While some things may change, everyone here at WB SysTech is committed to continuing this awesome legacy. We will continue to strive to provide the best possible products and services and to uphold what Wally started.

During this time of transition, we would like to ask for patience in those that are grieving. We will be giving all of our employees the choice of time off, should they choose to. If you have any questions or requests, please send them to: 

Rian Bergen

Customer Relations

info@wbsystech.com

“Builders are seeing strong traffic and lots of interest in new construction as existing home inventory remains lean,” said NAHB Chairman Chuck Fowke.  “Moreover, builders in the Northeast and the Midwest are benefiting from demand that was sidelined during lockdowns in the spring. Low interest rates are also fueling demand, and we expect housing to lead an overall economic recovery.”

“While the housing market is clearly rebounding, challenges exist,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “Lumber prices are at a two-year high and builders are reporting rising costs for other building materials while lot and skilled labor availability issues persist. Nonetheless, the important story of the changing geography of housing demand is benefiting new construction. New home demand is improving in lower density markets, including small metro areas, rural markets and large metro exurbs, as people seek out larger homes and anticipate more flexibility for telework in the years ahead. Flight to the suburbs is real.”

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for 30 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

All the HMI indices posted gains in July. The HMI index gauging current sales conditions jumped 16 points to 79, the component measuring sales expectations in the next six months rose seven points to 75 and the measure charting traffic of prospective buyers posted a 15-point gain to 58.

Looking at the monthly average regional HMI scores, the Northeast surged 22 point to 70, the Midwest jumped 18 points to 68, the South increased 10 points to 73 and the West increased 14 points to 80.

HMI tables can be found at nahb.org/hmi. More information on housing statistics is also available at housingeconomics.com.

Source: NAHB

Your windows are your home’s gates to the outer world. They reflect style and architecture, and let sunlight and fresh air in to complement your interior. There are many different window designs, and you have to be aware of ‘the soul’ of your home in order to choose the right one.

We invite you to go through the list of different styles below and choose a suitable and modern window design for your home.

Source: Engineering Discoveries

Source: Engineering Discoveries

In 2019, builders will need doors that go big and tall, and light on the paneling and moulding. Patio doors remain in the spotlight and are tracking bigger than ever.

For painted finishes, darker blue shades are trending strongly for exterior doors, and warmer reds are making a showing.

The continuing style trend is toward really clean lines, with any glass glazed directly into the door, says JELD-WEN’s Dan Jacobs. Sticking, the moulding surrounding door panels, is going away.

“If there is a panel, it’s one panel, but no ogee, all straight lines,” says Joe LeFlore, vice president of South Florida Millwork on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

“Big is better. Ten-foot doors were becoming the new normal, and now the 12-foot door is becoming the 10-foot door. People are starting to demand 10-by-6-foot doors. Massive, massive, massive. These big doors are also using pivot hinges,” says LeFlore.

“The pivot door has been sort of rediscovered,” says Greenwich, Conn.-based designer and builder Sabine Schoenberg, host of Sabine’s New House. “Doors are your first hello to the house, and this is doing something interesting with them,” she said, noting that pivot hinges look very fresh in a modern home.

While doors are increasing in size across the country, there are regional differences. Coastal communities tend toward using more glass in their exterior doors, and Jacobs sees a developing trend toward more doors incorporating glass in the first place. “People are [going] for viewing space over security.”

When it comes to patio doors, sliders are growing to enormous proportions, thanks to homeowners’ intensifying desire for a connection to the outdoors. The extreme popularity of this trend is such that even production builders are adding multi-panel sliders a total of 8 to 10 feet wide.

Orlando architect Tony Weremeichik is using exterior-mounted pocketed glass doors that completely open a room to the outdoors. When it comes to sliding patio doors, his firm has been specifying 12- to 16-foot units. “I haven’t done a 6- or 8-foot slider in ages.”

For interior doors, the trends are the same: clean lines, no sticking, and taller doors up to 8 feet, rather than the 6-foot-8-inch door that was the norm in the not-so-distant past. Interior doors used to be either painted white or stained. “Now you might see doors the same dark color as the walls,” says Jacobs, JELD-WEN’s director of product line management for doors.

Barn doors remain a huge trend on the interior. Because the doors hang from a hardware system mounted above the opening that allows them to roll open and shut, the size of the opening doesn’t dictate the size of the door. In a nod to their popularity, production builders have also jumped on the barn door trend, says Philadelphia architect Jim Wentling.

