Fiber cement sidin

A FEW years ago, .CLwhenthe fiber cement industry predicted it would quickly double and then triple production and sales, producers of competing siding materials may have laughed at the ambitious forecast. No one's laughing now.

With new plants continuing to be built and existing plants expanded, fiber cement siding capacity remains on track to meet the projections, and has been increasing sales at a similar pace.

Late last year, the nation's largest producer, James Hardie, developed several advances in its proprietary process technology that it is currently incorporating into two of its four existing U.S. plants to dramatically increase their capacity. The upgrades will increase the capacity at Cleburne, Tx., from 290 million sq. ft. to 386

U.S. Siding Demand - By Material Actual/Forecast

t I million sq. ft. and at Tacoma, Wa., from 150 million sq. ft. to 200 million sq. ft.

Hardie also is using the new technology in a new facility under construction in Peru, Il., providing an annual production capacity of 200 million sq. ft. from a single line. The plant, expected to begin production by the third quarter of this year, is being configured to accommodate a second production line to meet future demand.

The facility will be completely automated from a materials handling perspective, including automated finishing and paint priming lines matched to the capacity of the fiber cement sheet machine.

Cemplank, Inc., which currently operates a fiber cement plant at its headquarters in Blandon, Pa., has two more facilities under construction.

"Currently, we're selling everything we manufacture at our Blandon facility," says Cemplank president Toussaint Dolmans. "Opening these new facilities is a proactive move to support our customers' needs."

The first will open in July in Summerville, S.C.. with an annual capacity of 150 million sq. ft. Fourteen months later, the next facility will open in Sherman, Tx., with an annual capacity of 180 million sq. ft.

Additionally, Cemplank's Blandon facility recently became the first among North American plants to gain ISO 9002 certification.

At its Roaring River, N.C., plant, CertainTeed Corp. recently installed a new paint line that applies a special surface sealing system to its products prior to shipment. They also installed a packaging system for palletizing the plant's products to improve the loading and stacking of products at customers' warehouses.

The new line allows CertainTeed to apply a new-generation sealant called FiberTect to its fiber cement products. Unlike conventional primers, FiberTect penetrates and seals the surface of the siding to protect it from unwanted moisture, while acting as the base coat for painting.

CertainTeed acquired the facility in 1999 from ABTco and later added a second fiber cement siding plant in White City, Or.

Also operating fiber cement facilities in North America are Temple in Waxahachie. Tx.. and MaxiTile Building Products, with four plants in Mexico.

According to Hardie, fiber cement's share of the U.S. siding market has grown from less than l%o in 1990 to more than 97o last year. But since the growth is mainly due to sales for new residential construction applications, the company sees huge potential in repair and remodeling, as well as the manufactured housing segment.

By 2002, fiber cement is predicted to achieve about a l57o share of the U.S. siding market. Over the next seven years, total U.S. demand for fiber cement could grow by an annual average of 20Vo, increasing from about 690 million sq. ft. annually one year ago to an estimated 2 billion sq. ft. by 2006.

And while fiber cement wrests a larger share of the siding market, manufacturers also have begun targeting other products, including interior residential applications such as tile backerboard, commercial applications such as abuse resistant internal wall linings, manufactured housing exterior wall panels, residential roofing slates and shingles, residential soffits and trims, plus new patterns, profiles and coatings across the product range.

What is fiber cement?

Fiber cement dates back to the early 1900s when the Europeans produced cement-asbestos materials. Later, when asbestos use was banned in many products, cellulosic fiber from wood was found to be an acceptable substitute.

Fiber cement products, including siding, soffit, trim and backerboards, are made from cellulose fibers, such as kraft pulp, combined with an inorganic mix of sand, cement and other additives. The mixture is formed into large sheets on equipment called a Hatschek machine and cut to the desired size.

The products are then pressed to produce either a smooth or textured appearance, autoclave cured and factory primed. Pressing reduces water absorption and increases strength and density, making fiber cement an exceptionally durable building material. Factory priming can improve painting efficiency and long-term performance.

The final product is said to be more durable than wood and engineered wood siding, look and perform better than vinyl siding, and weigh less than solid masonry, while remaining cost competitive. Easy to install and maintain, fiber cement products reportedly resist moisture, mold, mildew, pests and other adverse affects of nature; won't expand or contract with changes in temperature or humidity, and, with a "0" smoke development rating, won't burn.

- Temple and Cemplank

.nHE STATE legislature recently'

I took another step in its efforts to eliminate the use of all non-fire retardant wood shakes and shingles in California by enacting a new provision specifying that "any roof covering applied in the alteration. repair or replacement of the roof of every existing structure shall be a fire retardant roof covering."

AB 423, which went into effect January l, bolsters an existing law that since 1995 required fire retardant materials on new roofs. "What this means," said Hugh Council of the State Fire Marshal's Office. "is that whether you replace one shake, one square, or the entire roof, the materials must be fire retardant."

In closing a loophole that had permitted the use of non-fire retardant materials on many re-roofing projects, legislators were trying to help change the state's record of structural loss in urban-wildland interface fires.

"Untreated shakes and shingles are no longer allowed to be used in California," said Council. "We have sent a bulletin to every fire department in the state notifying them of this provision, and we are hopeful that they will be tough in enfbrcing these new requirements. We have also placed the bulletin on our Web site (www.fire.ca.gov)."

California's history of disastrous fires had spurred the state in the early '90s to take aggressive steps. Over several years, legislation was carried out that created fire hazard severity zones for the state, placed restrictions on building practices, encouraged the adoption of new codes specific to these hazardous severity zones, and mandated the requirement for fireretardant roofs on all new buildings.

The first such law went into effect in 1995 stating that all new roofs be fire retardant, with a minimum of a Class C rating. Later laws mandated Class A and B roofs in specified hazard zones.

The acts effectively eliminated untreated shakes and shingles as a roof choice for California's homeowners.

However, due to the way the early requirements were written, a generation or so would have to pass before all roofi in Califbrnia were fire-safe. Earlier, when less than 50Vo of a roof was replaced in any one year, it was not required to meet the fire retardant standard-leading to continued high use of untreated shakes and shingles.

For example, 510,000 squares of shakes and shingles were sold in Califbrnia in 1998. Of these, only about225,0O0 squares were in compliance with the requirements of state law regarding both classification and weathering. In effect, only about 44Vo of the products being used were both appropriately classified as Class A, B, or C and had completed the legally mandated actual weathering tests. Moreover, another 30,000 squares were classified as fire retardant, but did not meet the required weathering tests. That leaves a total of 285,000 squares which either were non-fire retardant or did not meet the current law.

To bypass the requirement, many homeowners and roofers would replace roofs one portion at a time, believing that fire retardant products cost too much, looked different, or had some other undesirable quality.

Legislators also discovered that only about 57o of the sales of starter courses and hip and ridge caps in California met current standards. indicating that the majority of such products were not fire retardant.

The figures convinced lawmakers that further legislation was needed to rid the state of non-fire retardant roofs.

For its part, the industry has committed to a comprehensive and aggressive public education campaign to make roofers, distributors, enforcement officials. and homeowners aware of the new law.