Treated wood transition adone deal Switch easier f"r some than others

By Huck DeVenzio Arch Wood Protection

ALTHOUGH some dealers still la,question the need for the preservative transition and others are wrestling with customer concerns over proper hardware, nearly all lumber dealers have now settled into providing "next generation" preserved wood. The difficulty of their transitions seems to have depended on their customer bases and on when they switched.

Interviews with three far-flung managers-a dealer in North Carolina, a wholesaler from Texas. and a California dealer-point out some of the issues they had to handle. All agree that now it is essentially busi- ness as usual.

The last day for production of CCA-treated wood for non-industrial uses was December 30, 2003. Some dealers carried CCA-treated wood for as long as they could, stretching their inventories through the spring of 2004. Others, especially those with customers who built playground equipment or who faced concerns about CCA, switched to copper azole or alkaline copper quaternary products well before the production deadline.

Mark Schwartz is president of Brooks Building Products, a centuryold contractor-oriented dealer with yards in Greensboro and Raleigh, N.C.

He said he did not over-inventory CCA-treated wood as the deadline approached, nor did he attempt to create demand for next-generation preserved wood. Instead, he tried to keep his customers informed about the changes that were coming by means of seminars and meetings, and let the transition happen naturally.

"As we depleted our SKUs of wood treated with CCA," Schwartz said, "we replaced them with wood treated with copper azole." There were early objections to the higher price of the new product, especially among production builders who were locked into prices with their customers. But, Schwartz said, he worked with those customers and the price issue was short-lived.

Customer education was an objective of Ron Hilliard, president of Fry Wholesale near Dallas, but he reported that most customers had little interest until CCA-treated wood was gone.

"We first offered next-generation material in early 2003, but we couldn't give it away," Hilliard remembered. "Our customers were happy with CCA and wanted to stay with it." So, at the end of 2003, he stocked as much CCA-treated wood as he could afford. When the CCA was gone, previously apathetic customers became very interested, expressing concerns about both the performance and price of the new preserved lumber. However, the warranty on the new product calmed fears of reduced longevity, and price objections faded away.

The introduction was different for Truitt & White in California's Bay Area. Judi Ettlinger said that her company made the switch in January of l(X) l'rLritt & Whitc harl bccn llrorrrotinr: Srccn builtlins prorlr-rcts. ancl lclt thlrt thc e o1-rltcr-basecl prcsclvativcs I'it u cll rr illr tlr.' Ittlr't'cntcs ()l il\ tu\l()nt\'l\. l ho urc kcu-trll awarc of chernicll issLLcs. 'l'hc ncrr' procluct ri,'as launchcrl rvitli u ll'ont pagc stor)' in the ccln-rpanr ncnslcttcr. 1r contnrctol' brcakfast. ancl ru l)cck l)rotluct Dar. This was fol- ructs ancl provicle su;rcrior ultcrrtrtir cs. Wc u.'untcrl to bc- ahcatl of tltc cLrrrc ()n tlcirtc(l rroorl." l:ttlirr!cl slirl 1llL1 sontc eontrurctors tcnutin e onlrr:ctl lLnrl u ollicrl lrbout pro.jcets thcr bLrilt bclirr.c thc current rccolttrttcntlltions bcetrntc so ri,iclel1, kno* n. -fruitt & WItitc's upconring ncu slcttcr is lcltrrliltg urr lrrticlc on ptopcl ltLrclr irlc.

1 lons bclirlc rlclrllincs e lrrrre intrr etfect. Truitt ct \\ hitc's trcrLlcrl ri oorl is prinralilr Dougla: lir'. rrsccl t() sul) polt cleckinu of r alious tr pcs urrrl lirr' nruclsills.

WIrcn lrskcrl alrout harcln ale uscd in contile t rr ith nc-rt gL'ncftrtiolt tt'eatcd rroocl. ull thfcc lrote(l ongoins conlir siort trrnons tltcit errstontcrs ancl thc rrccrl lirl intirrrrrinr: tltcnt.

Schn urlz ugr-cctl. suyint tlrtrl thc clLlcstions kccp conrint. n()t ()nl\ I11)nt corltractors but also lronr corlc ollicials. Hc citcs tlrc rrtrrrulirctLrrcrs' lit craturr: ancl eflillts bt gr',rrlts sue lt lls the Sor-rthcrn Pinc C'oLrncil lirr' pnrr itl ing guidancc cln harclrr urc.

'ry,.+Tr, ii:ti:!:.:;r:a:,:):ii,;44/,:,:tit)riil,tig,ti:!.r{,;: lorr c-cl br raclio atlr cltising. Stal'l ltcr sonncl attendccl prorlucl knot','Icrlgc scss ions.

"c)r.rr e r.rstc)l'r-rers acccptcd thc nc\ trcrrtcrl lLrnrbcr readily." said littlin!rcl'. "Thcr trust us to fcscarch ncu prrcl-

Ancl. tl.urugh therc is still tliscussiorr about corrosion ctf harclu arc. IIilliulrl tlrinks it nrlr bc o\ erblo\\ n. "11' c()ntnrct()rs urrcl rlo-it-r out'sell'crs ti)ll()\\ thc rccornrlcnrllrtions. their hat'r[u lrrc u ill bc f inc." hc sairl. .\s a clistribLrtor. FI illilrrrl sccs Fr.r \\'holcsale as an irtlirr-nlrtion ecrrtcl lirr rlcalers. Part o1' that r-olc irtr olr cs plrssinu ulong thc ltrrrlrr ltlc t'ceontrttcntlltt iorrs.

WHOLESALER Ron Hil iard, Fry Wholesale, Just n, Tx., noted in t a customer re uctance to 1e\ \4OOd p'eSer\,arives has passed.

( ( \-tr'.':rlcrl \\ ooLl \\ ll\ e ()tilnl()n iI brriltlinu nlLtcrial outlcts fbr'30 1'cars: thc coyrpcl blscrl ploclucts have becrr ln lrilublc llonr rrrarrv clcalcrs fclr less thun onc rcur. It is not sr-rrprising that sornc pcoltlc urc unclcur about sLritable lllLslrirrs or rlillL'rcnt rctcnlion lcrcls or lucec;rlublc lpplicaliorrs. but trcutcrs. clcllcrs. lln(l contrrctors sce ll to Itave rtlrr i-Llrlr'tl lltr' lr'.'rt'r'r lrlir r' ltlrnritit'n w ith littlc br.uising. \orr tltcr alc fircusing orr trirrlitionul conecrns. likc hiring rcliablc cnrplorccs unrl bclting thc conrl-rctitiorr.