Source: Builder Online

The trilateral agreement to replace NAFTA should help “promote open markets for the window, door and skylight industry, and contribute to a robust economy” for the United States, Canada and Mexico, said Michael O’Brien, president and CEO of the Window & Door Manufacturers Assn. 

A world market forecast is offered by Global Market Insights Inc. According to the study, Global Windows and Doors Market, the industry was valued at more than $190 billion in 2017 and is projected to cross $260 billion by 2024. The growth of windows and doors will be spurred by new construction in both the commercial and residential markets, with the movement of smart city development initiatives in several countries among the key growth parameters.

The global wood windows and doors market was valued at more than $60 billion in 2017, adds Global Market Insights.

Quick Stats:

A forecast combination of decreased housing starts and reduced remodeling projects could limit window and door growth in 2019 and 2020, according to WDMA/Farnsworth Group research. Shipments for architectural flush doors and stile and rail  doors are projected to grow around 1% annually through 2020. Shipments of commercial shop built windows are estimated at 0.885 million units in 2018, with an annual growth rate of 1.8% through 2020 forecast.

According to The Freedonia Group’s Consumer Trends & Supplier Opportunities, casement windows will post above-average growth through 2021 as homeowners favor their aesthetic qualities. Residential door trends are carrying over into the exterior and commercial markets with regards to the look of wood and custom details.

It is projected that the revenue of wood window and door manufacturing in the U.S. will amount to approximately $13.4 billion by 2022, according to Statista.

U.S. demand for commercial window and door products is forecast to reach $10.3 billion by 2020, according to The Freedonia Group’s Commercial Windows & Doors study. While metal products account for the vast majority of dollars, wood products will continue to be important in applications, such as interior doors.The product breakdown for the U.S. commercial market is: doors 57%, windows 29% and other 14%.

Source: Woodworking Network

Choose muntins, glazing, sidelites, and decorative patterns to match the style of your home when buying a new front door.

Upgrading the front door is consistently listed among the top home-improvement projects for the greatest return on investment. In addition to enhancing a house’s curb appeal, it is the first design element people engage with upon arrival. So as you budget for the construction of a new home or a renovation project, consider setting aside a little extra for the front door. You can commission a custom design, but most people buy stock products. Here’s some advice for how to shop.

Front Door Basics

While there are seemingly endless variables for determining a door’s configuration, they are all based on a few design standards. Focus on doors with stiles and rails that range from 4 in. to 6 in. Look for clear glass without a bevel. Use simulated divided-lite (SDL) muntins. If SDL glazing is not an option, go without muntins rather than using grille-between-glass muntins. When selecting the proportion of lites in the glazing, be sure to relate that proportion to the window lites throughout the house.

The amount of glazing in your door will depend on the style of your house. Cottage designs often have a large percentage of glass over low panels, while Craftsman style doors have a small area of glass at the top with long vertical panels. Colonial homes typically feature five- or six-panel doors with either no glazing or glazing in place of small panels.

Sidelites

If you have room for only one sidelite in your design, go without. Also, avoid sidelites with glazing that extends all the way to the ground. Instead, end the glazing approximately three-quarters of the way down, and use a low panel for the remainder. Align the lites in the sidelites with those in the door. And when using sidelites with panel doors, align the panel under the sidelite with the lower panels in the door.

Transoms and sidelites

If you are combining sidelites, a transom, and lites in the door, take care to coordinate the proportion of the lites. The three elements should work well as a composition. The most common mistake is to use horizontal lites in the transom. Only add a transom if you have the height to match the proportions of the lites in the door and sidelites. Going without a transom is preferable to using one that results in a mishmash of proportions. The ideal design for combining glazing in sidelites, transoms, and the door is to match the lite size and proportion between all three elements.

Decorative Patterns and Shapes

Many stock doors have etched glass, ovals, or arches for ornament. While these designs are inspired by traditional leaded-glass entry doors, they do not pass muster. Avoid them in all cases. Remember that with doors, as with most building elements, less is more.

Source: Fine Home Building

They are critical to the design — and the most difficult factor to get right. What is more, many architects will say that it is not until you stand back and look at the finished job that you will be absolutely – and finally – sure that the windows are ‘right’ for the building.

