Build Smarter with Alternative Materials Overview
New building products are coming out almost every week. Some of them may become new standards, as sheetrock replaced lath and plaster some years ago. Others are little more than a gimmick. To write this manual, the author researched hundreds of products that have come on the market in recent years.
The ones he describes in this book will do the job better, creating a superior, longer-lasting finished product, and in many cases also save you time and money. Some are made with recycled products – a good selling point with many customers. But most of all, they give you choices, so you can give your customers choices.
In this book, you’ll find materials for almost all areas of constructing a house, from the ground up. For each product described, you’ll learn where you can get it, where to use it, what benefits it provides, any disadvantages, and how to install it -- including tips from the author. And to help you price your jobs, each description ends with manhours – for both the first time you install it, and after you’ve done it a few times.
Back Cover
Build Smarter with Alternative Materials
This book is for construction professionals who
want a clear understanding of alternative materials and how using them can
enhance their projects – both residential and
commercial. It covers the materials - including their strengths and any
limitations – as well as installation tips and
manhour estimates.
Here you'll find the true facts, not the hype,
about a variety of alternative materials. These are quality components that can
help you deliver a better overall product –
something your customers will enjoy and benefit from long after you leave their
projects!
All the products covered here have been used or
well-researched by the author and represent a cross section of available
products. Build Smarter with Alternative Materials covers materials used in each
phase of a project in order – from the foundation to
the ridge peak:
- Foundations
- Walls
- Roof systems
- Framing
- Roofing
- Siding
- Insulation
- Radiant heat
- Doors & windows
- Trim
- Interiors
- Bathrooms
- Kitchens
- Decking
- Outdoors
And it doesn't stop there. Build Smarter
with Alternative Materials lists the manufacturers that make the products and
associations that research them. You get the phone numbers, and mailing, e-mail,
and Web site addresses so you can connect with the companies, obtain samples, or
ask questions about a product or its installation.
Every builder needs a niche –
an opportunity to land good jobs without having to underbid every other builder
in town. This reference is full of new, exciting materials that you can offer to
your customers with confidence. You may be the only builder in your area that
knows about them. And this book is your key to that knowledge.
The Author:
Leon A. Frechette received his license as a
general contractor at age 22, and has over 20 years' experience in construction,
remodeling, and related fields. As a business owner, he has hands-on experience
in both residential and light commercial projects, including designing, bidding,
and managing the job. He serves as an expert witness in litigation, and created
The Contractor's Helping Hands™ Packet, a series of
business forms that help construction managers organize their jobs and
communicate with the customer about actual job costs. This is Mr. Frechette's
sixth book, and he continues to work on other book projects, columns, and
feature articles.
Build Smarter with Alternative Materials
Introduction
Alternative Building Materials
As you drive down the road, what do you see as
you look around your community? Do you see new buildings and homes going up, old
structures being restored, and others coming down? Have you ever wondered what
could be done to save some of these buildings from destruction? And what about
new construction — have you noticed anything new or unusual about building
procedures or the types of materials used?
Personally, I’m always interested in seeing
what kind of construction is going on. After all, that’s my business. But at
the same time I really hate to see structures torn down. It particularly bothers
me when a builder’s high-quality workmanship is wiped out in the blink of an
eye. I guess you’d call that progress — here today, gone tomorrow. But the
other side of the coin is that an enormous volume of valuable resources — the materials
manufactured and used for these structures (which still have plenty of life) —
are destroyed, discarded, dumped into landfills or, as is the case in my area,
sent to a waste-to-energy plant. Why are we so eager to wipe out and destroy our
past? Is it really "progress" or is it that we simply haven’t taken
the time to understand the dramatic impact such actions have on the quality of
life in and around our communities?
There are alternatives to everything we do in
life. The decisions we make today will affect someone tomorrow or even a few
years down the road. That’s why it’s important to try to make choices that
won’t have a negative impact in the future. Unfortunately, it isn’t always
easy to make those choices. As a builder and/or remodeler, you need to ask
yourself if what you’re choosing to do will improve rather than harm your
community. You can make a difference!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not preaching against
progress. But I do firmly believe that the small stuff we take for granted often
has the biggest impact on our lives. So if we can move a building to a new
location and save it for someone else to use, that’s also a form of progress.
If we can refurbish or rebuild it using conventional materials or some of the alternative
materials that are mentioned in this book, that’s even better. That’s a
kind of progress that’s not destructive. It doesn’t promote waste. If
everyone throughout the world worked toward the goal of nondestructive progress,
just think of the impact it would have on our quality of life! Think of the
resources we could save!
