A New Dynamic in the Decking Marketplace.

Things in the Lumber/Hardware business are changing when it comes to wood decking. Here’s the scenario:

You operate a hardware store or lumberyard.  A couple walks in to look at decking materials. You gladly shows them their options, giving them as much time as they need.  You show them the pressure treated decking that sells for about $.89/linear foot.  You show them the composite decking options that are significantly more expensive than wood.  All options require the couple to dispose of their old deck, repair any substructure issues caused by the removal, and to buy expensive new fasteners.  It’s a big expense.  At this point, most couples are giving each other strange looks.

Then they remember a TV commercial that they saw with barefoot couples dancing on a wood deck.  “That’s right!, they say to each other.  Let’s consider that option before we spend all this money!”  They walk out your door and head to the big box retailer that has the deck resurfacing option.  Instead of spending thousands replacing their deck, they can resurface their wood deck for a couple of hundred.   After spending 30 minutes with them, you’ve lost the sale to the “White Space”.  It would have been so easy to make that sale if you would have had a deck resurfacing option.

The White Space is a HUGE market that exists somewhere between the repair and the replacement of a wood deck. Deck resurfacing products let the customer kick the can down the road a few years, avoiding the huge cost of replacement, and if you don’t offer a deck resurfacing option, you’re really missing the boat and losing thousands in sales!

For the past two years, deck resurfacing products have been the fastest growing Category in the entire Paint Channel and that’s not going to end anytime soon.  Not sure about that? Walk into Home Depot.  They sell Rustoleum’s Deck Restore product.  They have two pallets near the paint counter.  They have a pallet in front of the tools.  They have a pallet in the decking isle, to cross-merchandise.  They have 4′ of shelf space filled with it in the paint department – where it ought to be!  That stuff is everywhere!  Home Depot covets its real estate.  So, what’s going on?

Not to be outdone, Behr has thrown its hat into the ring.  Home Depot has plenty of space for Behr’s DeckOver product, too.  The fact is, the market for deck resurfacing products is growing.  Wood has always been the material of choice for deck building and it’s still 85-95% of the new deck market.  The market for products that protect wood decks is not going away – it’s getting bigger.

If you’re operating a lumber yard, selling wood and composite decking, or distributing to customers that do, you’re losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue to the big box retailers.  You NEED a deck resurfacer to fill the White Space.  The best deck resurfacing product is Encore, which comes with a lifetime residential warranty.  For customers who only need a five year option, we offer Refresh, a great new option in deck resurfacing.  Refresh has a five year warranty and is super affordable, beating the big boxes at their low price game.

Encore supports two-step distribution and has programs for etailers that want to drop ship direct to the customer.  We can even support the on-off dealer that wants to buy direct.  Don’t miss this market!  The 2015 Spring Season is going to be huge.  Contact me to find out how easy it is to add this line!

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Best Pool Deck Coating. Cool Pool Deck Coating.

Cool is on sale!

As Cool takes it’s place as perhaps the best pool deck coatings available, we’re updating the brand and the look.  As a result, Encore is having an Inventory Reduction Sale to get rid of the older label.  The formula hasn’t changed – just the look.  Now’s the time to take advantage of a great deal!  Right now, you can get 25% off on your Cool purchase when you buy online.

Here’s what our new packaging will look like.

For more information, or to purchase, please visit our site by clicking this link!  Just use the coupon code provided on the site. Thanks for reading!

Never Paint Your House Again.

Extend the Color Life of Paint and Skip Your Next 2-4 Paint Jobs!

Are You Looking for the Ultimate Exterior Paint for Your Home?

Add POLYMATRx to your paint and skip your next 2-4 paint jobs!  POLYMATRx is a blend of acrylics that significantly extends the life of paint.  I have had many, many experiences with this product and it’s the real deal.  I personally vouch for this product!  Add it to your paint, and enjoy the rest of your life, not worrying about it.

I’ve been selling POLYMATRx since 1999 and blending it since 2008.  I have sold thousands of units without one single claim of insufficiency. So, what is POLYMATRx?

Add one quart of POLYMATRx to a gallon of latex paint

POLYMATRx is a matrix of various resins that make paint what it should be – a long-lasting coating.  Just like electronics, tires, and many other products, paints are designed to fail!  It’s called “planned obsolesence”.  Paint companies want you to paint your house every 4-7 years – so they design the failure into their formulas.  I love the industry that I’m in, but that’s the ugly truth and I can’t change it.  But I can make a small difference.

