April, 2007

Selling the Deck Project

Dealers across the country share what works, what doesn’t, and what the hot products will be.

By Cheryl Dangel Cullen

Today, decks are considered a must-have extension of a home’s living and entertaining area. Homeowners expect and demand good design and long-lasting life from their decks. Decks are getting bigger and fancier, and so is their price.

"People are looking to expand their living area and outdoors is the way to go, versus adding a room onto their house,” says builder Greg Florence, owner of Golden Hammer Construction in Tulsa, Okla. "[Homeowners] are entertaining more and they want to do more on their decks than grill a hamburger.”

Universally, dealers say that the average price of a deck project has crept up over the last few years. Five or six years ago, materials might have run $1,800 to $2,000 for a modest deck; today, the average price has climbed to between $6,000 and $10,000.

"Decks today are no smaller than 16x14 ft., and I’ve seen plenty of decks that have been a lot larger,” says salesman Mark Trowbridge of Beisser Lumber in Grimes, Iowa. "I’ve had decks go out of here with composite materials for as little as $3,000 and then there were projects upwards of $18,000.”

At Riverhead Building Supply on New York’s Long Island, the bill for decking material generally starts at $5,000 and goes up from there. "We have a lot of coastal applications and decks are getting bigger,” agrees Steve Kramer, product manager for alternative building materials for Riverhead.

Mary Putnam, showroom manager at Parksite Plunkett Webster (PPW), headquartered in Batavia, Ill., says prices vary, but she recently sold $10,000 worth of Ipe, a high-end, exotic hardwood decking material. "You’d double that price to calculate the total cost of a deck,” she says.

"Prices have risen because of all the composites available today, along with the new rail systems and underdeck drainage systems. These things didn’t exist five or six years ago,” says Greg Rhatican, outside salesperson for Smitty’s Building Supply in Alexandria, Va. (Decking materials accounted for 25% of the company’s $82 million in revenue last year.)

"Back then [five years ago], it was just a rectangular, pressure-treated deck,” that consumers wanted, he adds. "Now, decks come in routinely around $10,000 because they have multiple levels and split stairways.”

Knowledge Sells

Because decking materials have become so complex, selling them isn’t as easy as it once was. Salespeople have to be more knowledgeable about their product line than ever before.

"You have to be far more knowledgeable on a much broader range of products. The days are gone [when it was] just pressure-treated wood,” says Rhatican. "Now, you have to know about composites, as well as PVC for wrapping columns, railing systems, underdeck drainage systems, lighting, posts, and so much more. The amount of knowledge you need to have has multiplied 10-fold in the last few years.

"The speed of things coming out and the sheer number of new products introduced accelerates every year,” Rhatican adds. "That’s why people that sell a lot of decking specialize in it.”

Trowbridge agrees. "You have to understand your product. Know what you’re selling and what the customer should expect. For example, no composite decking is maintenance-free; they all take a little care, so don’t tell [customers] that is a maintenance-free product. Make sure they understand what they are buying.”

"When people come in and are ready to build a deck, it’s a matter of getting them the right product,” says Tim Hubbard, who sells decks at Loudoun Lumber in Purcellville, Va. "Knowledge of the product is what is required to make the sale.”

Salespeople also need to know the competition, says Ed Piper, a distributor of Rhino Deck products for Roberts & Dybahl Inc. "Find out who is marketing in your area and know the ins and outs of their products. You keep happy customers when you state all the exact warranties and represent your product and the competitor’s properly.”

Listening Sells

"Listen to what the people want,” suggests Smitty’s Rhatican. "Don’t just sell what you enjoy selling. Some salespeople get tied to one brand, he says, but he stresses that you must first listen to what the customer asks for, and then guide them to product.

As consumers educate themselves about decks and decking materials, today most walk into a dealer’s showroom with some idea of what they want—and they want options, according to Ron Paluck, owner of Shoreline Lumber Inc. in Fort Myers, Fla. His company sells to marine contractors as well as consumers. "With homeowners, we offer seven different brands of deck boards. They know more about the product than we’d expect them to know, and by offering so many different brands in so many colors, they have the choices they want.”

"Increasingly we’re dealing with an educated consumer, and that works to our advantage because we carry high-quality products,” adds Bob Fisher, president of Evanston Lumber in Evanston, Ill.

Know What to Ask

Dealers agree that selling to consumers is different than selling to professionals in that homeowners generally need more information and explanation of products.

"Do a needs-analysis of your customer,” suggests Adam Rakes, decking specialist at H.A. Smith Lumber & Hardware in Farmington Hills, Mich. "Are they planning to move or be there forever? Will they be maintaining [the deck]? If so, you should upsell. A composite may cost more, but over time, it pays for itself.”

