Fire retardant treated wood sales rising

I N A WORLD of increased aware- I ness of fire safety. many builders are "feeling the heat." More and more stories appear in the media about buildings that were built without regard for fire safety. Building codes are feeling the public's ever watchful eye toward the safety of buildings.

Fire retardant treated wood (FRTW) is a material that often offers the best alternative to make a building less vulnerable to the dangers of fire. A building code requirement for "non-combustible,' building construction usually means that FRTW can be used, while providing possible significant cost savings for the building owner.

Story at a Glance

Fire safety aspect of FRTW has created a growing market for commercial, industrial, even residential buildings... second generation prolucts perform better. higher margins mean more dealer profits.

"When the 'second generation' of FRTW products were born, around the beginning of the decade, a big market was waiting to be filled,', notes product specialist Bob LaG tanzi, Koppers Company, Inc. Often, though, building codes would only allow FRTW. And. before the second-generation products were developed, FRTW meant wet treated wood that would warp, twist, crack as it dried after it was installed into the walls. The ,.oldstyle" treated wood was also exceedingly "hygroscopic"or having a strong tendency to absorb moisture from the air.

Experience with the new generation of products has allayed the fears of many builders and contractors. And FRTW has become a growth business once again. A wood treater in the Northwest. Exterior Wood, Inc. Washougal, Wa. has had just a year's experience with the product. Newt Baker, the sales manager, has had some good early results.

"We've got a warehouse almost as big as a football field, just for stocking fire retardant treated wood," said Baker. "And we've got an architectural sales rep. who covers the territory from California to Alaska. With our efforts, the product has done very well in our first year."

Fire-retardant treated wood is used where building codes mandate non-combustible materials be used. The treated wood product is often the preferred building material for an architect whose buildings might cost as much as 30 or 400/o more using steel framing or structural components - especially in regions of the country where wood is more desirable.

Baker says his big problem is overcoming the image of FRTW among contractors, who all too well remember the days of the ,,first generation" Type B material.

"What we need to do is show contractors, through our dealers and our own promotion, that today's fire retardant treated wood is not like the old stuff," he said. "lt used to be, a contractor would get FRTW on the job that was wet and would twist and change dimension after being installed. And it would be "hygroscopic" and soak up moisture. That would cause corrosion of metal fasteners.

"ln today's lumber market. that kind of treated wood cannot even be called a 'product,' " said Baker. "We're trying to get the message out that our FRTW is produced from dry lumber that's kiln-dried even more after treatment. So it's going to have the same dimensions after the wood has been installed in the building. Also, Dricon's FRTW's ability to resist termites and decay is another selling factor."

Still, demand for FRTW is not yet even close to the sales volume of Exterior's Wolmanized pressuretreated lumber. But Baker savs availability of Dricon FRTW is as easy as "throwing a little into the truck. "

"Along with our investment in our fire-retardant plant. we've bought two curtain vans to transport the productit must be keptaway from rain and weather, and so forth. So we've been able to keep our stocking dealers supplied with it when the requests come in."

CALIFORNIA

CALIFORNIA BIXLDERS SUPPLY C0. Su.otSllg (el6) e29-3191

CennOff UOULDING CO., Huntington BeacuT@-qg8gqq

MAPLE BROS., INC., Brea (213) 694'377r

MAPLE BROS., INC., El Cajon (619)4448895

WESTERN DOOR & SASH C0., Oakland (415) 535-2000

COLORADO

BOISE CASCADE CORP, Denver (303) 289-3271 nOCfy mOtlllTAIN MILLWORK CORP., Denver (303)373-0210

ROBERTSON SUPPLY C0., Boise 008) 322 4755

MONTANA

BOISE CASCADE CORP, (406) 652-3250

LUMBER YARD SUPPLY CO., INC', Great Falls (406)453'0356

OREGON

SeVeCp WHOI,ESALE BUILDING M,{IERIALS, INC', Beaverton (503) 643-8505

WASHINGTON

EXCHANGE LUMBER CO., INC. (509) 487-1621

WeCe wtOt ESALE BUILDING MAIEW