield, Il. Cheri Phyfer succeeds him as president, Fortune Brands Global Plumbing Group.

Nick Luchonok, co-mgr., 84 Lumber Co., Oakland, N.J., was honored as the chain’s 2018 Rookie of the Year. Other awards went to Buyer of the Year David Fisher Jr.; Area Manager of the Year Jason Skaggs, Southeast; Manufacturing Manager of the Year John Kelemen, Houston West Door Shop; and for sales/profitability increases to Darrell May, West Palm Beach, Fl. Arthur Adams has been appointed vice president of sales & customer engagement for CSX Corp., Jacksonville, Fl. Kevin Boone is now VP of marketing & strategy.

Matthew Eirvin, ex-Dempsey Wood Products, is the new sales mgr. for Timber Automation, Pawleys Island, S.C.

Don McGregor, Western Forest Products, Vancouver, B.C., has been promoted to VP-sales & wholesale lumber, overseeing the newly formed wholesale division.

Patrick Sikora, Curtis Lumber, Ballston Spa, N.Y., has relocated to the Williston, Vt., yard in sales.

Ryan McInerney is a new associate partner at Weston Forest, Mississauga, Ont.

Tom Sandstrom has joined Derby Building Products, as North Aurora, Il.-based territory sales mgr. for the Midwest.

Josh Brown, VP of sales, Bliffert Lumber & Hardware, Milwaukee, Wi., received the NARI Professionalism Award and Presidents Award for 2018.

Rob Schmiedel has been named sales operations mgr. for Do it Best Corp., Fort Wayne, In. Greg Fuller succeeds him as national sales mgr. John Wade is now strategic account mgr.

Harry Lipp is in charge of the new grooming standards at Mungus Fungus Forest Products, Climax, Nv., according to co-owners Hugh Mungus and Freddy Fungus.

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Building-Products.com

EVERYONE WITH OR WITHOUT FUR

IS SEEKING OUT THE BEST.

YellaWood® brand pressure treated products are treated with preservatives (the “Preservatives”) and preservative methods, and technologies of unrelated third parties. For details regarding the Preservatives, methods, and technologies used by Great Southern Wood Preserving, Incorporated, see www.yellawood.com/preservative or write us at P.O. Box 610, Abbeville, AL 36310.

YellaWood® brand pressure treated pine is sought after by all the best builders, especially those with leather tails, buck teeth and nature’s highest building standards. Our proven reputation for having high quality products drives demand for the Yella Tag. The five-star service and unrivaled support of the YellaWood® brand puts dealers in position to meet their customer’s specific needs. See how the YellaWood® brand delivers at YellaWood.com.

IF IT DOESN’T HAVE THIS YELLA TAG, YOU DON’T WANT IT.

Ask dealer for warranty details. For warranty or for important handling and other information concerning our products including the appropriate Safety Data Sheet (SDS), please visit us at www.yellawood.com/warranties or write us at P.O. Box 610, Abbeville, AL 36310. YellaWood® and the yellow tag are federally registered trademarks of Great Southern Wood Preserving, Incorporated.

Gordon Realigns Business In alignment with industry trends and its multi-year growth strategy, Gordon Lumber, Fremont, Oh., is consolidating two retail locations into its four surrounding contractor yards and expanding its component operations.

Its limited service yards in Bellevue and Bowling Green, Oh., have closed, with operations absorbed by full-line contractor and retail lumberyards in Fremont, Genoa, Huron and Port Clinton, Oh. The company will reallocate additional resources into the full-line yards in order to support growth, expand

product and service offerings, and expand service to its core markets.

More will also be invested into its component division, following an excellent return on recent capital investments in Gordon Components, Findlay, Oh., as well as by Gordon’s Michigan joint venture partner, Gordon Components MI. To support the new growth strategy, Derek Cowen has been promoted to vice president and general manager of Gordon Components. On the lumber side, Justin Tracy becomes VP-operations and Michael Kuntz is VP-sales of Gordon Lumber.

Mid-Cape Buys Venerable Massachusetts Dealer

Five-unit Mid-Cape Home Centers has acquired century-old Wood Lumber Co., Falmouth, Ma., from third-generation owners Eileen and Dana Miskell.

According to the Miskells, “Our goal in transitioning the business, as we have officially reached retirement age, was for the Wood Lumber Co. to remain a strong employer in Falmouth and a supplier of quality materials and service to builders and retail customers. We feel that MidCape is a perfect fit to maintain the quality products and service that Wood Lumber Co. has always been known for.”

SRS Expands in Southeast

Then he found CT Darnell, and things got real easy real quick. Armed with Baba’s inventory list, CTD’s LBM specialists got to work, creating a project-specific design, manufacturing steel to spec, and erecting the covered storage system.

SRS Distribution, McKinney, Tx., has opened three new roofing products distribution locations in the Southeast and added five more through acquisition.

New greenfield locations are a Suncoast Roofers Supply in Chipley, Fl.; a Superior Distribution in Jacksonville, N.C.; and an Atlantic Roofing Distributors branch in Summerville, S.C. SRS also purchased AAC Building Materials, Asheville, N.C., and Roofing Products & Building Supply, with facilities in Jefferson, Baton Rouge, Houma and Covington, La. The entire sales and operations teams from both companies, including AAC co-owners Bob and Lori Harrison and Roofing Products’ Vincent Saia, Danny Bordelon, and Josh Romig, will stay on to run the branches going forward.

The latter four locations will retain the Roofing Products name as a new roofing-focused division, alongside SRS’ broader building productsfocused Advanced Building Products locations.

Summing up the experience, Baba said, “It was easy, affordable, and they took the stress off my plate.”

Aluminum Door Manufacturer Upgrades Capabilities

Baba Searle VP of Operations

Easy does it.

Baba Searle, International Wood Products’ VP of operations, knew he couldn’t put it off any longer. But he dreaded the thought of building new covered storage sheds for his growing inventory. He knew from experience that what seemed like a simple project would require time and attention he just didn’t have.

Watch the video for the full story at sunbelt-rack.com/stories

CT-Darnell.com

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800-353-0892

© WTD Holdings, Inc., 2019. All rights reserved.

Aluminum door and frame manufacturer Ellison Bronze has installed a new four-axis cutting machine, the Fom Industrie Argo 40, at its plant in Falconer, N.Y. The new equipment will allow Ellison to match parts with a higher degree of accuracy and ensure repeatability for all machined aluminum components.

The new machinery was put into operation in January.

Building-Products.com

Orgill Holds Spring Dealer Market Independent home improvement retailers attending Orgill’s recent spring dealer market were treated to previews of new products, special market-only pricing, and workshops to glean new knowledge to take back to their businesses.

