Prefinished Wood Siding Now Being Marketed

Completely prefinished wood siding now isa reality and is being marketed by Weyerhaeuser Company.

The new product carries a written performance warranty that the siding will not require repainting for at least seven years and that the factory-applied paint film will not peel or blister at any time. This is the first prefinished conventional wood siding ever marketed, the manufacturer believes.

Theme of the initial merchandisins and promotion both by the manufacturei and .the builders featuring the extra-quality siding is "for homes that stay young."

Two sizes of bevel siding are ofiered . t/2x8" and. 3/axlU'. There are five light colors . super white, seafoam green, golden yellow, silver grey and desert sand.

E. M. Williston, Weyerhaeuser technical director for softwood lumber, described the .fnigh as a two-coat "breathing paint" of

- four mil thickness. The first coat is of blister-resistant baking alkyd resin primer, the same as that on the company's Primewood siding introduced early in 1962.

The finish coat is a baked-on acrylic resin described as "an exclusive Weyerhaeuser formula" commercialized after four years of research. The surface has an attractive satin appearanoe rather than the temporary gloss of conventional oil-base exterior paints.

After long experimentation with various application methods on about 50 test houses in scattered cities, Weyerhaeuser has elected to market its prefinished siding for conventional nail application. Along with the siding, the firm sells matching nails with baked-on enamel, plastic snap-on hammer caps to guard against marring paint, prefinished outside metal corners, touch-up paint and matching Putty-Stik pencils for coating cut ends.

In addition to the bevel siding, Weyerhaeuser now prefinishes its tempered hardboard in the same five colors for sofrts and gable ends. Prefinished fascia and trim in white only is ofiered.

The new prefinished siding will sell for about two-thirds more than unfinished vertical grain material, according to Williston. ooThis means," he said, "that prefinished siding will cost about $100 to $200 more for the average house (1,200 sq. ft.) for material, but this is offset by the savings in painting costs.

"Most important, the factory prefinish(Continued. on Pa.ge 89)