As LBM market tightens, dealers hang on to decking

TTIRYING to counteract the effects I of fallins home builder demand for lumber?"bonsider putting more effort into your decking sales.

According to an informal survey by The Merchanl of dealers throughout the country, the vast majority suffered overall sales declines in 2007, but every one reported decking sales were down significantly less and in some cases actually increased last year.

"Our decking sales were up also for 2007," noted Rick Zaslove, Golden State Lumber, American Canyon, Ca. "Decking does not seem to be marketdriven like residential housing, but seems to be better when we have a dry spring that gives us a good jump on the year. Composites are up, and real wood is flat to down."

Jim Venezio, Park Building Supplies, Schenectady, N.Y., also sees decking as homeowner-not home builder-driven. "Have you ever seen the decks builders put on their new homes?" he asks. "Many times all they do is put a set of treated stairs off a patio door that leads to the backyard.

The new owners contract out to a deck builder or do it themselves, a deck they can be proud of. That is why decking is up. The deck completes the home!"

Venezio also notes that higherticket deck projects are no longer just boards and nails. "Look how many more options people have today on deck products." he says.

At Tindell's, Knoxville, Tn., decking sales slipped 5.5Vo,but gross margins actually increased nearly 37o. The trend held for both treated and composite decking, according to Gene McKinney.

Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber, with 69 locations in the Southwest, also held composite decking declines to 5Vo, reported decking buyer Larry Toney. "Trex is by far our biggest seller," he said. "Trex told me at a meeting a couple of weeks ago that our purchases were pretty much in line with our competitors."

Jaeger Lumber, Union, N.J., saw overall decking sales decline in 2OO7, but all decreases came in treated wood.

"Our composite decking sales were flat in footage, but up in dollars," said John Daingerfield, noting that the addition of Azek Deck helped. "In the past four years, our treated decking sales have declined by 2O7o in footage. Our composite sales have increased 9OVo in footage. While our decking results didn't reach our expectations, it was one of the shining stars for us in an otherwise contracting market."

He attributes a steady increase for alternative decking to low maintenance. "I don't think that anyone replaces a treated or cedar deck with another treated or cedar deck," Daingerfield explains. "If you have Iived with the maintenance issues, you want something better next time. Better translates to 'I want to own it, not to have to deal with it.'

"A deck isn't a need, it's a want. No one wants to spend time cleaning a deck. Customers want to buy free time. They have done their homework on the producer websites. They have a good idea what they want. They are looking for us to confirm their conclusions and validate their choices. Once a customer has decided they want a deck, they want the best one they can afford. The composites and PVC decks require less maintenance, and our customers are deciding that the extra cost is worth it."

Thriftway, on the other hand, bucked the trend, realizing big gains in wood decking. At its main yard in Owensboro, Ky., "we were up 30Vo, but we were down 367o in composite decking," Ken Lawson said. Its Tell City, In., branch "was up 37o in the treated material, and they do not stock the composite."

All categories of decking jumped last year at Lovell Hardware & Building Supply, Lovell, Me., contributing to an overall increase of 75Va. "However," noted Tom Cooke, "the biggest contributor to that growth was by far the composite. We brought on Latitudes as our first 'stocking dealer' product and it was a great success. We even sold a large order to a gentleman who has a camp up here in Maine, but brought it back to Rhode Island to put on his home there. We also had another good year with Correct Deck and ProCell/Azek Deck. Although we are finally seeing some softness in the market, we look forward to another strong year of growth for the composite products in 2008."