Many of you that read my blog know that I live in the North Georgia Mountains.  Our community gets hammered by the weather – we have our own eco-system up here.  Several months ago, a guy was building a new home here (Big Canoe, GA) and he saw one of our ads for POLYMATRx.  He went down to Marble Hill Ace Hardware and bought it.  He brought it to his builder who promptly told him that adding anything to the paint would void the paint warranty (it did, but who cares? what’s that worth anyway?).  He saw the fallacy of the paint warranty and told the builder to use it anyway. The paint was supplied by Sherwin Williams.

Three months later, he called the builder to tell him the rails on the deck were fading.  The builder, who told me this story, visited the house and was surprised to see that the homeowner was correct.  They called the painter who confessed that they were running low on POLYMATRx, so they used what they had on the house and left it out of the railing paint.  So there you have it.  Who would have noticed the fading had it not been for the omission?  The painter went back to the Ace, bought more POLYMATRx, and repainted the rails.  Everyone’s happy and the builder now recommends POLYMATRx on all new homes that they build.  Taaaa-daaaah!!

This is just one of many, many stories about what this product does to extend the life of paint and improve its performance.  We have homes that were painted 40 years ago with this technology that have yet to be repainted.

POLYMATRx creates the best performing paint on the market!

Have you ever seen paint repel water like this?

 Creating A Lifetime Paint.  How POLYMATRx Works.

POLYMATRx adds 400-700 percent elongation to the typical latex/acrylic paint.  This allows the paint to expand and contract with the house siding during changing weather conditions.  Most paints are filled with $.03/lb filler and they fade and crack within a few short years. POLYMATRx adds back what the paint companies took out!  POLYMATRx gives you lifetime paint protection on your home.

Simply add one quart of POLYMATRx to your choice of acrylic paint (any color. any sheen), blend, and apply.  It can be brushed, sprayed, or rolled.  POLYMATRx makes paint a whole lot easier to apply, too.  The color you choose is not compromised by the addition of POLYMATRx, but since we’re adding solids to your paint, the sheen increases very slightly.

I’m proud to manufacture and sell this fantastic product.  The message is getting out.  We are painting historic homes, apartments, condominiums, and countless residences that need a solution to paint maintenance.  The Encore website has customer accounts of their experiences.  Some of the testimonials speak to the fact that they’ve skipped two paint jobs and the houses still look great.

So, use this product on your next project and save thousands!  If you’re wondering how much it costs, consider how expensive it would be NOT to use it.  Thanks for reading!

If you want to learn more about this fantastic product, visit the POLYMATRx page.

Now’s The Time for Deck Work

As we think about the upcoming Fall season and anticipate the beautiful Fall foilage, it’s also an important time to think about protecting your deck from the upcoming Winter.  Neglecting you deck now can mean a big expense in the Spring!  Fortunately, it doesn’t take much time or money to do this.  As they say, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!”  The best and most cost-effective method has been a topic of discussion for me lately, so I wanted to blog about the most effective and cost-effective defense.

Heavy precipitation, which includes snow pack, can have a devastating effect on wood decking and the coating that may be on it.  We will also see huge swings between daytime highs and nighttime low temperatures.  This temperature fluctuation, along with the wetting and drying of the wood, will have a detrimental effect on your wood deck, steps, and handrails.  So, what’s the easiest way to protect you deck for the Winter without breaking the bank?  Here are my recommendations:

The Best Way to Protect Your Deck From Winter

Start by cleaning it.  Nothing I recommend will be worth it if you don’t start with a clean surface.  You can buy deck brighteners and deck cleaners almost anywhere.  Oxalic acid-based cleaners do a great job of removing stains, tannins, and dirt and are inexpensive.  You shouldn’t have to pay more than about $19 for a gallon of good cleaner. So, clean the deck.

Next, tighten down any screws or nails that may have come up from foot traffic or daily expansion/contraction cycles.  If your fasteners are loose, just replace them with a good 3″ deck screw.  Making sure your deck is secure to the joists will minimize their movement during the upcoming winter and help them keep their shape.

Now that your deck is clean and tightly secured, it’s time to make a decision.  You can call it a day and head for the beautiful mountain scenery or you can put a quick sealer coat on the wood to shield it from the weather.

