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MAY: HOME IMPR0VEMENT MONTH

Fencihg, decking & patios add up to dollars for dealers

A CRES OF deckso miles of fencing. /L 16"." are waiting to be sold and con' structed within the marketing domain of ' almost every building materials dealer.

The potential for backyard building in a!! parts oI the West is so huge that the re' tailer cqn4ot afford to igrrore it. One sur' vey showed that I.6 million or more home owners a year. add patios, and more than 2 million put up fences.

This is your market. Actuallyn most deal' ers do serve this growing demandand find it profitable to do so. The intriguing question is: How do you incirease your slwre of. sales in people's yards?

The answer is more tried and true than it is new, but you can give it a fresh, alluring new face in your own community' It's S-I-P, and that stands for Service, Inven' torv and Promotion. Turn these labels into action, and you'll do much more than merely 'osip" at the cup of higher volume and profits.

fu you read'any oI the numerous maga' zines devoted to improving home living, you become wiil aware that outdoor struc' tures are a favorite topic. Your customers are reading them, too. You'd be surprised at how many are ready to build, or could easily be pe*uaded.

Traditionally, the well'tended garden was a showplace and the so-so yard was for children to play in. But the idea has caught on that the whole family can en' joy picnics at home. Even the {amily living in a tract devebpmento where back' yards are flat and squared off in dress' iarade rows, can turn-them into enjoyable leisure spas.

More living space is the urgent need of millions of small home owners. Sharply rising costs for new houses have turned large numbers'inward to devising ways to expand the too-small house they now live in.

Nearly half of the nation's remodeling contractors expect add-on rooms to be their biggest business in the next three to five years. Attics, basements and porches will be developed by the millions, and many garages and carports will become dwelling rooms.

Story ql o Gfonce

Backyard building means 1.6 million patios & over 2 million fences per year in west . needed leisure areas & living space mean huge sales chunk

But at less than one-fifth the cost of fully enclosed space, decks will gain popularity, too, as a means of expanding living space. Well-placed fences and screens lend privacy to rooms tfiat are open to the sky. Here we have a market that looks much more to the lumber dealer than does new' home construction. All materials needed are in the dealer's stocks. He supplies both contractor and home handyman, but the high ratio of the latter opens the way to a larger proportion of full retail sales.

Localized spring and summer Pro' rnotions of decks and patios, Iences and screens, arbors, gazebos and storage units will be tapping a demand already whetted by national promotions. Full.scale displays of fencing and deck. sections are strong sales aids. Some dealers advertise various styles of wood fences, with prices by the foot or 8-fobt sections.

Service must accompany selling. Do-ityourselfers will look to you for illustrations and data to help them decide on style, size and materials, and to advise them on the do's and don'ts that will assure long life for outdoor structures.

At this point, the dealer has at his beck and call an extensive amount of help in the form of literature, prepared by producer associations and some of the larger manufacturers. Full-color booklets present dozens of desig:ns, and do-it-yourself pieces provide detailed instructions for building:

Western Wood Products Assn., for example, offers ten booklets ori outdoor structures, all of tlem free in reasonable quantities to lumber dealers, except for a small shipping charge.

Numerous advertising mats. and invoice stuffers also are available by writing to WWPA, 7fi) Yeon Bldg., Portland, Ore. 97204.

Inventory of lumber, hardware and stains is essential, of course. The lower grades of western woods are quite satisfactory for most outdoor structures.

Stains are preferred to paint, because they require fewer renewals through the ,: yea.s. Biut many landscape arehitects be' lieve no finish, save for a clear water're' pellent preservative, is best of all.