Cellular

Orlando, Fla. — Loi McLoughlin ushered visitors to a series of Azek Building Products window trims on display at the International Builders' Show with a sincere "welcome to my garden."

Seating was arranged in a wide circle around six styles of high-performance cellular PVC trims designed to add curb appeal in the form of crisp architectural details to a variety of Victorian, Craftsman, Georgian, coastal and contemporary homes.

"I love to take a million-dollar look that you'd see on a mansion and put it on a $250,000 home," McLoughlin, Azek's general manager of trim and siding, said. "To me, trim is an accessory like a tie to make a house pop."

And trim made of cellular PVC is catching on because it can be easily milled, shaped and painted but won't rot, peel, split or crack.

"Cellular PVC costs about three times more than wood, but guess what?" McLoughlin asked. "People are willing to pay because it's the last trim they will put on their houses. This new generation of homeowners doesn't want upkeep or their trim to start rotting out. People are getting smarter."

Owned by Azek Co., which was formerly CPG International LLC, Azek Building Products is out with new trim adhesives and sealants "engineered specifically to bond" PVC products to steel, aluminum, masonry, wood and other PVC.

Based in Skokie, Ill., Azek generated estimated sales of $360 million last year and is the 10th largest pipe, profile and tubing extruder in North America, according to Plastics News' latest ranking. The company has about 1,000 employees also developing and producing decking, railing and pavers.

Azek staff talked to contractors about how its premium trim and mouldings could be installed faster and their feedback was taken into account, McLoughlin said.

"We wanted to come out with a product line that would help contractors complete projects quicker and get them to their next project at a faster rate," he said. "We feel confident that this new line of trim adhesives will truly improve the speed of installation."

Royal Building Products' PVC column wrap features a clamshell design with pre-assembled sides in addition to the bases.

The National Association of Home Builders, which organizes IBS, says it has been more than 10 years since there were so many unfilled construction jobs. Skilled trades workers are retiring, the candidate pool of new hires has shrunk, and labor continues to be drawn to Texas and Florida, where recovery efforts continue from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Some builders are working with all subcontractors.

Royal Building Products, which has used cellular PVC for years in its Celect Cellular composite siding, also had ease of installation in mind with its new column wrap made from the material. Company officials say it will make homes stand out in a snap. The wrap features a clam-shell design with pre-assembled sides in addition to the bases. The wrap consists of two pieces. One piece has three sides. The second piece makes up the final side. The sides snap together without measuring and mitering corners.

The column wraps can be installed in a matter of minutes, according to Marilyn Chase, Royal's director of marketing communications.

"There's nothing like it out there right now for column wraps," she said.

Like Azek, Royal looked beyond aesthetics with the wrap to help installers be more efficient with time and resources, added Scott Szwejbka, Royal's vice president of exteriors.

"We want the contractor to use our product because it's easy," he said.

Homeowners will like the column wraps because they require little maintenance and do a good job of holding paint color.

"Wood fails, not the paint," Szewjbka said. "You see paint peeling but it's really the wood warping underneath that's causing the problem."

Royal's new product, which will be available in the first quarter and priced competitively, is expected to do well with home remodelers as is Azek's window trim. NAHB predicts spending on remodeling projects will increase 4.9 percent in 2018 and another 0.6 percent in 2019.

"Remodeler confidence has stabilized at a positive level, as remodeling spending topped $152 billion in 2017," Dan Bawden, the 2017 NAHB Remodelers chairman, said in a news release. "There is steady demand around the country, but the cost of labor and materials is challenging remodelers' ability to meet that demand."

Royal officials think they can ease some installer challenges while driving demand from homeowners.

"The column wraps will appeal to every homeowner in Middle America that has porch columns that haven't aged well," Chase said. "It would work wonderfully inside the home, too, but it's primarily an exterior product."

Royal is owned by Houston-based Westlake Chemical Corp., which acquired the business in August 2016 from Axiall Corp. With estimated PPT sales of $1 billion, the corporation is the fourth-largest extruder in North America, according Plastics News' ranking.

The acquisition brought Westlake President and CEO Albert Chao and other corporate officials to their first IBS.

"They're becoming engaged in the business," Szewjbka said. "Our opportunity for growth is substantially better than it was under previous ownerships. We want to grow organically or through acquisitions. We're not comfortable where we are. We want to get bigger."

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