The market covered 1 million sq. ft. of Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center, providing attendees with plenty of ways to better their businesses across the show floor. They could walk through full-size model stores and product showcases highlighting specific categories, as well as take time to speak with the thousands of vendors at the show. The regular promotional areas, such as New Items, Door Busters and Pallet Buys, were popular stops for retailers looking for low prices and extended dating.

Two new model stores offered real-life merchandising and product selection ideas. The first, Community Building Supply, was a 5,500-sq. ft. store focused on contractor customers, including a special 800-sq. ft. tool rental area. Other featured departments include power tools, pro paint, and construction fasteners.

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INDEPENDENT home improvement retailers packed the aisles of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fl., for Orgill’s spring dealer market.

The second, Four Seasons Hardware, covered 29,000 sq. ft. and showcased 12 niche categories plus innovative space-saving ideas, thanks to a number of planograms that come in different sizes.

April 2019

Numerous Product Showcases highlighted the breadth of product in a particular category.

Orgill’s fall dealer market will be held Aug. 22-24 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

Building-Products.com

Spahn & Rose Buys Dunn Spahn & Rose Lumber Co., Dubuque, Ia., has acquired Lake Geneva, Wi.-based Dunn Lumber.

“This acquisition is a win-win for everyone,” said Spahn & Rose CEO Dave Davis. “Dunn Lumber is a wonderful family business with the same corporate philosophy as Spahn & Rose: It treats customers like family. The culture at Dunn Lumber is very similar to Spahn & Rose, so it is a natural fit. We have no plans to change Dunn Lumber’s name, marketing focus or local management.”

Dunn Lumber was founded in 1894 by Edward F. Dunn, and the store has been owned by the same family since it opened. The current owners, brothers Mike and Terry Dunn, are planning to retire after the sale.

Now serving professional builders, remodelers and homeowners throughout Walworth County, southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, Dunn Lumber consists of three business segments: lumber & building materials, hardware and rental. The 18,000-sq. ft. store is also the home of DC Design Services, a full-service cabinet design studio that caters to homeowners and contractors.

Dunn was recently named the 2019 Wisconsin Retail Lumber Association Dealer of the Year.

Founded in 1904, Spahn & Rose operates 24 locations in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Boise Cascade Buying AL Distributor Boise Cascade Co., Boise, Id., has agreed to acquire American Lumber Distributors & Brokers, Inc., Birmingham, Al., wholesale distributor of lumber, plywood, OSB, James Hardie siding, and engineered wood products.

“American Lumber is an exceptional supplier of many building products,” said Nick Stokes, executive vice president, Boise Cascade. “With their experienced and knowledgeable team, they will be a great addition to our nationwide distribution network and will enhance our service capacity in the Southeast.”

“Boise Cascade has been a valued supplier to American Lumber for 32 years,” said Walter Russell, president of American Lumber. “This is an ideal strategic fit that will allow the combined organization to grow and provide enhanced value to our customers.”

The acquisition is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2019.

UFP Acquires Component Maker

Universal Forest Products, Grand Rapids, Mi., has agreed to purchase the operating assets of Wolverine Wood Products, Grand Rapids.

Founded in 2008 by Mike and Bernadette Petersen, Wolverine manufactures wood panel components for furniture, store fixtures, and case goods, with annual sales of $5 million. Mike Petersen, Wolverine owner and president, is expected to stay on as general manager.

“Wolverine Wood Products has grown quickly by using automation and robotics to provide its customers with the value-added services and pricing that other companies can’t provide,” said UFPI CEO Matt Missad. “We’re fortunate to have Mike Petersen and his team join the Universal family of companies. Mike has 32 years of experience in sales and automation integration, and he’s leveraged it into a successful and quickly growing business.”

Custom Cut to Your Specs.

Our sanders and specialty glues allow us to fabricate panels for whatever project you want to build. We can even engineer panels to meet unique and specific needs—including panels up to five feet wide, ten feet long and 1-15/32" thick.

Tell us what you need, and we can make it happen.

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Designed to reinforce its positioning in the market and to provide support to dealers across the country, the campaign includes print, digital, broadcast, billboards and in-store elements.

US Lumber Takes Over Sherwood Lumber’s EWP Operations

A GROUP of intrepid, lumber-obsessed beavers stars in Great Southern’s new marketing campaign for its Yellawood brand pressure treated wood.

Great Southern Sinks Teeth Into New Marketing Campaign What do you get when you combine YellaWood brand pressure treated pine with a mischievous band of beavers driven to create their own oasis at the lodge? “The Woodland’s Most Wanted.”

The new marketing campaign from Great Southern Wood, Abbeville, Al., follows the tales of five lumber-obsessed beavers, and launched nationally March 17.

“Through the use of non-traditional YellaWood fans, in this case, a team of beavers, we’re taking a humorous approach to establishing the desirability of YellaWood brand products,” said chief marketing officer James Riley. “It’s a fun and engaging way to encourage homeowners to create their own five-star backyard and to demand pressure treated pine with the little Yella Tag.”

Sherwood Lumber, Melville, N.Y., has sold substantially all of the assets of its Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Engineered Lumber Business to U.S. Lumber, Duluth, Ga. Sherwood’s engineered lumber customers were transitioned to U.S. Lumber over the first four weeks of March.

After also pulling back its EWP operations on the West Coast, Sherwood appears to be concentrating on wholesale distribution of traditional forest products.

BC Producer Adding Mass Timber

Kalesnikoff Lumber Co., Thrums, B.C., will invest $35 million building a Mass Timber manufacturing facility in South Slocan, B.C. The company aims to make the 110,000-sq. ft. operation the most advanced, fully integrated, multi-species mass timber plant in North America, incorporating state-of-theart processing equipment and technology from firms such as Kallesoe Machinery and Conception RP. The plant is set to open in late 2019 with a full production anticipated by the summer of 2020.

In concert, Kalesnikoff has rebranded, introducing a new logo and the tagline “Timber Inspires,” which reflects the endless possibilities of wood, and the intersection of design, engineering and construction using its mass timber products.

Engineered to Your Needs.

We manufacture high quality commodity and specialty softwood plywood with one thing in mind—providing the best product for you. We can provide the right grade, the right finish and the right specs for your needs.

We meet not only performance requirements, but also the toughest environmental requirements.

1-800-547-9520 timberproducts.com Building-Products.com

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the report, a wood deck addition generated the third highest percentage of cost recouped.

The estimated cost of a deck addition was $10,950 and the value at sale was $9,065, for an 82.8% recovery of the investment. Only a garage door replacement and adding manufactured stone veneer generated higher returns at 98.3% and 97.1%, respectively.

