Viny! window market -iswide open

By Juliette t ang Cahn Executive Director Vinyl Window and Door Institute The Society ofthe Plastics Industry

OW IS the time for southern and western dealers to get a headstart in the vinyl window business.

Nationally, vinyl windows account for a full 16% of the residential replacement market, with double that figure predicted by 1990. Dealers, remodeling contractors and builders in the regions mentioned are conspicuously absent from the wave of new vinyl window business volume and profit sweeping most of the rest of the country.

European builders and remodelers pioneered the use of vinyl windows dur- ing the 1950s, because ofserious shortages of wood after World War II. Much of the technology for fabricating vinyl windows was developed in West Germany. Today, vinyl windows are used in about 65% of all replacement installations in Germany. For the total replacement and new construction market, the estimates are 42% vinyl in Germany and Austria and25% for Europe as a whole.

In the U.S., vinyl's high resistance to heat gain and loss helped bring about its fint big sales gains in the l9ils when the oil embargoes and the quadrupling of fuel costs made energy-efficiency a musl.

The appeal of vinyl windows is based on a number of major considerations:

. never corroding, peeling, rusting, shrinking

. never needing painting o cleanable with a damp cloth

. insulating value r resistance to extremes of heat and cold. fresh and salt water and sea spray o self-lubricating properties which help prevent the vinyl sash from sticking when opening or closing o high insulating values resist the damaging effecs of condensation o available in any size and shape; hbricated to order at no increase in price o price competitive with quality uood windorvs

The recent creation of a Vinyl Window Certification Program by the Vinyl Window and Door Institute. a part of the Society ofthe Plastics Industry' Inc. ' is significant in that it assures the ultimate consumer will get a quality product. Twice a year, the testing lab makes an unannounced call on each manufacnrrer enrolled in the program. lf deficiencies are found. the licensed manufacnrrer has

Story at a Glance

Certain geographic areas offer dealers a rarc chance to be first in offeringa new product...

certification labels ensure windows meet high industry standards...windows have impressive features and benefits for buyers.

30 days to correct them or the products will be decertified.

Vinyl window manufacturers using the black and silver certification label are stating, in effect, that their windows conform to *re nationally recognized consensus standard ASTM D4099. This standard, developed and promulgated by the American Society of Testing and Materials, has been accepted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, HUD, DOE, Building and Code Administrators (BOCA), Southern Building Code Congress (SBCCV), Council of American Building Offrcials (CABO), and the Con-

VINYL W|NO0WS are available in many styles including this authentic American bow winrjow struction Specifiers Institutions.

From a marketing standpoint, the certification program is a powerful tool in persuading the consumer, builder, contractor, architect or other construction specifier that vinyl windows bearing the certification label are not only a first-rate choice but ofthe highest reliability and assured quality.

So, if vinyl windows are new to you, they are new to your competition, which translates into a rare, golden opportunity for you to be among the first in a whole new profitable line ofbusiness.

We back our products with factory-trained personnel and a strong product warranty. lf you have a special application or problem, call our chemists on our toll{ree number. We'll help however we can.

We work hard to protect our product's reputation so you don't have to worry about yours. Gray Seal, the Paint Pro's Paint. Painting's just too much work to use anything else. For Information contact:

Manufacturers Of FINGERJOINTED CASINGS, BOARDS & SIDING USING KD

white pine lumber also:

Select Tight Knot o Bevel Sldtng o Channel Rustlc o SIS2E boards & pattern stock (wP-4, WP-11)