Encore’s New Website and Other Good News

Hi everyone,

Please take a minute and visit the new encore website. Although the site it replaced was a good one, this new site is more robust and has greater potential for promoting the Encore brand and product line. The feedback that we’ve received has been 100% positive.

One of the best features of the site is the Document Center, a portal that allows you to download just about any Encore document that you can imagine. From MSDS sheets on all Encore products to a directory of their barcodes, it’s there.

I also want to thank our distributors across the country that are working so hard during this Spring season. Their efforts have paid off and I want to welcome each of the new dealers that have come aboard over the last few weeks. I pledge to continue to help keep your business competitive by doing my part in providing you with a high quality family of products.

Encore products restore and revive old wood decks and docks, garage floors, driveways, patios, pool decks and just about any other place you’d walk or drive. Perhaps the most interesting thing about our products is their green-friendliness. While maintaining a green approach, we’re able to still deliver products that perform superior to other products that aren’t green-friendly.

As we continue to grow throughout the year, I look forward to meeting each of our new dealers. It has been a ball traveling the US with our dealers and certifying their key contractors and other personnel. In order to do this faster, we will soon have the Accreditation Course online. This will allow attendees to get their certification online, on their own time.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this post. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reply to this post or contact me via encorecoatings.com.

Bravo! A Great Composite Deck Maintenance Product

Welcome!

If you love outdoor living, then you either have a composite deck or you know someone who does. I sure do. To say the least, the love affair that the buying public has had with composite decking has been a roller-coaster ride. I think manufacturers and consumers alike wish they could back up and just start over – because today, it’s really good stuff.

In the past, the top manufacturers of composite decking blended wood fibers and plastic together, never thinking that the wood fiber, being untreated, would act as a food plot for mold. (If they could have ground old treated lumber and used that as a component, we may not be talking about this today. But they couldn’t because treated wood is hazardous.)

Today, I see manufacturers using agricultural byproducts as a replacement for wood and that seems to be a better choice. Some manufacturers are also capping the outside of their product with plastic, encasing the wood fiber. The effectiveness of these changes will be determined with time in the field, but suffice it to say that it’s all in an effort to control mold and improve color retention.

But what about the millions of feet of composite decking that’s been sold over the last twenty years? It’s everywhere, and therein lies the problem. Older composite decking may not only attract mold, it fades, leaving the customer wondering exactly what it was he bought. We decided to approach the issue and see if we could find a solution.

Our first task was to find a willing participant and we found on in St. Pete, FL. This couple was very unhappy with their composite deck. It had faded and had molded. They had approached the manufacturer, looking for a solution and found no answers. They were looking for a solution and we were looking to try our idea. Perfect.

Here’s what their deck looks like today, almost a year after we applied our Brand “X” to their deck.

Talk about a happy couple now. Everyone’s smiling because this idea not only works, it lasts too. The mold has not returned and the faded deck looks like new. It’s original color and luster remains even today.

So we branded Brand “X” and we call it Bravo! I believe that Bravo will last one year and longer on residential applications. In commercial applications, Bravo may need to be reapplied in high traffic areas (keep in mind that foot traffic can wear the wood fiber off the deck, exposing untreated wood). Reapplication is a breeze and can be done by anyone who can hold a pump sprayer.

Here’s more good news. It’s about the price. For about $.15 per square foot, homeowners can restore their composite deck to it’s original color AND protect it from future mold growth. In a world where we’re seeing nothing but ridiculous pricing, this is refreshing news!

So, just what is Bravo? Bravo is a blend of nano-polymers that is sprayed with a pump sprayer directly on a clean, dry deck. The polymers are absorbed by the wood fibers and when dry, “plasticize” them. This removes the wood fiber as a food source for mold. The mold problem has haunted composite deck manufacturers for years and we’re now working with them on a global solution for mold.

Here’s the caveat: Mold is everywhere. It can grow anywhere – remember the pitri dish in grade school? If you don’t keep bread tightly sealed, mold will grow on it. If you don’t take care of your house, mold will grow on it. When it comes to guaranteeing that mold won’t grow on a deck or other surface, all bets are off. We all have a responsibility to take care of our stuff. With that being said, I am confident that Bravo at least levels the playing field by removing the wood as a food source for mold.

Bravo is available through Encore’s growing dealer network. If you want to learn more about Bravo just visit the encore website at http://www.encorecoatings.com Thanks for reading!