By comparison, the return for adding a composite deck was just 63.3%. Cost of adding a composite deck was $17,668 while the value at sale was estimated at $11,239. The job cost estimates showed wood decks were considerably more cost-effective, with composite decks costing 61% more than wood.

The lowest return out of the top 20 projects was a backyard patio addition, which returned just 47.6% of the value of the investment.

Atlantic Veneer Shuttering Slicing Operations at NC Mill WOOD DECKS provide excellent returns on investment, per a new study. (Photo by Lonza)

Wood Decks Generate Big Returns

Adding a wood deck offers one of the best returns on investments for home renovations, according to a new study. The return for wood decks also is far higher than plastic composite decks.

Remodeling Magazine’s annual Cost vs. Value Report for 2018 ranked the average return on investment for 20 of the most popular home renovation projects. According to

Atlantic Veneer will close one segment of its Beaufort, N.C., mill for good on May 14.

Sales manager Jack King confirmed the veneer slicing area of production will be shut down as a cost-saving measure. The veneer clipping, sales/exports, and wholesale divisions of the company will remain open.

Fifty-seven workers will be laid off as a result of the closure, but some may be transferred to other areas of production or to Atlantic Veneer’s Veneer Tech sister facility in Newport, Va. According to the Decorative Hardwoods Association, more than 40 hardwood veneer mills have been shuttered since 2005.

– Serving the industry for over 30 years – Phone:

800-763-0139

• Fax: 864-699-3101

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LP Subflooring Swims With the Sharks Product experts from LP Building Products embarked on a 22-hour boat ride to Guadalupe Island to put LP Legacy premium subflooring to the ultimate performance test. They joined Captain Spencer Salmon and his crew, along with a team of extreme adventure videographers, aboard the MV Horizon in San Diego, Ca., and made their way to a dive destination famous for the number and size of great white sharks that circle the island’s coast.

During the test, a shark cage, largely constructed of LP Legacy subflooring, was submerged in the ocean for more than a day. The cage served as the only protection for the divers who volunteered to go into the water with the sharks. Crew members and LP experts also took turns lowering themselves into the shark cage.

The expedition was the third in LP’s “Tested Extreme” campaign, designed to demonstrate the subflooring’s performance in difficult situations that go well beyond the demands of a typical jobsite. In the first expedition, panels were sent over a series of waterfalls totaling 70 feet and left to soak overnight. The second test involved

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professional mountain bikers jumping on a ramp built with LP Legacy panels during a torrential storm in a British Columbia rainforest.

This time, the shark cage was immersed in the Pacific Ocean for a

total of 28 hours, during which time 23 sharks were sighted—the largest one weighing close to 2,500 lbs.

Watch the divers and the shark cage in action and see behind-the-scenes footage at www.testedextreme.com.

ULTIMATE TEST: A shark cage built primarily of LP Legacy is submerged in the ocean as part of the company’s “Tested Extreme” campaign. The subflooring is APA-rated with the highest bending stiffness, is packed with more resin, wax, and wood strands, and is made with Gorilla Glue technology.

April 2019

Building-Products.com

Sierra Pacific Files Patent Infringement Suit vs. Kolbe Sierra Pacific Windows has filed suit alleging Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork’s VistaLuxe products infringe the patent covering Sierra Pacific’s H3 hybrid window.

The H3 window uses a hybrid construction to leverage the best attributes of an extruded aluminum clad exterior, with a vinyl base frame, and the beauty of a wood interior. Kolbe’s VistaLuxe windows and doors are also a tri-material construction hybrid.

“We made a significant investment of time and resources into the development of the H3 technology,” said Sierra Pacific Windows president Tom Takach. “This included years of intense R&D before this hybrid window was officially launched. The H3 was constructed like no other, and we’ve continued to build upon the platform and design since its inception.”

Kolbe insists that, after thoroughly reviewing Sierra Pacific’s claims, it finds them without merit.

Deck Posts ICC Certified Perma-Column’s signature line of deck posts has been certified by the International Code Council as comply-

PERMA-COLUMNA deck posts have been ICC certified.

ing with international building codes.

Certification from ICC, the authority on building code compliance, means builders can more quickly attain approvals and permits, while customers gain a greater trust in the products.

Based in Ossian, In., PermaColumn developed its patented design to address the industrywide problem of rotting wood posts in foundation systems. Wood is elevated out of the ground via a steel bracket atop a precast concrete foundational pier.

For builders, the design eliminates the hassles of pouring concrete on the jobsite, making deck construction

quicker and more efficient.

Perma-Column deck posts, which are guaranteed for life, are reportedly three times stronger than standard concrete, providing a permanent solution for long-lasting decks.

“Obtaining an ICC certificate of compliance is not easy,” noted president Mark A. Stover. “A manufacturer must be willing and able to invest significant time and resources during the approval process. This is the best way to ensure the quality of our product and shows how dedicated we are to being an industry leader. Builders can work with the confidence that our deck products will meet national and international code requirements.”

SRS Plans New Headquarters SRS Distribution, McKinney, Tx., will build a new 100,000-sq. ft. corporate headquarters in McKinney.

Work on the four-story, four-acre complex will begin this spring.

“SRS has long believed that we grow not only by investing in our business but also in our people and our community,” said Dan Tinker, president and CEO of SRS Distribution. “SRS has experienced exceptional growth over the last decade, and we are eager to get started on our new corporate campus that will embody our company’s fanatical culture and help us continue to attract the best and brightest talent to our growing platform.”

Man Suffocates After Being Buried in Sawdust at Millyard A 62-year-old man died after police say he was buried in sawdust at Conner Industries, Valley Center, Ks. The man got trapped under some sawdust falling from a hopper, according to Valley Center police Sgt. Michael Gordon. The company had used the hopper to store leftovers from its operations, Gordon said.

Police say the man, a local farmer who regularly stopped by to collect extra sawdust for agricultural purposes, had parked his farm truck beneath the hopper so he could fill his trailer with the sawdust. But some of it apparently got stuck. Officials reported he was trying to knock some sawdust loose with a pitchfork, triggering the collapse.

When someone finally found the man, he was buried and wasn’t breathing, Gordon said. First responders declared him dead at the scene. The death was ruled an accident.

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MARGIN Builders

By Marcelle Lacy

Sell hidden upgrades idden behind the walls and under the floors, premium framing, subflooring and sheathing materials aren’t always an easy sell. Many homebuyers would rather splurge on the pretty things they can see like highend countertops, fixtures or finishes.

In reality, homeowners should care about the framing just as much as the faucets; after all, the quality of the materials used to build the home’s structure will make the difference in how that home performs over its life— and just how long that life is.

