fire kiwis are coming l\ew treated wood for exterior trim and siding

IffNDSIGHT is a wonderful thing. IIII's shown that the market was ready for an organically pressuretreated wood product for exterior trim and siding.

In early winter, Fletcher Wood Solutions introduced such a product, called Armourwood, and soon became "overwhelmed" with interest from dealers and distributors. accord- ing to the product's marketing manager, Tim Myers. With limited initial production, Fletcher had made plans to ramp up gradually throughout the year. Since then, a waiting list of customers has begun to form.

The genesis of the Armourwood concept came a couple of years ago when Fletcher noticed a hole in the market: Composite exterior trim and siding products were readily available, but most builders who prefer working with wood had a fairly limited range of alternatives. Fletcher decided to fill the gap.

At about the same time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made its final decision to ban the use of CCA for treated boards. ACQ had recently been approved by the EPA as a CCA alternative and was being adopted for use on treated boards. Yet, Fletcher was aware of the corrosion issues arising from the use of heavy metals in the treatment process. Metal fastener companies had begun modifying their coatings to try to deal with a treatment that was proving to be at least twice as corrosive as CCA.

The objective, Fletcher sffategists believed. was to find an alternative. The answer was found in a light organic solvent preservative (LOSP) formulation that would give the boards extended-life capability with the same effectiveness of CCA or ACQ, but without corroding nails and screws.

Fletcher looked no further than New Zealand, home of its parent company, Tenon Ltd., for the formulation and pressure-treatment process.

"Although the U.S. market is largely unfamiliar with the LOSP process, New Zealand has been using it for many years," Myers said. "In fact, the technology has been commercially employed throughout Europe for at least 20 years in various exterior applications. Our exposure to the European marketplace with other products we make has kept us aware of the LOSP process and the performance of this treatment."

Even so, Fletcher would probably never have used the LOSP process in the U.S. if the EPA had not banned CCA, Myers said.

Once the decision was reached to use an organic preservative, "we identified trim and siding as the best products for us right now," Myers said. The result was Armourwood, which Myers describes as a "quite different and unique way of preserving wood."

The process involves pressure treating fingerjointed wood with a chemical mix of three organic biocides -permethrin (which protects against termites and borers), propiconazole and tebuconazole (which control mold, mildew and rot).

"The active chemical ingredients permeate the entire substrate," explained Dick Fitzgerald, Fletcher's North American market manager. "The New Zealand radiata pine that we use is especially accepting of the process."

Fitzgerald said the chemicals are carried into the wood using a solvent rather than watero which is used in most treated wood. The benefit is that the chemicals stay put when the wood gets wet. They're not soluble in water, so there's no way they can leach out. Additionally, the process involves the inclusion of certain waxes and resins, which are carried into the wood substrate to further repel water uptake and to help improve the dimensional stability by minimizing swelling and shrinking.

Armourwood generally costs less than most composites, but still offers the same durability attributes. It comes with a 20-year warranty, which provides builders who prefer working with wood an assurance more commonly associated with wood alternatives. Fitzgerald believes builders will like the comfort of knowing that "they're not going to have to replace it two years from now."

Chris Davie, PSI Distributors, Elizabeth, N.J., said that his customers tell him they prefer wood. "The workability of the product is better, because most people in our industry are used to working with wood products," he said. "As much as plastic products are used, they do have problems with spacing. The problem is how they work with other products on the house. With Armourwood, you can butt the joints up together, and it will shrink and grow with other wood products on the house.o'

Davie continued, "I have a couple of builders on the Jersey Shore who are dying to use it."

Myers observed that "the response we're seeing in the marketplace is a reflection that people have been searching for some alternative that has Armourwood's attributes. There's nothing on the market like it."

Fletcher ultimately plans to expand the line to include window and door components.