Reports from the Field Con't

Tony Bonura
Eastern Field Report - December 2002

FIELD SERVICES
There were two seminars performed this month. One was held in New England for a group of retail distributors from the New England market. The seminar was organized by a Certified Cedar Distributor (CCD).

The other seminar was performed in combination with a CCD retail distributor/contractor-builder show held in New Jersey. The CCD is also located in New Jersey. The seminar attendees were retail distributors, primarily from New Jersey, with a few coming from the lower New York State area. The WRCLA also exhibited with a booth at this event. The booth was provided to the WRCLA by the CCD at no charge.

Some comments from these events:

What is the real information regarding adverse reaction of house-wraps when placed in contact with Western Red Cedar (WRC)? NOTE: It was explained that excessive moisture behind the siding is the only thing that can free the water soluble extractive from the fiber and that the WRCLA does not know the specific chemistry makeup of all the house-wraps and does not know if there is a specific "problem". The main concern is excessive moisture behind the siding due to improper installation/coating practices. Extractive bleeding cannot occur without moisture being present. No moisture=no extractive bleeding=no "problem" with the house-wrap. I am being told that 5/4 X 6 Architect Knotty is going to be hard to find this year. Can you expand on the marketing/promotion plans of the WRCLA and where and what the focus will be. Many of my customers (contractors and builders) would rather be using WRC for siding and decking but the market is full of information on cement, vinyl and composite deck products. The perception by even the trade is that WRC is much more expensive. Also, the trade needs more help in getting the WRC 'value' message to the consumer. Extractive bleeding complaints have been more frequent in the past few months. Based on the information in your presentation and what I have found when I go to the job-sites, extractive problems mostly occur from poor installation/coatings practices.

INSPECTIONS
At the request of a Member, an inspection was performed. The CCD who distributed the Member product was extremely thankful for the prompt attention given to the problem by the WRCLA. The CCD indicated that after the WRCLA did the inspection "it became clear to the consumer that the problem (extractive bleeding) was not due to 'defective cedar', as he had been told by the paint contractor, but was due to too thin a solid-stain coating which allowed diffused extractive on the butt of the face of the bevel siding. The siding was also blind nailed (nailed at the tip of each piece) and excessive moisture was getting behind the siding.

MARKET COMMENTS
A CCD informed the Member producer (of the decking product that he distributed) the importance to stamp or tag the deck category and also include the company name on the product. The distributor told the producer that both the brand labeling and identifying the deck category would be a great benefit to both of them by differentiating their products from non-member products. The producer agreed and is now labeling and stamping the product.

PROGRAM FEEDBACK
The seminars that have been performed in Eastern Canada over the last two years (primarily Ontario) have resulted in a marked increase in phone and e-mail inquiries about WRC. The requests for information regarding WRC have been both technical and "where can I purchase WRC" in nature. The inquiries originate from a broad range of market segments (architects, builders, consumers, etc.). Requests originate mostly from southeastern Ontario but have also been received from Quebec and the Maritimes. More seminars are scheduled for the Eastern Canadian market in February.

Literature sales were fair for the period.

Many phone and e-mail inquiries from various market segments were processed this month.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me.

Regards,
Tony Bonura