Even more infuriatingly, it does not need the trained eye of an architect or a designer to take a quick look at the façade of a new house – of whatever style – and spot that the windows look out of place. Ask any architect and he or she will say the key to this is balance and proportion. Another word architects like to use is ‘disposition’ — making sure window openings are correctly lined up and that the relationship of solids to voids is neither too wide nor too narrow. So whether you are building a sharp, crisp modern ‘box’ with plain, unadorned window openings punched into it, or a house in classical style with a delicately proportioned façade, it is vital to pay the utmost attention to the window openings. If you get them wrong it can ruin the look of the entire project.

Here are a few more pointers to help the would-be self-builder in either contemporary or traditional style when considering the tricky subject of window openings and surrounds.

Contemporary Style

Window openings that are simple rectangular holes punched in a wall with no surrounds can be very effective. But in order to be ‘right’ they must have conviction, and there is just as much design skill needed as in a reproduction Classical building. It is all to do with scale, proportion and detailing, and just because your house is built in a contemporary style, it does not mean that the proportions of the windows to the façade as a whole do not have to be architecturally correct.

With contemporary house design there is a great emphasis on the asymmetrical, but even if you have contrasting vertical and horizontal openings in the same façade there has to be some sort of balance. Most experienced architects will use the so-called ‘Golden Ratio’(see below) as part of their design armoury if they want to be sure it is aesthetically pleasing.

You should be especially careful if you are planning window openings with lintels that do not line up. If they do not relate to the floors inside the building, the openings can look as if they have been ‘thrown on’, rather than carefully designed into the façade.

ABOVE:It’s not just period-style housing that relies on window positioning for a successful design; TOP: this American-style house in Sussex executes dormer windows to perfection; At the other end of the scale, BOTTOM, these developer houses show how to get it wrong

Period Style

The window proportions can be extremely difficult to get right on a modern house reproducing Classical style. It is vital to make sure they do not appear ‘short and wide’ as opposed to ‘tall and thin’. There is great pressure on architects and designers to do this nowadays because the Building Regulations demand that windows must be at least 800mm up from the floor and there is constant pressure from planners to keep roof heights down. One way round this is to use horizontal rather than vertical sliding sashes. They can be useful to overcome the ‘squashed’ look because although the openings and frames are horizontal, the proportions of the sashes are vertical and can be the same as those on other storeys.

A good rule of thumb in a house with smallpane sash windows is to try to keep the openings and the panes in approximately the same ratio. If you get that right, the façade should automatically look good.

If you are building in Georgian style, remember that the sliding sash window frames would have been flush with the outer wall in the early Georgian period and rebated within the wall and therefore set back after 1774, when new fire legislation demanded this. In many cases, window frames set flush with the wall in houses rendered on the outside built to replicate timber framed 17th and early 18th century styles will have decorative mouldings around them to cover the joint with the render.

As ever with house design, getting these details right pays off in the overall effect.

ABOVE: Which one looks right? Well, to most eyes, the top one looks ‘genuinely’ Georgian while the bottom one, built on a developer housing estate, gets it all wrong. It’s not just the choice of windows, or the peculiar variety in surrounds and cills, but rather more simply the number of windows, their sizes, and positioning — all things the top house gets absolutely right

The Golden Ratio

Classical architecture has its roots in mathematics and the most obvious example of this is the ‘Golden Ratio’ (also known as Golden Mean or Section), a formula devised in 300BC by the mathematician Euclid. The Golden Ratio consists of two quantities (1 and 1.168). The ratio between the sum of those two quantities and the larger one of them is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller. In architectural terms this takes the form of the Golden Rectangle, where the ratio of the shorter side to the longer is 1:1.618. Put simply, human beings are most pleased when things are in a proportion of 1 to 1.618 — i.e. if a window is one unit wide, it should be 1.618 units tall. It’s not just used in windows — the ‘ogee’ curve used today in mouldings is a derivative of the Golden Ratio.

The front elevation of this Georgian home (above) is drawn based on the proportions of the Golden Ratio, which determines its width, height, window positions and sizes, and the relative size of the roof pitch. An ogee curve – the quintessential Classical pattern and a derivative of the Golden Ratio – is overlaid.

Getting the Surrounds Right

The window surround in a classical house varies enormously according to the style. If you are building in stone it is very common to pick out the windows in ashlar, or if the walls are rendered, with a finer contrasting render, with a stone surround to finish it off. In this case, the effect of light and shade on the front façade will be much improved if you bring out the stone surround 20 or 30mm beyond the render.

