Sell Spring Redwood Projects

llt ITH SPRING approaching, UU now is the time to remind your customers that redwood is a natural for all outdoor projects and indoor as well.

Nearly everyone recognizes the unique natural color and texture that make redwood a prized building material. But your customers may not know that redwood heartwood's decay and insect resistance is natural, not the result of chemical additives or treatment.

Redwood can be allowed to weather naturally to a unique silver tone, or finished with protective sealant. It accepts a finish and holds it better than other woods. Either way, the results are beautiful and long-lasting.

Best of all for the do-it-yourselfer, redwood is easy to handle because there's no resin or pitch to gum up tools and hands. And redwood nails and saws easier than other species.

Because redwood is dimensionally stable, it will not cause the problems other woods do with warping, checking, or splitting.

Point out to your customer that there are many grades and types of redwood. Economical varieties like Georgia-Pacific's "Bee" and garden grade redwood are ideal for a wide variety of applications. Garden grades contain knots and contrasting color tones, a mixture of cinnamon-colored heartwood and cream-colored sapwood, that offer attractive design possibilities.

Inspire your customers by providing some interesting remodeling project ideas, like these from Georgia-Pacific Corp. (see illustrations). Everyone knows redwood is an ideal material for fences and decks. Or try the more exotic, a fanciful gazebo for a backyard retreat or customized mailbox to dress up the driveway. Gardeners can dou- ble their pleasure with a greenhouse built with an economical garden grade redwood, or a storage shed to organize the tools and firewood. Even a picnic table is within the abilities of most do-ityourselfers.

Indoor projects could be as ambitious as a new sauna-spa cre- ated with redwood from an out-ofdate bathroom. Or something simple like an indoor-outdoor planter box can add a touch of class. Redwood is as satisfying to sell as it is to use around the house. So stock up for spring sales with a wide variety of redwood to suit all your customers' needs.

Story at a Glance

Redwood is perfect for spring natural resistance to decay and insects. easy to handle. economical for both indoor and outdoor uses .. wide Yariety to suit all needs. ducts Corp. has le ascd 45.550 sq. fi. in the Los Ange les, Ca.. area for corp. offices & screen cloor nrlg.

Financial developnrents contine to depress the neu, housing market, af fecting many involved in supplying nraterials and services to it. . yet despite the clecline in business registered by some, others prol'ess to enjoy sales that are still surprisingly strong. no universal description fits.

When the Federal Reserve System boosted its cliscount rate, the fee it charges on loans to member comntercial banks. from I 2tY, to 131]/,, the c'ost o/'borrou,ing .iumped up all dov,n the line. ..the prime (or lowest) lending rate quickly popped u1r to a record l6Yt"/,'. with wiclespread forecasts of lT0l, or higher.

Home mortgage rates also increased: in Ca., the s&ls are now chargirTg 141/:ol' to their best customers, hr,qhest ratc itr the state's history.. the head of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board predicts nrortgage rates to peak in the 3rd quarter. .

While demand continues at a strong level for hoLrsing. man)' have inevitably been priced out. . the FHLBB foresees 'adequate morlgage moner"" and "no serrere shortage o./' mort,qage credit". the pinch in business borrowing at all levels is already resultirrg in f'urther inventory reductions.

High interest rates have e'lobbered nev'housinp: starts f-ell 6.401, in Jan. to a 3-year low, the 4th consecutive mo. of decline...at a seasonallv adiusted annual rate ol' 1,420,000" unirs (latest figures) starts were l9(X' below a year ago and 30%, less than '78.

Single f anrily home starts ilipped 3.7(X, to an annual ratc of 998,000. nrr-rlti-fanrily units were off 12.3(\' to a 422.000 rate.. bldg. permits u't,rc thc brisht spot.' Lrp 2.31il, in Jan., cluc to warnr weather nationally, sonre said. . the rate was still 12.301, below the year earlier.

Total for new housing in 1979 in Ca.. for exanrlrle, was 197,204 units. of'f' 14\\' fronr '78: single l'anrily starts accounled for 60.8')l'. nationally. the average lrew home price fell I .6{X, in the 4th qLrarter to $73,000, the lst drop in over 2 .r'cars.

National Association ol' Home Builders sees exploclirrg hontc priccs "when intcrest rates loosen Llp a little". a record 54l billion wos spent in '7<) on home repair & remodeling, reports the National Association of Realtors. .

Capital Luntber, a redwood & ceclar wholesaler, with Hq. in Phoenix. Az.. has acquirecl lancl in Lubbock, Tx., for a new distribr-rtion yard (5 acres for initial developnrent, the balance fbr future use) to serve W. Tx.: it is Capital's 4th yarcl, managenrent willcome fronr within the co.

Spellman Ilardwoods has moved to 4645 N. 43rd Ave.. Phoenix. Az.. Monarch Mirror Door Co., Inc. has opened its first western warehouse in San Francisco, Ca... Agwood Mill and Ltrmber Inc. has moved to an existing remanufacturing facility at Hopland, Ca. Owners are Paul Sparso and Landis Morgan. . . Empire Metal Pro-

Burnelt Lumber .Sa/r,s, Marysville. Ca.. has closed with the retirenrent of George Burnett. . .'Coos lleod Buildcrs Sup- pl,t'. North Bend. Or., has acquired property next cloor to add 33,000 sq. ft. Diamond Intcrnational Corp. is nrcrging its Delano and Wasco yards witlr its Shafter store. All are in Ca.

Wcstern R Rs werc re/fusacl thcir 1.2(\' surcharge planttecl for Jan.2, clesigned to otJ.set fuel increases. . nearly halt'the sofiwood lunrber shippecl .li'onr the West to the Llicst in '79 u,e nt to Ca., reports WWPA. . . the U.S. Eppersorr [Jrrderwritirrg Co. and Lunrbernren's Underwriting Alliarrce are cclebrating thcir 75th anniversurv.

Willamette Industries Inc." Portland, Or., has purchased Woodard-Walker Lumber Co.. Taylor, La., for about $85 million. . Brooks-Scanlon Inc.. San Francisco, Ca., directors have okayed the proposecl nrerger into Diamond International Corp. .. C'clolrx plans a Thernrax insulation plant in Tracy, Ca. Celotex-Marley is builcling a roofing tile plant in San Bernardino. Ca.

Heads Up, Inc. has moved to new quarters at 14452 Franklin Ave.. Tustin, Ca., .. Sullivan Concrete Textures is now aI I I I I W. Baker St., Costa Mesa, Ca., . . . Ace Hardware is bldg. a $9 million, 350,000 sq. ft. distribution facility, City of Industry, Ca...

The typical honrc intprovement contractor expects to hit $l million in sales in'80, up fronr '79's $930.000, s,,rr the National Flonre Inrprovenrent Council. . . proposcd f'ecl. energy standards cor.rld aclcl $I,755 to the cost of a new honre. critics contend.