Part of the solution lies simply in education: buyers need to be taught and shown how the products in their walls and floors impact the performance, durability, quality and day-today nuances of their house.

If you sell premium materials to builders to improve the quality and performance of their homes—from engineered I-joists to radiant barrier sheathing to subflooring—here are strategies to help get them on board:

H

Make quality your calling card Nearly every dealer sells wood products, so how can you stand out?

By emphasizing that your premium materials help produce quality homes.

Help customers understand how walls and floors built with high-performing products and systems can translate into fewer callbacks and more referrals, and then help them clearly educate their buyers on what those products mean to them.

Sell a lifestyle

A higher-quality subfloor means a better living experience—a more solid feel underfoot, less likelihood for squeaks, less chance for rattling dishes, and an overall better performance of the floor alongside the luxurious soaking tub and exquisite outdoor kitchen.

Leverage your displays

Create mockups of floors and walls featuring upgraded elements and systems—and what those features mean

for the long-term value of a potential home. Allow builder customers to send buyers to your store to see these displays themselves, and make sure your sales staff understands how to properly explain them to consumers. Don’t have the space? Work with your customers to create cutaways in a section of the wall and the floor in their model-home sales centers.

Build a model floor

The reduced deflection, bounce, and noise of a premium floor system is hard to explain in words. Seeing is believing. Work with your builder (and supply the materials) to construct two floors side-by-side where buyers can feel the difference for themselves.

Update sales materials Work with customers to update their collateral—if it doesn’t discuss their high-performance framing systems and how they impact the quality of their homes, it’s time to update. Use layman’s terms and clearly communicate what it means to the buyer.

Hit up manufacturers Your engineered wood and panel manufacturers have ample information at their disposal, including videos and case studies you can share at your facility, in presentations, on your website, and via social media.

Simply put: If you supply high-performance wall and floor systems, and your customers are putting in the extra work and money for them, it’s vital that homeowners see the added value.

Helping builders educate their clients can help make the sale and leave a lasting impression for you both.

HIGH PERFORMANCE framing systems and products offer homeowners a lot of benefits that they may not be aware of. Help your customers educate them. (Photo courtesy LP)

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– Marcelle Lacy is senior corporate manager for LP Building Products. Visit www.lpcorp.com for more details.

Building-Products.com

NEW Products

Wide and Narrow Options AZEK TimberTech’s Vintage Collection decking line offers two new widths–wide and narrow– designed to give homeowners the opportunity to customize their decks with elegant, technologically superior boards in a variety of sizes, styles and colors.

Featuring a distinct, wirebrushed, low-gloss texture and six dynamic colors, the collection now comes in three widths: narrow (3-1/2”), standard (5-1/2”), and wide (7-1/4”). The narrow boards provide a look reminiscent of coastal Cape Cod, while the wide planks allow homeowners to think big. n TIMBERTECH.COM (877) 275-2935

Faster Deck Installation The new CAMO Drive Tool is designed to address key challenges when building a deck, such as speed, ease of deck board installation, the absence of fastener versatility, and the affordability and lack of flexibility in deck fastening tools.

Installing decking at speeds up to five times faster than current methods, the tool allows the user to attach their own drill in a standing position. Of any grooved wood, capstock or PVC board, users simply insert the clip into the deck board groove, slide the next board or boards on, and then fasten the clip in one easy motion. n CAMOFASTENERS.COM (800) 968-6245

One-of-A-Kind Support Systems NanaWall Systems’ WA67 is the industry’s only folding glass wall system to mount extruded aluminum cladding to a solid wood core with a spacer bar to secure the materials together. This feature allows for different expansion rates between materials to avoid cracking for durability in any climate.

The WA67 is built to withstand any changes in weather due to NanaWall’s proprietary evaporation chamber engineered to allow the wood and aluminum to expand and contract.

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Crescent Lufkin’s new Shockforce and Shockforce Nite Eye tape measures are made with a patent-pending two-sided blade design and an industry-leading 14 ft. of standout.

Their compact design features metal “roll bars” to protect the lock button against drop impact damage, while the simulated diamond-coated end hook provides 50% more hook grasp to prevent surface slippage. n CRESCENTTOOL.COM (800) 621-8814

n NANAWALL.COM (800) 873-5673

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Building-Products.com

FIRST CHOICE. BEST CHOICE.

SELLING COLOR WITH CONFIDENCE. Do it Best is dedicated to being the first and best choice for independent home improvement businesses.

Redefining the paint shopping experience for retail customers is just one way we’re helping our member-owners expand their customer base and boost their bottom line.

The Color Bar™ makes you the go-to destination for expert color advice and quality paint products. The striking, modular system features a modern design workstation, eye-catching room visualizers, one-stop project stations and much more.

Together, we’ll make your store the first and best choice for every customer you serve.

“Get ready to connect with your customers in a whole new way. The Color Bar gives you a re-envisioned department that empowers your staff and builds your paint customers’ confidence, while turning the heads of everyone else walking into your store.”

— Cherié Jacobs Design Production & Implementation Supervisor

Call us today at 888-DO IT BEST (364-8237). independentsdoitbest.com

Alternatives in Siding Extreme Bamboo Decking MOSO Bamboo X-treme decking boards have been tested and approved for use in Wildland Urban Interface zones. Its unique Thermo-Density product process makes the product fire-resistant without the use of ecological unfriendly and expensive fire retardants.

The product also comes with MOSO clips that are placed in the grooves at the sides and screwed into the sub beams. With this method, it is not necessary to predrill the decking boards.

TandoShake Cape Cod Perfection from Derby Building Products features an aesthetically pleasing cladding profile with crisp, square edges, proven resistance to extreme weather, and is available in five rich colors with the look of painted wood.

The line features a 5” exposure, a subtle wood texture, and crisp edges for a look that is nearly identical to painted wood shakes. n TANDOBP.COM (954) 556-1800

n MOSO-BAMBOO.COM (855) 343-8444

Plan Your Project

Hearty Housewrap Tools

Boral Building Products’ Virtual Remodeler is an online visualization tool that showcases how the home exterior will look with different profiles, textures, and colors.

To use the tool, homeowners or contractors can upload a photo of an existing home or select a similar house from an online gallery. Using the program’s product interface, the user then selects from Boral’s siding, trim and shutter lines, and the image updates in real time, revealing how the exterior will appear with each product and color selection.

