Demand builds for rustic redwood sidings

THE BIG NEWS in redwood is a I brand new line of knotty sidings that combine a contemporary, rustic look with the traditional, longlasting performance of redwood. Dealers across the country have already found redwood Rustic siding's affordable price makes it a sure seller to builders, contractors and consumers.

With knots and alternating streaks of heartwood and sapwood, these seasoned redwood sidings bring a new look to the family of redwood sidings. Their saw-textured face requires little maintenance, making them particularly appealing to the projected condominium and multiunit housing markets.

Dealers, builders and homeowners across the country are reporting great results with the new redwood sidings though they have been on the market for barely a year. A lumber retailer in Pinetop, Az., says customers are enthusiastic about the affordable price, and the new sidings fit in perfectly

Story at a Glance

Dealers find redwood sidings hot items second and third generation trees produce more garden grades.. affordable price plus contemporary, good looks create growing demand.

with the rural mountain setting of his area. Homeowners report people coming to the front door to ask about the wood used on their new home.

The product was first displayed at the National Association of Home Builders Convention this year in Las Vegas, Nv. Builders showed considerable interest in the "Approach '80" house clad in Redwood Rustic siding. This house was part of a minidevelopment designed to show builders ways to build affordable housing while maintaining value. Redwood Rustic siding was the only lumber siding in the demonstration.

The sidings are a product of a new phase in the redwood lumber industry and the result of harvesting more second and third growth trees. Since the early '70s, the redwood in- dustry has been investing heavily in new equipment that better utilizes second and third generation timber. Growth and production of this younger, smaller timber is planned and managed like any other crop. Many of these installations are now on line, resulting in an increased amount of young growth redwood product.

For lumber dealers this means there will be more garden grades to meet the demand from increased outdoor living and more new products made of garden (or common) grade,

(Please turn to page 77)

ATTRACTIVE RUGGEDNESS maKes Seasoned redwood Rustic sidings attractive for residential or commercial oroiects. The sawtextured sidings with knois dnd creamy ribbons of sapwood are available in channel, tongue and grooves and new thick bevel patterns. They take and hold finishes well, have minimum warping, checking or cupping. Resistant to Jlame spread, they insulate against heat, cold, and noise.

JOH N NY lN KSLING ER, Paul's Bookkeeper,

invented the fountain pen. A tradition of resourceful, ptogressive operation goes with Paul Bunyan's name and reputation. Paul continues to ship his quality products from his plant in Anderson.

Manufactured Wood

(Continued from page 53) the expansion at Hayward, they will have an annual capacity of 260 million sq. ft. on a 3/8 basis. Blandin Wood Products, producing Blandex at Grand Rapid, Mn., also has expanded to double their production.

Potlatch Corp. is entering the market with Oxboard, an oriented strand board panel which has been accepted by major building codes for use in structural applications such as roof decks, side walls, and singlelayer floors.

Theirnew $38 million OSB plant at Bemidji, Mn., has an annual production capacity of 150 million sq. ft. on a 3/8 inch basis. A second plant with the same annual production capacity is under construction at Cook, Mn. with startup planned for mid-1982.

At the Forest Products Laboratorv in Wisconsin, researchers have ei- perimented with radical developments which may find their way into production in the next few years. A molded particleboard I-beam, a molded one piece particleboard wall unit combining framing and sheathing, and a laminated particleboard railroad tie which has been tested by Santa Fe Railroad all appear feasible.

Working with a team of Purdue researchers, they also have developed a type of manufactured board that can substitute for steel roof decking. Manufactured from red-oak, a wood for which little market exists, the lVr" panelmatches the strength and price of ribbed steel decking and requires less add-on insulation.

GIANT MAZE 0f pipes carries hol oil to platens. Heated to 405o Fahrenheit and compressed by a pressure of 750 lbs. per sq. in., loose mats of resin-bonded wood f lakes become waferboard at GeoroiaPacilic Corp. plant, Woodland, Me.

The use of oriented flakes or aligned flakes of wood has been facilitated with a jam-proof electrostatic process developed by Prof. John Talbott of Washington State University. The process replaces the mechanical flake orienters with steel fingers which are slow and easily jammed.

With feasibility studies showing great economic and environmental possibilities for manufactured woods using currently surplus resources such as aspen, it is expected that more and more wood products corporations will be entering the field.

Rustic Redwood

(Continued from page 75) like redwood Rustic sidings. This comes at a good time for dealers and their customers, producing one more way to fight rising housing costs and satisfy demand for natural building materials.

Dealers stocking redwood Rustic siding have found the price competitive with inland cedar and other knotty sidings. When builders learn there is a redwood product with a comparable price, they are usually quick to choose redwood's superior stability, finish retention and fire resistance. Another plus for dealers is that redwood sidings are seasoned, which means lighter weight and lower shipping costs. Rustic sidings come in a variety of patterns including: bevel, rabbeted bevel, board and batten, tongue and groove, channel or shiplap. Bevel and rabbeted bevel patterns are thicker than traditional redwood sidings offering additional insulation and casting a bolder shadow line.

Demand for this new siding pro-

Distributors Concerned Over 1981

Members of the National Building Material Distributors Association expressed increasing concern about the remainder of the year in the association's most recent quarterly survey of business conditions.

Despite sales increases for 5990 of the companies reporting and gross profit increases for 4390, their outlook for the third quarter was somber and apprehensive.

"We all need a good fall season to get us safely through 1981, and I don't see it happening in my trading area," commented one midwestern wholesaler. In categorizing their current outlook, only 210/o checked "Looking Good," 440/o were "Uncertain" about the near future, and 22v/o felt the Third Quarter would be about the "same as last year." Thirteen percent were "biting the bullet" and admitted things were "Looking Bad."

The crux of wholesalers' problems centered around continued increases in operating expenses at a median rate of over 890. Current market conditions in the building material industry will not permit price increases to cover these increased costs, volume is down significantly, and a bleak bottom line picture is evident in most geographic areas.

duct is growing fast and is sure to expand as builders and architects see California Redwood Association's advertising and publicity in major national magazines. With this introduction, it appears that redwood Rustic sidings have the contemporary, good looks and affordable price to be a big profit-maker in the '80s. For more details and a copy of the new Redwood Rustic Siding Data Sheet. write: California Redwood Association, Dept. RRS-81, One Lombard St., San Francisco, Ca. 94113.

(Continued from page 33) lumber price increases remains to be seen. At this point there is no clear picture as to just how many mills would reopen when market conditions improve. That element of demand which could not be met by domestic production would be met with increased imports of softwood lumber from Canada.

This is not a pleasant picture. Wood product prices will continue to increase at a rate greater than prices generally, our balance of payments deficit would be increased, and unemployment in some areas would remain high because mills would remain closed.

This need not occur, however. Op- portunities to maintain current harvests or to increase harvests from the National Forests have been documented. In order to realize these opportunities, Congress must take action to settle the Wilderness issue so that the Forest Service will know which lands will be available for timber growing, the Administration must give the Forest Service clear direction concerning the intent of regulations on timber management, and the new National Forest land management plans must optimize timber production on the land available. t:l,iii$til?i_1:$li1,,tll,:ifl..ilt$j*i,.tri,,!,liih1:.{ji.il.i:.i:i.ilf

The timber industry is trying to hang on now through this depression, but it also must look to the future and be ready when things get better. Unfortunately, a large segment of the industry does not control its own destiny and can only hope the federal government similarly takes a long term view.