Pre-priming is first step to selling wood siding

By Dennis Connelly Chief Operating Officer Churchill Coatings Corp. and LFI-PrimeTECH

/-TONTRACTORS are still sur\-rprised when they hear that wood siding is low maintenance. Tell a homeowner, "How about wood siding?" They might chuckle a little and say, "I'm not painting my house every five years," as though it's a foregone conclusion.

How is it possible that the message of pre-priming is still lost on so many people? Well, for one, the alternatives to wood are less expensive and seem simpler. But they all have one thing in common: they are trying to imitate the look of wood. In other words, we still like wood. It has a class and a charm that, ultimately, cannot be imitated.

Pre-priming your wood

siding and trim transforms it into something revolutionary.

Many of the available alternative siding products have worthy features, but looking like wood is not one of them. "But I keep hearing about all this painting. I want something I can install and forget about. What am I missing?" you ask. The answer is that pre-priming your wood siding and trim transforms it into something revolutionary.

There is a single reason to preprime that trumps all other reasons and is the secret to its low-maintenance qualities. Yes, it saves time and money, and, yes, it also gets the back of the wood primed before the opportunity to do so is missed forever. But that's not the most important reason to do it either. Because the truth is that wood siding can be as low maintenance as vinyl siding if it's done properly.

What is low maintenance?

Painting your home every five years is too much maintenance. But l5 years might be okay. Pressure-washing vinyl siding is done frequently, though it isn't required for the structural integrity of the product. Reroofing happens every 30 years, but is very expensive. Where does wood siding fit? The answer is interesting because wood siding has a maintenance schedule that puts it squarely in the low-maintenance category, if it's done right, i.e. pre-primed.

Why do coating manufacturers offer 3O-year coating warranties with only one additional re-painting in year 15 after the wood has been preprimed? What do they know about pre-priming that gives them such confidence?

The answer can be found in two places. One is the experience accumulated in the past 30 years of watching the pre-priming industry grow and mature. Another can be found in government research at the USDA Forest Products Lab in Wisconsin. According to studies done there, the trick to a very long coating life is to protect the exposed side of the wood before the wood ever sees light. This prevents the fibers from becoming damaged by light, resulting in a larg- er-than-expected reduction in bond strength of the coating. Only a few weeks of exposure can reduce bondstrength by up to 507o.

Consequently, pre-priming makes the coating stick for a very long time. Using a high-end acrylic latex paint as the final topcoat gives the coating great durability. The result is real wood siding that is low maintenance.

If you build a house at the age of 40 and paint it one more time before you are 70, might we all agree that this qualifies as low maintenance?

Given the increasing importance of maintenance requirements in the purchasing decisions of contractors today, it might be time that this message was no longer a surprise.

A RE your customers' stairs stylish? If not, they can -Cl,take heart. Builders, remodelers or homeowners can start from scratch or make a few simple changes to create their own stairways to heaven.

Convincing builders to create elegant staircases or encouraging homeowners to transform their unremarkable steps into modern masterpieces nets dealers a big-ticket sale of hardwood stair parts.

"Stairs are very special places," says Mark English, a San Francisco, Ca., architect. "They provide a great opportunity to enliven a space."

The rich, natural tones of hardwood staircases add warmth to any home, English says. In a traditional setting, they tie in with hardwood floors, trim and furniture. In a contemporary home, they contrast with metal, plastic or glass.

Homeowners should consult a contractor or caroenter if they are considering making changes to their stair.s. Most staircase work is best left to professionals familiar with local building codes.

Types of staircases

There are dozens of types of stairs, according to Scott Schuttner, a home builder and carpenter in Fairbanks, Ak., and author of For Pros/By Pros: Basic Stairbuilding.

The straight stair has the simplest design. It usually is easy to build but often difficult to find room for in a floor plan. "They're long and skinny, so in a house with conventional S-ft. ceilings a straight case will be at least 10 ft. long," Schuttner says. "Add to that landings at both ends,