Benjamin Obdyke’s comprehensive, UV-rated Open Joint Cladding System includes InvisiWrap UV, HydroFlash UV+, and Batten UV. Designed for ultimate aesthetic appeal, InvisiWrap UV is a completely unprinted, high-performance black nonwoven housewrap. It is matte black to avoid competing with other elements of open joint architecture. HydroFlash UV+ self-adhered flashing uses an aggressive acrylic adhesive for extreme environmental conditions. Builders can use Batten UV to create a 3/8” rainscreen gap for optimum drainage and drying.

n BORALBUILDINGPRODUCTS.COM (800) 521-8486

n BENJAMINOBDYKE.COM (215) 672-7200

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Building-Products.com

Colorful.

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DURACOLOR® solid color and semi-transparent finishes for factory application Homeowners, builders, architects, lumber retailers, wholesale distributors and manufacturers have trusted PPG TRUEFINISH® Building Products (formerly PPG Machine Applied Coatings) for more than 90 years.

Engineered to protect against harsh exterior exposure and UV-degradation, our Duracolor 100% acrylic exterior coatings are formulated to deliver excellent adhesion, color retention and film flexibility to your fiber cement and composite siding and trim boards.

Our Duracolor IM nine-base intermix system allows you to formulate any of over 2,000 custom colors from PPG’s THE VOICE OF COLOR® collection. Popular premixed colors and tintable bases are also available.

To learn more, visit ppgmachineappliedcoatings.com or call 1-877-622-4277.

Duracolor, the PPG Logo and PPG TrueFinish are registered trademarks and We protect and beautify the world is a trademark of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. The Voice of Color is a registered trademarks of PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc. ©2018 PPG Industries, Inc. All rights reserved.

Seal It Up U-C Coatings’ new Seal Once Nano+Poly Premium Wood Sealer is an eco-friendly, ultra-low VOC water-based exterior sealer that works like a traditional oil-based finish.

By penetrating deep into the wood to protect against water damage, mold and decay, the sealant combines proprietary nanotechnology with the strength of polyurethane to provide 360° of protection. It creates a flexible barrier by coating the wood fibers at the cellular level, while forming a breathable surface that allows the wood to expand and contract, and for water vapor to escape. n SEAL-ONCE.COM (888) 363-2628

Simple and Trendy Pergolas Element, the latest offering from Trex Pergola, is designed to combine shade, style and low maintenance in a sleek, modern pergola. Created to maximize shade while offering the high-performance characteristics of an all-aluminum structure, its durable construction allows it to be installed in a variety of climates both warm and cold.

In addition, it’s finished with an ultra-durable architectural coating, which offers superior weathering properties. n TREX.COM (800) 289-8739

A New Collection of Hues CertainTeed’s new colors for Cedar Impressions Individual Sawmill Shingles and mitered corners are now available in Colonial White, Natural Clay, Savannah Wicker, Seagrass and Sterling Gray.

These are in addition to the Ageless Cedar color blends, which capture the appearance of natural eastern white cedar and western red cedar at various stages, providing a comprehensive selection of unique random color patterns. The newest profile in the Northwoods line, Single 7” Straight Edge Perfection Shingle, now also offers three lighter shades in Colonial White, Sandstone Beige, and Desert Tan. n CERTAINTEED.COM (800) 233-8990

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Building-Products.com

NAWLA gathers the leaders North American Wholesale Lumber Association looked ahead with bold new initiatives for the future, while paying tribute to industry pioneers during its annual Leadership Summit March 10-12 in Tucson, Az. A new “YELP” program is seeking to identify and acknowledge a select group of Young Emerging Lumber Professionals. Upon nomination, the under-40 NAWLA members will convene to receive education, network and address industry issues for the next generation.

As part of the initiative, NAWLA will host a two-day

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retreat for the YELP group in spring 2020.

During the recent conference, Jack McKinnon, founder of Forest City Trading Group, Portland, Or., was posthumously honored as recipient of the Mulrooney Award.

A full slate of seminars also bridged the industry’s yesterdays and tomorrows, spanning from a Legends of Lumber panel with Sierra Pacific’s George Emmerson, Green Diamond Resource’s Doug Reed, and J.M. Thomas’ Bill Anderson, to a Future of Construction seminar, covering Mass Timber Panels, off-site construction, and more.

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8 MULROONEY AWARD presentation featured [1] NAWLA past chair Jim McGinnis, recipient Jack McKinnon’s stepdaughter Tracy Pinto, son Spencer McKinnon, and current NAWLA chair David Bernstein. [2] FCTG director Lorin Rydstrom shared stories of McKinnon. [3] Nicole Lewis, Scott Parker. [4] Future of Construction panelists Gerry McGaughey, Paul Jannke, and Tyler Freres, being introduced by Grant Phillips.

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[5] Legends of Lumber panelists Doug Reed, George Emmerson, Bill Anderson. [6] Past chairmen Jim McGinnis, Buck Hutchison, Nick Fitzgerald, Mike Phillips, Steve Boyd, Scott Elston. [7] Anthony Muck, Mike Lima. [8] Sabrina Enright, Margie & Dan Semsak, Joseph Hanas.

[9] Steve & Barbara Boyd. [10] Alan Lechem, Mauricio Bravo.

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NAWLA ANNUAL

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NAWLA meeting attendees (continued from prior page): [11] Elizabeth & Steve Rustja, Chris & Melissa Knowles. [12] Steve Boyd, Frank Deshler, Bill Anderson. [13] Marc & Vicki Brinkmeyer. [14] Brooke Beiseel, Elizabeth Conner. [15] Mark & Paige Westlake, Rock & Gayla Belden.

[16] Tom Elliott, Matthew Sexton. [17] Sharon Lewis, Donna Whitaker.

[18] Kevin & Carly Dodds. [19] Nancy & Kent Beveridge. [20] Tim Stovall,

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Matt Graves, Scott Hill, John Branstetter, Dustin Jalbert. [21] Shannon Hughes, Craig Webb. [22] John Murphy Jr., Carl Lamb. [23] Jeffrey Hardy, Karl Seger. [24] Jim Houser, Doug O’Rourke, Carl Lamb, Barb O’Rourke. [25] Brian Chaney, Scott Elston. [26] Clark Spitzer, Frank Deshler, Tom LeVere, Grant & Shenell Phillips.

(More photos on next page) Building-Products.com

NAWLA ANNUAL

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38 LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE (continued from previous two pages): [27] Stephanie & Morgan Wellens, Chelsea Brown. [28] Tracey & Robyn Crow, Mark & Paige Wells, Paul Cabrol. [29] Caleb Primm, Mary & Joe Brown. [30] Thomas Mende, Jennifer Anderson, David Conner, Shane Naish. [31] Heath & Janie Hutchison, Jeannine & Buck Hutchison.

[32] Sam Sanregret, Bethany Doss, Mike McCollum Lance Dodson.