Making Choices
Let’s talk about the alternative materials that
I just mentioned. What does the word "alternative" mean to you? To me,
in its simplest form, it means "choices." In the construction trade,
that means choices between kinds of materials and work techniques. As a
contractor or builder, you have a responsibility to make good, well-informed
choices for your customer. If you’ve been doing things the same way your dad
did, and his dad before him, then making new choices may come hard. But to be
fair to yourself and others, you need to take the time to examine new products
coming to the market. Be open to change, even though these products may require
different or new methods of installation.
I bet you think I’m going to tell you to get up
to speed to stay ahead of the competition. Normally, I would — but the fact is
that your customers may beat me to it! Today’s customers do their homework and
they’re smart shoppers. If you’re going to stay in the game, you need to be
one step ahead of them! Do the research, find the products — it could
make a difference on which contractor the customer selects for their project.
Be careful though. Alternative products are
simply flooding the market, and manufacturers do such a great job of promoting
their products that it’s easy to be misled. It takes a few years to weed out
products that don’t have good market appeal or that don’t really have the
stamina that they’re supposed to have. You need to do your homework.
That’s where I got the idea to write this book.
My purpose is to provide you with information about the alternative products on
the market. Unfortunately, I can’t cover all of them — there are just too
many. But I’ve tried to cover the ones you’re most likely to use. Some of
them I’ve used myself, others I haven’t. Some now have established
performance records and others are still fairly new to the industry. I hope to
give you a basic understanding of how to use and install these products so that
you can make an informed decision about whether to consider one of them for your
next project. It’s that simple!
If you’re interested in one of the newer
products, you can contact the manufacturers or supply houses to get samples,
documentation and references. Talk to other professionals who’ve installed the
product, and, if possible, visit a job site or two and personally view the
results. To be successful, you need to educate yourself about the latest
building technology.
Why Use Alternative Materials?
Do you ever wonder what happens to the plastic
milk containers and the white plastic bags (post-consumer waste) that you give
to the recycler? Well, some of today’s construction products contain
components made from recycled plastics, while others include sawdust from mills
(post-industrial waste) and similar by-products of other industries throughout
the country. Local mandatory recycling programs, recycling drives, recycling
vendors and waste-to-energy plants all generate waste that can be reused in new
materials and products. When you use alternative materials made from recycled
waste products, you help the environment. Tell this to your customers.
Some products are manufactured using alternative
methods rather than alternative materials. Alternative manufacturing methods
often make use of materials that at one time would have been considered waste.
Mill ends (2 ´ 4 studs made up of short 2 ´ 4s with glued finger joints) are
an example of a product produced by alternative methods. Other products are made
from blends or combinations of virgin materials and manufactured materials that
increase the product’s life expectancy. These also help the environment.
Products that last longer are less likely to need replacing, and so cost less in
the long run. The result is a reduced need for new materials as well as fewer
materials discarded into landfills.
Using alternative materials, or products that
take advantage of alternative manufacturing methods, not only helps protect and
restore our natural resources, but also creates employment, which is healthy for
our economy. It can also make your business more profitable. As you can see,
everyone benefits!
Can You Save Money or Time?
Do alternative materials and procedures save time
and money? I’m not sure there’s an easy answer here. Most of the products
I’ve worked with cost about the same as conventional materials — some a bit
more. This may be because some of these products just haven’t been on the
market that long.
For products made with recycled materials, it’s
possible that a shortage of available recyclable materials may develop. This
doesn’t mean there isn’t enough to be recycled, but not enough people are
coming forward and doing their part to recycle. When demand for the product is
high and natural resources diminish, then the price goes up. I suspect in this
case it won’t be the demand that will drive product costs up, but a shortage
of recyclable materials. My question is, how much of a demand can we put on
recyclable resources before they dry up?
Generally, after a product has been on the market
a few years, demand for it increases. Also, new facilities are built to produce
the products from recycled materials, and manufacturers make production more
efficient. Together, those factors begin to drive the cost down.