"I ask [homeowners] if they want a hidden fastener product? Is the warranty an issue? These are things you don’t get into with a contractor. He knows what he wants to use,” says Trowbridge.

"We start with color and décor,” says Paluck. "Do they want grays, reds, tans, or browns? The answer you get will eliminate some brands. Next, consider décor. In southwest Florida, we have Key West-style homes and old Florida-style homes where traditional wood grain would work best. We also have ultra-modern, Miami-style homes where ultra-smooth boards are the better option.”

"Our buyers are very open-minded,” adds Rubush. "That works well for us in terms of selling material direct to the consumer. We know what is good about our products and what the limitations are, so we can do the best job in laying out the products for them.”

Influence Sells

Consumers may first educate themselves by using the Internet, but they still want to see and touch a product before buying, and to talk to someone about how the product will perform. "Even when an educated homeowner comes into the store, there is a lot of tire-kicking and they want guidance,” says Rhatican. "Invariably they ask, ‘What would you put down?’”

"We’re very influential,” echoes Trowbridge. "Some consumers come in and ask for a particular composite brand because it is the only name they’ve heard. So I’ll show them the benefits of certain decks versus others. For example, last year few [of our] consumers knew about hidden fastener products until they saw them in our showroom. As a result, they became a very big deal for us in 2006, and those products outsold the surface group product.”

Putnam says he’s found that 90% of his customers want an alternative to a treated-pine deck because of maintenance hassles. "They don’t like that their deck has worn out faster than other materials on their new home,” says Putnam. "The alternatives we have are the composites and hardwoods. There are advantages to both, and it’s not hard to influence them to either type of product.”

Trowbridge says he has converted some consumers who originally came in looking at treated or cedar to a composite product "but that doesn’t happen very often. Once someone asks for a treated or cedar deck, it’s because they don’t want to spend the money.”

To overcome cost objections, Golden Hammer’s Florence touts the benefits of composites. He notes that a composite deck improves a home’s resale value. "I tell them that it will last two to three times longer than a wood deck. Then I tell them that as the years go by, they’ll actually be saving money over the cost of a wood deck because they just have to clean it every year. There is no sealing, painting, or staining required,” he says.

Fisher agrees that consumers want value-added insight that savvy salespeople can offer. "Our people are influential in instructing about the finer points of deck building, such as what fastener to use. When it comes to materials, we need to know how to tell them why we carry what we carry. The one tip I pass on to all my salespeople is to reiterate that the quality of the material sells itself. We tend to carry higher grades of treated lumber because we’re in a market where people appreciate quality.

"We suggest they go out in the yard and take a look at what they will be getting,” Fisher continues. "We…explain the advantage of kiln-dried treated lumber. After looking at our product, they usually decide to work with us because they’ve been to the big boxes and they didn’t see that quality.”

Incentives Sell

Josh Daniel, president of Culpeper Inc., which distributes TAMKO decking products, says that while no sale is easy, selling decking in the Southeast is harder than most. "In the Northeast and Midwest, it’s easier because those areas are more accepting of composite decking lines and they are using more there.”

To encourage builders to try new products, and to build brand loyalty, Culpeper’s Daniel gives incentives to deck builders for using his brand. A typical 3-month promotion might offer $1 for each board a builder uses. "If they build a deck with 50 boards, they get $50, which adds up to a lot of money,” he says.

Rhatican says he believes professional deck builders often remain loyal to one type of decking due to a rebate program or good web site support. "They already have in their mind what they are ordering, but even as outside salesmen, our job is to keep them up to date on new products.”

Offer Deck Clinics

Many dealers offer modest, free 1-hour deck clinics that let both contractors and selected consumers see new products and learn about installation.

But some dealers are more ambitious—and their efforts are paying off. Dealers who host deck clinics targeted to professionals say it has become a huge asset.

Smitty’s Building Supply recently hosted its Sixth Annual Deck Show, which has grown from 200 visitors its first year to around 800 this year. Smitty’s hosted this year’s event in a 22,000 sq. ft. conference center—and used all the space.

What started as a deck show has evolved into an all-pro show that also includes millwork. This year 40 vendors showcased their products, and many teamed up with other vendors to feature not just decking materials, but trimmings including a pond and stonework.

Smitty’s also invites vendors that make deck accessories, including lighting, furniture, barbeques, and even paving stones. "Therma-Tru and Andersen were both at our event with their patio doors,” says Rhatican. "There are a lot of products that go along with the core decking product that can be represented.”

Builders attend to learn about, see, and touch products with which they’re not familiar. Vendors like the show because 100% of the attendees are pros.