Source: Home Building

Additional Resources: Avoiding Fenestration Fiascoes | Window Placement: Use One Ratio

Commercial high-rise curtain-wall systems typically rely on pressure management to keep water from entering the building. The insulated glazing units are fitted against a flexible gasket at the interior face of the glazing and are held in place with a glazing cap. The system’s critical element is the air seal created by the interior glazing gasket; these windows are tight on the inside and leaky on the outside. When a strong wind blows, air pressure builds inside the chambers of the frame around the window, forcing water out through drainage channels created for that purpose.

European tilt-turn windows are installed according to the same principles. Unlike European windows, however, flanged windows attempt to put the water seal on the outside face of the window flange. Manufacturers, though, usually instruct builders to leave an outward drainage path at the sill. This path bypasses the air-and-water seal. Furthermore, there often is a ring of air-permeable and water-permeable fiberglass stuffed in the gap between the window unit and the wall: tight on the outside, leaky on the inside. When strong pressure builds up against the window, the building actively sucks water inside the rough opening through any gap, pulling water into the building.

If you’re lucky and have a builder who is careful and up to date, the window will be sealed at the perimeter with expanding spray foam, which works OK as an interior air-and-water seal. During blower-door tests, though, we regularly see air leakage through brand-new expanding spray foam. (The air seems to travel right through the “folds” in the foam—pockets of foam that don’t quite expand completely before they skin over.) These leaks occur even before the lumber dries and shrinks away from the cured spray foam. We’re convinced that water travels right through most spray foam installations around windows, especially under the pressurized conditions of a Maine nor’easter.

A 2×4 ring lines the oversize rough opening
The rough opening should be framed 3-in. oversize in both dimensions to leave room for a 2×4 “ring” that accommodates the window flanges. It’s essential to create a tight air seal at the interior of the window with high-quality tape or expanding foam and caulk. Include caulk at all the indicated locations to maintain the integrity of the home’s air barrier. To leave a clear exit path for any water that leaks past the window flanges, don’t install any sealant or spray foam under the metal sill flashing.

Four rules for window installation

Sill flashing as a trim detail. Galvanized steel or copper can protect the framing from water intrusion while adding character to the exterior.
We don’t install commercial curtain walls or European windows in our typical residential projects, so we’ve had to develop installation details that adapt proper pressure-management principles to U.S. flanged windows. For these details, we follow four rules.

1. Protect the head of the window from rain by tucking the window in from the face of the wall. Roof overhangs don’t help much on the coast—water blows sideways, up, and down—and an 18-in. overhang on a taller building doesn’t help the ground-floor windows at all. On a building with 12-in.-thick well-insulated walls, we slide the windows back 3-1⁄2 in. so that every window has an individual built-in overhang right above the window head. That means we install most windows as “in-betweenies” instead of “innies” or “outies.”

2. Treat the window flange as an installation aid only, not as a water or air seal. Expect that water will be able to enter behind the flange during extreme conditions, and always provide a pathway out. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions; your warranty depends on it.

3. Make sure water can’t pool on bare wood and rot the wall. Wrap rough openings properly, with tape or flashing that is lapped top over bottom, and install a sloped sill pan below the window. It’s now part of most window manufacturers’ instructions to place a clapboard or sloped shim at the rough sill, but we still rarely see this recommendation followed until we ask for it. The critical and often-over-looked air-sealing area is at the interior of the sill. If
the window is not shimmed at its sill—the usual situation we see—there needs to be a bead of caulk or a gasket seal at the inside face of the window to prevent water from blowing up under the open exterior window flange, right under the window frame, and into the building.

4. Establish a long-lasting air-and-water seal at the inside face of the window unit, and connect that seal to the rough opening. The best material for creating this seal is a flexible and long-lasting construction tape such as Dow Weathermate or 3M 8067 Flashing Tape, or a European tape such as Siga Rissan or Pro Clima Tescon. The tape will experience consistent temperatures on the interior side of the window; it won’t, however, go through extreme freeze/thaw cycles like exterior tape. It should also remain flexible longer than spray foam. However, this tedious, nonstandard technique for most U.S. builders will likely lead to an upcharge, so we usually have to accept spray foam as our interior air seal. (Fiberglass scraps do not belong in a rough opening.) We insist on a blower-door test to ensure that the air seal around the window was installed properly, and we often make builders come back with caulk to close up the holes they are surprised to find in the spray foam. Our typical non-Passive House airtightness standard for residential work is 1.5 ACH50, but we always give builders the cfm50 number that would allow them to beat the 0.4 ACH50 achieved by one of their competitors. It never hurts to let them know where the bar really sits.