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39 [33] Alex & Julieta Gerbrandt, Cali Rich. [34] Henry German, Brian Boyd, Reed Rediger. [35] David & Bonnie Bernstein. [36] Mike Phillips, George Emmerson, Tom Temple. [37] Rob & Amy Latham, Lawrence & Kathy Boyts. [38] Kim & Nick Fitzgerald, Devin Stuart. [39] Jim & Cindy McGinnis, Davis & Carli McGinnis.

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IBS storms Las Vegas International Builders Show-goers descended on Las Vegas in droves, undeterred by the city’s first snowfall in a decade.

The National Association of Home Builders’ 75th annual IBS, held in tandem with the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, reportedly generated its largest crowds and most exhibitors since before the recession, with more than 2,000 exhibitors and nearly 100,000 builders, dealers, manufacturers and vendors in attendance.

There were also seminars, entertainment and several awards presentations. Andersen Corp.’s Easy Connect Joining System received the Best of IBS Awards for Best in Show and Best Window & Door Product.

Other winners included National Nail’s new CAMO

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STORMY WEATHER [1] at IBS, but spirits high. Exhibitors included [2] Norbord. [3] Feeney. [4] Tando. [5] Weyerhaeuser. [6] Fortress Building Products. [7] Zuri. [8] Combilift. [9] TimberTech. [10] Vista Railing.

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Drive tool and Hampstead Windows’ Soho Multi-Folding Door, tying for Best Outdoor Living Product; Tile Redi’s Redi Your Way, Best Bath Product; Demilec’s Heatlok HFO, Best Green Building Product; Leviton Load Center Wi-Fi-enabled Circuit Breaker, Best Home Technology Product; Heatilator Heat & Glo Foundation Series Luxury Gas Fireplace, Best Indoor Living Product; RGS Energy’s PowerHouse 3.0 Solar Shingle, Best Energy Efficient Product; GE’s Cafe 4-in-1 Oven with Advantium Technology, Best Kitchen Product; and NTI GF200 CombiFurnace. Most Innovative Building Product.

The show returns to Las Vegas next year—Jan. 21-23, 2020—to be followed by two years in Orlando, Fl.

April 2019

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17 [11] Environmental Stoneworks. [12] Boise Cascade. [13] Clubhouse Decking. [14] Roseburg. [15] Woodtone. [16] Fiberon. [17] LP SmartSide.

(More photos on next page) Building-Products.com

IBS 2019

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31 IBS (continued from previous page): [18] AZEK. [19] CertainTeed’s Bufftech vinyl fencing. [20] Patrick Adams, Christine Belus. [21] Ryan Eldridge, Ashley Morrill, John Rooks, Kimberly Drew, Chase Morrill, Jeff Easterling. [22] Sydni Dobson, Cameron Goodreau, Eric Gee. [23] Gary Maulin, Bruce Hall, Chuck Black. [24] David Coleman, Jason “Dr. Decks” Russell. [25] Annie & Uli Walther. [26] Steve Brown, Matt Trullinger. [27]

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33 Brett Kelly, Dan Kappler, Mark Clifton, John Zinga, Steve Osterman. [28] Len Kasperski, Kyle Loveland, Howard Rothstein. [29] Derek Bair, Phil Lail, Derek Campbell, Steve Ducker. [30] Cristian Aguirre, Loreto Martin, Javier Hernandez. [31] Darrell Hungerford, Matthew Hungerford. [32] David Jeffers, Craig Combs. [33] Erik Summers, Tara Murray.

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ASSOCIATION Update North American Wholesale Lumber Association is holding its Southeast regional meeting May 9 in Birmingham, Al. Construction Suppliers Association is hosting Nuts & Bolts of LBM Sales April 23 in Jackson, Ms. The following day, CSA begins a twoday basic estimating course, also in Jackson, followed by an advanced course on April 26.

CSA will then host two sets of roundtables—May 1-3 at Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Ga., and one specific to store managers May 7-8 in Dothan, Al. Kentucky Building Materials Association’s annual convention and product expo is rapidly approaching on April 17-18 at Marriott Griffin Gate Resort & Spa, Lexington, Ky. Keynote speakers and educational sessions will touch on various trending topics like “Facebook Marketing for Beginners,” and a keynote by Tom Leach of the Kentucky Wildcats.

Attendees can also take part in the product expo, cocktail receptions, and a golf tournament.

Lumbermen’s Association of Texas & Louisiana is gearing up for its annual convention & expo April 16-18 at JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa. An emerging leaders meeting will kick off the event and will discuss how to attract and retain talent, following various edu-

cational events like the out-of-state dealer panel, a keynote on social media, and a product demo stage with 15-minute product demo segments.

LAT members recently returned from their annual Legislative Day in Austin, Tx. Dealers from across the state met with over 30 legislators and staff, including meetings with Governor Greg Abbott, Speaker Dennis Bonnen, and Comptroller Glenn Hegar.

At the Capitol, members asked legislators to support LAT’s legislative agenda, including: • Create a “right to repair” for construction defects for public projects before a governmental entity can seek legal relief.

• Shorten the time period for suing for construction defects from 10 years to four for visible defects and from 10 years to eight for hidden defects.

• Protect Texas dealers’ ability to operate within existing Texas law governing mechanic’s, contractor’s and materialman’s liens—an essential tool to get paid for goods sold.

Northwestern Lumber Association is gearing up for an Estimating 1 & 2 course April 11-12 at Holiday Inn Express Empire, Sioux Falls, S.D., where attendees will learn how to read blueprints and do a material take-off.

A yard safety class takes place April 16 at Best Western Plus University Park Inn & Suites, Ames, Ia. Upon course completion students will have an awareness of the common safety hazards and will learn preven-

tion strategies commonly used by lumberyards. Attendees learn who OSHA is and the common OSHA violations.

On April 17, NLA will host a fleet management course at Wausau Supply, Lakeville, Mn. Students will learn the common issues and prevention strategies associated with lumberyard fleets.

On April 18 the association will present a Sales 101 course at Boise Cascade, Lakeville, Mn. Mid-America Lumbermens Association’s 31st annual spring meeting is set for May 2-3 at the Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. Social outings include the annual bass fishing tournament, golf tournament, nine-pin bowling tourn ament, and steak and chop fry.