Choosing Product Mix

Smitty’s Rhatican says that composite material sells best in the company’s Washington, D.C. market. Trex is its No. 1 line, with TAMKO in second place. He notes that as you move further out from the expensive Washington housing market, the product mix changes.

"As you get to the $500,000 mark for a house, you find that more wood is being used,” reports Rhatican.

Bessier Lumber’s top seller is Elk CrossTimbers. "Its big advantage is that it is made out of polypropylene, so it’s a stronger plastic, and it also is a hidden fastener product,” says Trowbridge. "I’ve been with our company seven years and the amount of composite decking sold seems to double each year. It is getting to a point that it is all I do in the spring and summer,” he says.

Rhino Deck distributor Piper predicts that the higher cost of composites may not be as big an issue in the future. "We see the composite market taking over a bigger percentage of the cedar deck. Cedar is getting harder to get because it is not as plentiful and cost is going up. It is almost to the point where the cost for cedar and redwood is catching up to composites.”

At Parksite Plunkett Webster, composite sells better than other products, but price remains an issue. "There’s a 20% difference in price, so cost is the big issue. We point out [the difference between] initial versus ongoing operating expenses. Business people can relate to that. You’ll spend less initially with a treated-pine deck, but you’ll have to pay to have someone treat it next year and the next,” says Putnam.

Hardwoods also sell quite well at PPW, but composites are coming on, Putnam says. Her top seller is Latitudes Equator from Universal Forest Products, which has a hidden fastener system.

Evanston Lumber’s top-selling wood product is No. 1 kiln-dried treated lumber from Mid-States Lumber. "It is the best product I’ve ever seen. It has been a consistent high-end product for the 20 years I’ve been buying it,” says Fisher. While Fisher says composite materials are growing in popularity, he states that his market is still rooted in treated and cedar material. "They like wood. I have some customers who would not take a plastic deck on the outside of their home. They feel it is unacceptable aesthetically.” (He says for consumers who do like composites, the most requested product is Trex.)

At Loudoun Lumber, the best-selling deck material is CorrectDeck. "Our heaviest hitter is gray and cedar, but mahogany is trending upwards more than the others,” says Hubbard.

GeoDeck is a bestseller at the Fence & Deck Connection, where over-the-counter, walk-in business accounts for 90% of composite decking sales. That’s up from 50% five years ago. For contractors, sales at the Fence & Deck Connection are 65% composite and 35% wood.

Rakes of H.A. Smith Lumber & Hardware says he stocks four composites at his location: Trex, Oasis, Monarch and Symmatrix from Dow. "Consumers buy the composites. I stock cedar for builders, who want the wood products,” he says.

"Traditionally, we’re a pressure-treated lumber company,” says Culpeper’s Daniel. "Three years ago, we didn’t even have a composite. Now it seems like that is all we talk about, so the top of the deck is definitely changing from treated wood to composite.” He notes that 25% of his roughly $18-million deck business is now from composites. He expects that number to grow by another 10-15% in the next five years.

What Drives Preference

Dealers say the consumer is driving the booming composite business. "A lot of our wood decking is driven by contractors, who are more reluctant to go with composite materials,” says Kramer, who stocks TimberTech. "Homeowners have the ability to go on the Internet and do their research and bring the products to the contractor. Contractors rely on us and we’ve had [limited] success driving composites through them.”

Market also drives preference. For example, Kramer’s Long Island-locale is a traditional wood market, so getting builders to change is not easy. "I’ve done this for the last 30 years and all that time, I’ve been successful selling cedar decks. There are some who embrace composites, but by and large, this is a wood market,” Kramer says, although he concedes that composites are gaining, increasing by 40% last year.

Interestingly, Virginia-based Hubbard says that in his market, the debate isn’t as much about wood versus composite, but selling decks over patios. He sells against flagstone, brick, and paver patios, which installers are putting in for about the same price per sq. ft. as decks. "If they have a walk-out, a patio is sold as being lower maintenance. Five years ago, people weren’t even considering patios.”

Hubbard attributes the popularity of patios to the increasing use of brick and stone on home exteriors. "It can be a natural transition to continue with stone and brick. From a labor perspective, there are a lot of people who know stone and stamped concrete. People are gravitating to patios because they appear to be low-maintenance, so we have to articulate that nothing on the exterior of your house is no-maintenance.”

Sales Forecast

"Last fall with the reports of housing slowdowns, everyone got nervous and things slowed for a month or two. Then they picked right back up,” says Rhatican. And he adds that there’s always room for more growth.

"I recently came up with a list of 120 new deck builders who do not currently buy from us who we invited to our [deck] show,” he says. "You’d think that you’d exhaust your base, but every year I’m surprised. There are a couple of other lumberyards in the area, but even with them, there is still potential.