I recommend that you take that last step and protect the wood.  I’m about ready to do this on my deck – it’s not fun, but neither is dealing with problems in the Spring.  For my project, I’ll apply one coat of SealBack, Encore’s nano-based acrylic sealer.  SealBack not only penetrates into the wood and seals, it beautifies the wood as well, pulling out the grain features.  Best of all, SealBack is self-cleaning.  The dirt that will be carried by wind and snow will not stick to it and will be removed by the first Spring rainfall or washing.  That one coat of SealBack will only cost about $.04 per square foot.  (What can you get for $.04 these days??)  You spray it on (a light coat) and brush or roll it out.  It’s a no-brainer as they say.

If you choose not to use SealBack, then visit your local retailer and get their recommendation. Regardless of the product you choose, maintaining your deck and preparing it for the Fall & Winter Seasons will put you far ahead next spring.  After the Winter has moved on and Spring is upon us, I recommend that you resurface the wood with Encore, a long-term deck repair solution that lets you “kick the can down road” a few years . Have a great Season and enjoy those leaves!  Thanks for reading!

A Great Deck Coating That’s Easy to Apply

Compliments of Jacques LeBlanc. Big Canoe, GA remodeling contractor and deck extraordinaire.

Encore is the best solution when it comes to wood deck repair.  State-of-the-art resins and a never-ending pursuit to create the best coating available makes it so.

It’s true that today you can find many options for wood deck coatings.  Specifically, “wood deck resurfacers”.  That wasn’t the case when I began developing my first coating product back in 1997.  In fact, there were no wood deck coatings on the market at all.  Today, wood deck resurfacing products is the fastest growing category in the entire paint channel and manufacturers are wanting in.  Their interest in this category is what you’re seeing when you ponder over the many options available.

So how do you sift through the myriad of options to find the best wood deck coating?  First, I encourage people to simply read the reviews that are out there.  Second, think about what you want in a deck finish. Finally, decide what your service-life expectation is.  One year? Three years? Five or more?  If a long-lasting deck coating is your main goal, look at the warranty and look at the reviews.

The deck in the above picture is in Big Canoe, GA, Atlanta’s Mountain Home Community.  Big Canoe is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 1.5 hours North of downtown Atlanta.  It sees ALL four seasons.  Sunlight blasts’ these mountaintop homes and decks during the summer and each year, snowfall can sometimes remain on horizontal surfaces for weeks at a time.  I know that this doesn’t compare to “months at a time”, which is what my friends see in New England, but NE doesn’t have the summers that we have here, either.  In all, Big Canoe is a market that has needed Encore products.  This deck should reasonably see 5-7 years of performance from Encore.  It could last longer.

We now have several homes in Big Canoe that have used Encore products in some form or fashion.  From painting the home with POLYMATRx, resurfacing a deck with Encore, or using SealBack to protect bare wood, Encore is gaining popularity fast because of its performance.

For more information on Encore products, please visit Encore’s website!  Thanks for reading!

 

The Alternative to Coal Tar Epoxy

RustOx is Setting A New Standard in Safe, Water-Based Steel Coatings.

When it comes to submerged or exposed steel beams and structures, nothing outperforms the consistency of the RustOx & KnockOut Primer System.  In the field and in the lab, this steel coating system offers amazing performance against rust and corrosion. See test results.

For inland applications where salt air is not a primary concern, simply remove the loose rust scale, wipe away dust, and apply two coats of RustOx.  Dry & recoat time is a negligible 30 minutes or less (compared to 24 hours with coal tar epoxy).

RustOx is not brittle, but rather maintains a durable film that can stand far more abuse than coal tar epoxy, which is strong, but brittle.

 RustOx is tintable to any color imaginable. Simply add paint to the RustOx kit to achieve the color you require.

In salt-water applications, treat and prime steel and aluminum with KnockOut, Encore’s Rust Converter & Primer System.  Once KnockOut is dry, top coat with two coats of RustOx.  This system is a proven performer, providing a safe solution to coal tar epoxy systems.

This steel coating system is dramatically faster than coal tar epoxy.  Typically, with coal tar epoxy, the applicator must blast the substrate to a white profile, prime, and then apply two coats of coal tar epoxy, waiting 24 hours between coats.

The KnockOut/RustOx System only requires that loose scale be removed.  It does not have to be sand blasted. One complete coat of KnockOut is sprayed onto the panels. Within 30 minutes, the first coat of RustOx can be applied.  Thirty minutes following the application of the first coat, the second coat of RustOx is applied.  Panels should be allowed to cure for at least 24 hours before being transported or installed.

Applications include:

• petroleum installations – inland & offshore
• barges
• sheet piling
• bridge beams
• water towers
• pipelines
• structural steel beams
• countless farm and home applications

For more information on this rust coating, please visit the Encore website!  Thanks for reading.