As for saving time, it’s just like any new
product that comes to the market. There’s a learning curve; it takes time to
understand the characteristics and the feel of the product. This means (in some
cases) that it’ll take longer to install these products, at least for the
first couple of jobs. You can probably reduce that labor time once you’ve had
the opportunity to install the product a few times. I know when I first started
using TREX decking (a product of TREX Company, LLC), it took me a while to get
used to it, especially handling a board 16 feet long. Once I’d worked with it
a few times and understood its characteristics, I was able to cut my labor time,
in some cases by almost 50 percent. But don’t count on any alternative product
necessarily saving you 50 percent on your labor. You may be able to save on the
job costs for the overall project, but some savings may come from labor, others
from less maintenance, while others come from fewer callbacks.
It’s probably too early to tell whether or not
installing alternative products is cost effective, especially for products that
haven’t been on the market that long. Only you can make that decision on your
jobs. The records you maintain could provide valuable information for the
manufacturer and also serve as a selling tool for potential customers. Not only
that, it will help you to understand the products better and to evaluate whether
you’re really helping the environment and saving money with the new materials.
Set your own track record when it comes to these products!
Do They Meet Building Codes?
Do alternative materials meet building codes?
Most of them do — but not necessarily! What does that mean? Not all new
products have the track record required for acceptance by building code
departments, and some products are accepted by building departments in some
areas and not in others. That’s why it’s important when researching
alternative products to request information from the manufacturer on the
product’s physical and mechanical properties. They should have a report on
product testing by an independent, nationally recognized, certified testing
corporation. In some cases, this documentation will be enough to get the product
accepted.
Better yet, check to see if the product has been
evaluated and listed with the National Evaluation Service, Inc. (NES). If so,
they’ll have an evaluation report that you could provide as evidence of code
compliance to your local building department. Don’t assume that the building
department in your area knows of the product you plan to use. When you approach
them, it may actually be the first they’ve heard of this product. If this is
the case, the flags will go up immediately. Be prepared to show some type of
documentation or an evaluation report on the product. The National Evaluation
Service Secretariat is located at:
National Evaluation Service, Inc.
900 Montclair Road, Suite A
Birmingham, AL 35213-1206
205-599-9888
jheaton@sbcci.org (e-mail)
www.nateval.org (Web site)
Local building departments follow their own
adopted codes or one of the three widely-accepted model building codes:
National Building Code
Building Officials & Code Administrators
International (BOCA)
4051 West Flossmoor Road
Country Club Hills, IL 60478-5795
708-799-2300
Uniform Building Code
International Conference of Building
Officials (ICBO)
5360 Workman Mill Road
Whittier, CA 90601
562-699-0541
Standard Building Code
Southern Building Code Congress
International (SBCCI)
900 Montclair Road
Birmingham, AL 35213
205-591-1853
Each of these organizations supports an
evaluation service. If the manufacturer plans to market the product on a
national level, they’ll submit the product to NES. But if they plan to market
only in their own geographic area, they may go to their model code evaluation
service to have the product evaluated at a certified testing laboratory and
quality agency.
The evaluation reports are available to the
member building department jurisdictions and other users. Some organizations may
charge for this report, but others will send it to you automatically through a
subscription service. If you want to use a product in an area that’s not under
the model code where the evaluation took place, get an evaluation report for the
building official in your area. Of course, it doesn’t guarantee the product
will be accepted, but it may meet local codes.
Here are the numbers for the evaluation services
of the three model code agencies:
BOCA Evaluation Services, Inc.
708-799-2305
boca@aecnet.com (e-mail)
www.boca-es.com/~boca-es (Web site)
ICBO Evaluation Service, Inc.
562-699-0543
es@icbo.org (e-mail)
http://www.icbo.org (Web site)
SBCCI Public Safety Testing &
Evaluation
Services, Inc.
205-599-9800
rfazel@sbcci.org (e-mail)
You’ll get along better with inspectors if they
know beforehand what you plan to do. In other words, don’t pull any surprises
on the inspector in the field. Get your materials or method of construction
approved before you start work. The building department staff knows
that new products hit the market every day. They do have some latitude and can
help you both comply with the codes and satisfy your customer. It’s in your
best interests to keep an open mind, work with the departments involved, be
willing to compromise, and encourage your customer to do the same.
Here’s the bottom line. Work with the
building department. And, of course, know the products you want to use. Do your
homework and get the proper documentation supplied by the manufacturer or the
evaluation report supplied by the model code agency’s evaluation service.
Will Your Customer Benefit from These
Products?
Can alternative materials be beneficial to your
customers? Of course! Anything you do that makes your customers feel more
comfortable within their environment provides a benefit. But it’s important to
find out what your customer needs, then use the right products to fit those
needs. You could inadvertently select a product that causes health problems for
the customer. Certain paints, carpets, caulks, and adhesives contain chemicals
that could affect asthmatics or people with certain allergies. It’s your
responsibility to ask your customer and check with the manufacturer on any new
products you’re considering.