"The Washington D.C. market for decks is just huge. It is almost a renewable product because after 20 years, people tear down their decks and put up a new one. I’ve been doing it for 15 years and I’m not even close to getting to the saturation point of customers.”

While Michigan-based Rakes reports it has seen a slowdown in business, it anticipates a coming boom in deck remodeling.

"The economy has hurt the deck market…[since] 50% of decks are new construction. With homebuilding down nearly 40%, the deck business is down. On the other hand, homeowners who can’t sell their homes will likely upgrade their old deck to a composite material,” says Rakes.

One things that seems undeniable for future sales is that decks will continue to become more elaborate. Designers now specify different colors to create inlaid border patterns or design accents. Dressed-up railings can include metal aluminum balusters, tempered glass panels, lights, or solar post caps.

Buyers now want more amenities, including built-in cooktop islands, sunken hot tubs, arbors, cabanas, pergolas, built-in seating, bench storage, and more.

If the kitchen is the heart of the home, the deck is its nearest artery.

Green Sells—Sometimes

It is probably no surprise that recycled deck materials sell better in some markets than others.

In Iowa, for instance, recycled content is not a selling point. "I had a customer once who wanted to know if our product was recyclable or not. That is one customer out of thousands that wanted to make sure that what he was buying was a recyclable,” says Mark Trowbridge of Beisser Lumber.

The same is true in Purcellville, Va. "You hear the buzzword a lot, but I really haven’t seen it come to fruition where people ask for a recycled product,” says Tim Hubbard of Loudoun Lumber.

However, just 57 miles south in Alexandria, recycled content is a selling point. Greg Rhatican of Smitty’s Building Supply says that successfully selling recycled material comes down to knowledge. "Trex locked up the recycled market a while ago. If people come in and ask for a green product, you can say that you have a product that is almost entirely recycled material. Trex is 50% recycled wood from the furniture business and 50% recycled bags from the grocery store.”

middle Tennessee, interest in recycled product is just starting to heat up. "Green building is increasing, but it is tomorrow’s issue,” says Mary Putnam of PPW. "Today [consumers] are concerned about maintenance. A year ago, you hardly ever had anyone ask about a recycled product. Now, you hear people ask about it a lot more often. It is definitely gaining momentum with architects, designers, builders, and homeowners,” she says.

Culpeper’s Josh Daniel believes that people tend to shy away from composites made with recycled plastics. "People don’t want the recycled plastics in their composite decking products because they break down easier, so the deck material has more of a tendency to lose its color.” he says.

Divine Design?

Interestingly, only a handful of the dealers we spoke to offer design services or installation for their deck projects.

Smitty’s Building Supply sells primarily to builders and "most of them already own the programs for designing,” says Rhatican.

Beisser Lumber doesn’t offer design services, either. "We can do it, but we have never gotten into it,” says Trowbridge. "Usually, I can draw something out or I go out to a job site and give ideas,” he adds, noting that he doesn’t feel this puts him at a disadvantage in making the sale. "Most design services are very limited. They give you a visual and that’s about it. It is not something that is drawn out or planned well. If I go out and give them ideas, that is as beneficial as anyone’s design services.”

"We definitely offer suggestions,” says Putnam, who says the question he hears most often is ‘what color deck will look good with my house?’ Another frequent query? ‘Should my deck be one or two-tier?’

While most dealers we spoke with say they generally refer homeowners to one of their good deck contractors, an exception is the Fence & Deck Connection in Millersville, Md., which offers both design and installation services. (The deck portion of Fence & Deck’s business accounts for $3 million in revenue a year.) The company initially offers informal, free design services, and once a contract is signed, the designs progress to more elaborate drawings. The company also uses a portfolio of photos to provide design inspiration.

"Offering design and installation services definitely gives us an advantage,” says Jim Rubush, president and owner of Fence & Deck. "The design of the deck is the key ingredient to the sale—whether it is an informal CAD drawing or something more elaborate.”

Rubush says he questions the customer to discover how he or she wants to use the deck, and incorporates those answers into the final design. Rubush asks:

• Will the deck be used for entertaining?
• Will you host groups there?
• Will you grill on the deck?
• Will children and pets use the deck?
• What is the grade of the property?

"There are so many factors that go into it. That is when an experienced salesperson is more important than any software package,” says Rubush, who now sells primarily to homeowners, but who plans to grow the contractor side of his business. Will offering those design and installation services prove a conflict if the builder side of the business takes off? "Potentially it could grow to that,” he says. "Most of our material customers have their own little niche in their pockets that we may not be servicing but yes, it’s a potential concern.”

CHERYL DANGEL CULLEN is a writer based in Chicago with more than 20 years of experience covering the LBM industry.