Northeastern Retail Lumber Association will host a “Rising Women in the Lumber Industry” roundtable April 24-26 at Aloft Boston Seaport District, Boston, Ma. Upcoming activities for NRLA affiliates include Northern New York Lumber Dealers board meeting April 10 at Mullins Family Restaurant, Gouverneur, N.Y.; Rhode Island Lumber & Building Materials Association dinner meeting April 24, Iron Works Tavern, Warwick, R.I.; Massachusetts Retail Lumber Dealers golf May 6, Southwick, Ma.; and Lumber Dealers of Connecticut board meeting May 8, Rocky Hill, Ct. Florida Building Material Association is reminding members to save the date for its TopGolf warm up and dinner April 18 at TopGolf, Jacksonville, Fl. Moulding & Millwork Producers Association’s Millwork Marketplace will take place in San Antonio, Tx., this year at the Omni La Mansion Del Rio April 7-10.

Sessions will cover supply, trends and market changes in North America, South America, Asia, Europe and beyond.

American Wood Protection Association’s spring executive committe meeting is set for May 4 at Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Orlando, Fl. The member-wide 115th annual meeting follows May 5-7.

CALLING ON the Capitol (l-r): LAT’s Mireya Zapata, Meagan McCoy Jones, Rufus H. Duncan Jr., Brian McCoy, Governor Greg Abbott, Bobby Byrd, Greg Evans, Bruce Agness, Clay S. Epstein, Walter Foxworth, and John Jones.

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Composite Panel Association is getting ready for its spring meeting May 5-7 at Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples, Fl. Building-Products.com

DATE Book Listings are often submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with sponsor before making plans to attend.

National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Assn. – April 1-3, legislative conference, Washington, D.C.; www.dealer.org.

Window & Door Manufacturers Association – April 1-3, legislative conference, Washington, D.C.; www.wdma.com.

Kentucky Forest Industries Association – April 2-4, annual meeting, Lexington, Ky.; www.kfia.org.

International Wood Products Association – April 3-5, World of Wood, Tucson, Az.; www.iwpawood.org.

Associated Building Material Distributors – April 4-7, convention, Scottsdale, Az.; www.abmda.com.

Peak Auctioneering – April 6, LBM auction, Richmond, Va.; www. peakauction.com.

Moulding & Millwork Producers Association – April 8-10, Millwork Marketplace, San Antonio, Tx.; www.wmmpa.com.

Coverings – April 9-12, Orlando, Fl.; www.coverings.com.

Kentucky Building Materials Association – April 17-18, annual convention & expo, Lexington, Ky.; www.kbma.net.

Lumbermens Association of Texas – April 17-18, annual convention & expo, San Antonio, Tx.; www.lat.org.

Peak Auctioneering – April 20, LBM auctions, Detroit, Mi.; April 27, Charlotte, N.C.; www.peakauction.com.

Massachusetts Retail Lumber Dealers Association – April 23, past presidents luncheon, Dedham, Ma.; www.nrla.org.

Michigan Association of Timbermen – April 25-26, annual convention, Boyne Falls, Mi.; www.timbermen.org.

Virginia Forestry Association – April 30-May 2, forestry summit, Norfolk, Va.; www.vaforestry.org.

Transload Distribution Association – May 1-2, annual conference, Seattle, Wa.; www.tdana.com.

National Wood Flooring Expo – May 1-3, sponsored by National Wood Flooring Association, Fort Worth, Tx.; www.nwfaexpo.org.

Appalachian Lumbermen’s Club – May 2-5, annual beach meeting, Myrtle Beach, S.C.; www.lumberclub.org.

Peak Auctioneering – May 4, LBM auction, York Expo Center, York, Pa.; www.peakauction.com.

Material Handling & Distributors Association – May 4-6, annual convention & exhibitor showcase, Phoenix, Az.; www.mheda.org.

American Wood Protection Association – May 5-7, annual meeting, Orlando, Fl.; www.awpa.com.

Composite Panel Association – May 5-7, spring meeting, Naples, Fl.; www.compositepanel.org.

Massachusetts Retail Lumber Dealers Association – May 6, golf, Southwick, Ma.; www.nrla.org.

Southern Pine Inspection Bureau – May 7-8, dry kiln operator course, Hilton, Pensacola Beach, Fl.; www.spib.org.

National Hardware Show – May 7-9, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nv.; www.nationalhardwareshow.com.

North American Wholesale Lumber Association – May 9, regional meeting, Birmingham, Al.; www.nawla.org.

Western Red Cedar Lumber Association – May 15-17, Cedar Summit, Kelowna, B.C.; www.realcedar.com.

Northeastern Forest Products Equipment Expo – May 17-18, Bangor, Me.; www.northernlogger.com.

Do it Best – May 17-20, spring market, Indianapolis, In.; doitbest.com.

North American Wholesale Lumber Association – May 20-24, Wood Basics course, Blacksburg, Va.; www.nawla.org.

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Building Products Digest

IN Memoriam John O. Batson II, 94, founder of Batson Lumber Co., Hammond, La., died Feb. 5.

A third generation lumberman, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II and received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Batson graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1948 and received a master’s degree in forestry from Yale in 1950. He then taught forestry and botany at the University of the South in Tennessee.

In the early 1950s, he became general manager of Allison Lumber Co., Bellamy, Al.; in 1961 manager of Scotch Lumber Co., Fulton, Al.; and in 1968

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joined Hood Industries, Jackson, Ms., before forming Batson Lumber in 1970.

He finished his career in his 80s as a Roswell, Ga.-based consultant.

He was 1979-1980 president of the Southern Forest Products Association.

Jay “D” Wildfong, longtime general manager of Wolohan Lumber Co., Sturtevant, Wi., passed away Feb. 16.

He was 93.

After serving as a gunner in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he attended Central Michigan College, staying on for 10 years after graduation as athletic director and track coach. He joined Wolohan in 1964 and retired in 1989.

April 2019

Go Beyond the Basics with TSO (Continued from page 16)

must be done first, it takes time to get the right product. It could take two to three weeks or longer before the wood products are ready to ship out of the mill and then it has to fit into the treating plant schedule.”

Sosa said when markets are strong, it may take longer to get the TSO product treated.

“We usually schedule the treating as first come, first serve,” said Sosa.

“We’ll tell you where you’ll be on the schedule, but since we do all custom work, there’s no jumping ahead in the line.”

Meeting Regulations Navigating local government requirements is another benefit of TSO sales.

“Many of our projects, particularly marine or bridge jobs, require the wood be treated under the Best Management Practices (BMPs) to meet regulations,” said Farley. “More than half of our TSO business must be produced under the BMPs, so we can provide all the documentation needed to show the product meets the spec.”

In addition to custom sizes, TSO is used for preservative systems that aren’t as widely available or for volumes that aren’t typically held in distributors’ inventory. Gutierrez and Sosa said TSO business is growing for fire retardant treatments in California.

“Light industrial and multifamily projects in California are using a lot of fire retardant lumber and plywood,” Gutierrez said. “Many distributors don’t keep a big inventory of those products, so TSO is the best option for getting enough product for the job.”