In other words, work with your customer and know
the products you want to install. Remember, you walk away from the completed
project. Your customer, on the other hand, has to live within the environment
you create. Walking away isn’t an option for them.
Selling Alternative Materials
When selling alternative materials and
construction techniques, you need to know your customers as well as the
products. It could make the difference in whether or not you close a sale. So,
what types of customers do you work for? Looking back on my own customers (and I
assume they’re pretty typical), I’ve outlined the most common types of
customers you’ll be dealing with on a regular basis:
- The customer is looking for a basic,
affordable structure; will sacrifice looks and conveniences to get it.
- The customer is looking for the biggest bang
for the buck; will sacrifice quality.
- The customer is interested in premium
products, but for reasons other than a premium item; wants a product that
will hold up under a disaster.
- The customer is willing to pay more for a
premium product to get a product that’s a little unusual.
- The customer is willing to pay more for a
product in order to achieve maximum energy efficiency for their home, to
save on their utility bill!
Perhaps you could add a few additional types to
this list. If so, then you’re on the right track to really knowing your
customers. It may seem trivial, but this knowledge can really help as you
prepare your bids. You can select just the right product at just the right
price. It really could make a difference whether or not you get the job!
Reusing Materials
What about salvaged materials? Earlier I
mentioned all the old buildings that are being torn down. While many are
salvaged for their materials, others are simply dismantled and hauled off to the
dump. Why not salvage all that can be salvaged and reused, and then — and
only then — discard what has to be discarded? Reusing building
materials is actually very cost-effective and requires far less energy than
recycling.
When Expo 74 came to Spokane, all kinds of
buildings were constructed to house the exhibits. When it closed, the city
recycled those buildings and their contents. A subcontractor friend of mine
bought the hardwood flooring from one of the buildings and I helped him install
it in his rec room. He now has flooring that was once part of a major historical
event. People from all over the country — all over the world — walked on
that very floor! Reusing materials like that creates a history for the home and
makes living in it a more unique experience.
It can be the same for you and your customers.
Just think of using beams that may have once been in a ship, an early industrial
building, or even an 18th or 19th century warehouse. In many cases suppliers can
actually provide documentation to go along with these historical products.
Customers get excited about building with items that belonged to a different
era. They’re conversation pieces that add interest to their home, and you know
how your customers like to show off their castles.
There are a few salvage companies in Seattle with
huge warehouses filled with furniture, building components and materials. When I
walked through the doors of one, I swore I had stepped back in time. You
wouldn’t believe the things they had on display! What especially caught my eye
was a beautiful oak staircase, fully intact, including balusters and handrails,
that had been salvaged from a turn-of-the-century mansion. It was absolutely
stunning! The asking price plus shipping was less than it would cost to recreate
and install such beautiful workmanship, even if you could find someone who could
do it. As a matter of fact, it would probably be difficult (if not impossible)
to duplicate it today at any cost. This piece, with its class and heritage,
warranted installation in a very special home. Don’t you agree?
My point is that if you can use salvaged
materials, you’re recycling not only material, but history as well. And
installing an existing component rather than using virgin materials is a choice
to use alternative methods of construction. Other materials you might want to
consider recycling are bricks, fixtures, hardware, and metal and tile roofing.
Speaking of roofing, you should have seen the brass and copper weathervanes on
display at that salvage company!
Looking into the Future
As you can see, whether you use new materials
made from recycled materials, new but longer-lasting products, or salvaged
materials, you’re still helping to conserve natural resources and the
environment.
Are alternative materials right for every facet
of every job? Not always. You’ll want to carefully compare their costs against
traditional construction materials and techniques. The consensus seems to be
that alternative methods and materials may have higher initial costs than virgin
wood products, but may offer other desirable advantages well worth considering.
These include increased thermal efficiency, fire resistance, or durability.
Of course, some products could be more
cost-competitive if their structural properties were fully used. Engineered wood
products (EWP) are a good example of this. Better use of the longer spans now
offered by some EWP manufacturers could eliminate the need for intermediate
framing supports, and their related costs. Continuing lumber price increases and
reduced availability of raw materials will eventually make alternative methods
and materials more cost-competitive. However, this process will take time.
Where do you go from here? You only have to turn
the page to begin . . .
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