TSO treaters can offer more than just treating. J.H. Baxter can incise the wood for products used in the most demanding conditions and offers custom kiln drying after treatment.

Thunderbolt offers custom drying as well as staining for TSO products.

For many distributors, using TSO will add to what they can offer customers. Sosa noted, “If you have the time and want to save money in getting that unique wood product your customer needs, we’re your ticket.”

– Butch Bernhardt is senior program manager for the Western Wood Preservers Institute (www.wwpinstitute.org).

Building-Products.com

ood product on the market 00Fv-2.1E stallation - 3 1/2” and 5 1/2” mber wood framing systems tiative (SFI®) Certified

ADVERTISERS Index

rior strength SR Lumber ngth solution for applications

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Mid-States Wood Preservers www.midstateswood.com

Biewer Lumber www.biewerlumber.com

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National Hardware Show www.nationalhardwareshow.com

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Building-Products.com www.building-products.com

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Norbord www.norbord.com

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C&C Resources www.ccresourcesinc.com

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North American Wholesale Lumber Assn. www.nawla.org

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CMPC www.cmpcmaderas.cl

Cover III

OHC www.ohc.net

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Crumpler Plastic Pipe www.cpp-pipe.com

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Pacific Woodtech www.pacificwoodtech.com

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CT Darnell Construction www.ct-darnell.com

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PPG TrueFinish Building Products www.ppgmachineappliedcoatings.com

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Culpeper Wood Preservers www.culpeperwood.com

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Rigaku www.rigakuedxrf.com

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Do it Best Corp. www.doitbestcorp.com

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RoyOMartin www.royomartin.com

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Eastern Engineered Wood Products www.eewp.com

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Simpson Strong-Tie www.strongtie.com

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Eco Chemical www.ecochemical.com

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Siskiyou Forest Products www.siskiyouforestproducts.com

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Everwood Treatment Co. www.everwoodtreatment.com

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Southern Forest Products Association www.sfpa.org

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Great Southern Wood Preserving www.yellawood.com

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Spartanburg Forest Products www.spartanburgforestproducts.com

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Hood Industries www.hoodindustries.com

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Swanson Group Sales Co. www.swansongroupinc.com

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Hoover Treated Wood Products www.frtw.com

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Timber Products Co. www.timberproducts.com

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International Beams www.internationalbeams.com

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UC Coatings www.uccoatings.com

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Jordan Lumber www.jordanlumber.com

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United Treating & Distribution www.unitedtreating.com

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Lonza Wood Protection www.lonzawoodprotection.com

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Universal Forest Products www.prowood.com

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Madison Wood Preservers www.madwood.com

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Weyerhaeuser Distribution www.weyerhaeuser.com

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Anthony Forest Products www.anthonyforest.com Anthony Forest Products is part of the Canfor Group of Companies

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W W W. A N T H O N Y FO R E S T. C O M

Anthony Forest Products Company, LLC

©

12/17/18 1:25 PM

Welcome Aboard!

BPD is thrilled to introduce to our readers four first-time advertisers: Mid-States Wood Preservers, OHC, Rigaku and UC Coatings.

Based in Simsboro, La., Mid-States Wood Preservers pressure treats and kiln dries Wolmanized Outdoor Wood.

Building-Products.com

OHC ships 40 different species of authentic imported hardwoods.

Rigaku’s XRF spectrometers analyze all wood preservatives and pigments in a single system.

UC Coatings brands include Contechem, Anchorseal and Gempaint.

When you’re in need of such products and services, please give them a look.

April 2019

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FLASHBack 66 Years Ago This Month

Sixty-six years ago, the April 1953 edition of BPD’s sister publication, The California Lumber Merchant, featured an in-depth report on the use of U.S. lumber in the war in Korea.

Shipping domestic boards and strutural timbers across the Pacific to the front lines was required due to the lack of adequate local timber stands south of the 38th Parallel, as well as almost complete destruction of existing sawmill facilities.

During the bitter campaigns in 1950 and 1951, when the same ground changed hands several times, there was almost complete destruction of the complex bridge system that spans the meandering streams of South Korea. The larger rivers were re-spanned with steel structures, but the hundreds of smaller bridges were for the most part reconstructed with lumber.

To simplify the supply problem, the number of designs of these bridges was kept to an absolute minimum. Bridge width seldom varied, so that laminated 2x6 fir decking could be shipped out from the states in kits. Each metal-banded kit contained a specified number of lineal feet of decking, as well as all needed nails and hammers.

During the peace-talking months of the prior winter, the Eighth Army was entrenched on a line roughly

DISTRIBUTOR L.J. Carr & Co. promoted its bringing the innovative Rezo Flush Door to the West Coast. The interior birch doors, manufactured by Paine Lumber Co., Louisville, Ky., featured special air vents, top and bottom, which allowed them to “breathe,” and interlocked, all-wood grid cores with notched air cells.

following the 38th Parallel. Twice a month, each regiment rotated two battalions—one living in small tents on the line and one in reserve, living several thousand yards back in large squad tents. Each big tent was equipped with two oil-burning, pot-bellied stoves. To provide added comfort and warmth against the subzero temperatures, rough floors and 3-ft. sidewalls were built from 1x6 common fir sheathing.

U.S. lumber was also a key component in prefabricated bunkers, which solidiers moved up with them as soon as they had taken a hill.

One problem, the reporter noted, was “whenever a stack of lumber

MEMBERS OF the Korean Service Corps provided most of the heavy lifting of U.S. lumber and timbers used in the Korean War effort.

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is sitting within reach of anyone who passes by. It would disappear and then appear a few hours later in some very weird bit of building but as long as it was constructive, most supply officers looked the other way.”

A great deal of common lumber was used for road sign construction, for maintaining some order to the traffic and for providing directions to troops, across the 160-square mile expanse.

Once received in Korea, lumber supply became the responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers. Each corps, which ordinarily contained three infantry divisions, maintained at least one large lumber supply depot. One such yard kept an inventory of nearly 3.5 million bd. ft. Most of back-breaking yard labor came from the ranks of the Korean Service Corps, a semi-military organization that was the first step for most young South Koreans who were on their way into the ROK Army.

At the time, the three-year war was three months from its conclusion, a fact unknown to the reporter. As he penned, “At this writing, a solution to the war in Korea is anyone’s guess. But as long as there are American troops on that battered peninsula, wood products from the forests of the United States will continue to play an important role in accomplishing the Army’s mission.”

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BPD

Building Products Digest 151 Kalmus Dr. Ste. D200 Costa Mesa, CA 92626-5959

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