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Source: Fine Home Building

Home Renovation Boom Continues: Half of homeowners on Houzz plan to begin or continue renovations in 2018 (51%), with a median planned spend of $10,000. Renovation activity and spend were strong in 2017, extending the boom of 2015 and 2016, with 58% of homeowners renovating their homes, at a median spend of $15,000. While homeowners who have lived in their current homes for six or more years drive the majority of renovations, activity among recent homebuyers is growing.

Kitchens and Bathrooms Lead Activities and Spend: The median spend on kitchen remodels increased 10% year over year in 2017, while master bathrooms overtook living/family rooms as the third-most-popular room to renovate, after kitchens and guest/other bathrooms. Four in five renovating homeowners report that kitchen and master bathroom upgrades increased the value of their homes (83% and 81%, respectively), far more than any other renovation project (48% to 76%).

Planning is More Deliberate: Homeowners have become more deliberate in planning for renovations, as reflected in budgeting, project and hiring trends. For example, homeowners were 12% more likely to set a budget in 2017 (77%) than in 2015 (69%). Similarly, homeowners are increasingly more likely to tackle multiple preventative projects at a time, such as home systems and exterior features upgrades, and to hire specialists to complete them.

Renovation Spend Jumps in Houston and Los Angeles: Reflecting the impact of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, median spend on renovations in the Houston metro area increased 60% year over year, making it the fourth-highest spend among U.S. metros ($24,000). The Los Angeles metro area, tying for the second-highest spend at $25,000, saw the second-largest spending increase (25%), likely in part a reflection of the damage caused by wildfires. Renovations triggered by natural disasters increased to 6% in 2017 from 4% in 2016.

Download the Full Report

Source: Houzz

There are separate 55+ HMIs for two segments of the 55+ housing market: single-family homes and multifamily condominiums. Each 55+ HMI measures builder sentiment based on a survey that asks if current sales, prospective buyer traffic and anticipated six-month sales for that market are good, fair or poor (high, average or low for traffic).

Among the components of the single-family 55+ HMI, present sales fell nine points to 70, expected sales for the next six months rose seven points to 80 and traffic of prospective buyers remained unchanged at 51.

Meanwhile, the 55+ HMI for multifamily condominiums jumped 10 points to 64 in the first quarter of 2018, the highest reading since the inception of the index in 2008 (Figure 2). Among its components, present sales rose eight points to 67, expected sales for the next six months increased 10 points to 70 and traffic of prospective buyers jumped 15 points to 55.

In addition to the 55+ HMIs, supply and demand measures for the 55+ multifamily rental market are produced. Three of the four components declined in the first quarter of 2018: present production declined three points to 59, expected future production fell four points to 57 and present demand for existing units decreased three points to 68. At the same time, future expected demand edged up one point to 68.

The decline in the single-family 55+ HMI is in line with the slight softening seen in other measures of single-family construction, which is likely due to adverse weather in the early months of 2018. However, going forward continued growth in the 55+ housing market is expected.

Source: NAHB Eye on Housing

Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) edged up 0.2% in January. After accounting for inflation, real PCE declined 0.1%, the first decline in a year. Spending slowed slightly in January, followed by a solid growth in the last holiday seasons. On a year-over-year comparison, personal consumption increased 2.7% in January.

In January, savings increased to $464 billion from $363 billion in December. The savings rate rose to 3.2% after a relatively low 2.5% in December, as income gains outpaced consumer spending. As shown in the graph below, the savings rate has been on the downward path since 2016 when rising consumption contributed to fueling economic growth.

Source: NAHB Eye on Housing

In particular, the HMI gauge of future sales expectations has reached a post-recession high, an indicator that consumer demand for housing should grow in the months ahead. With ongoing job creation, increasing owner-occupied household formation, and a tight supply of existing home inventory, the single-family housing sector should continue to strengthen at a gradual but consistent pace.

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for 30 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

The HMI component charting sales expectations in the next six months rose two points to 80, the index measuring buyer traffic held steady at 54, and the component gauging current sales conditions dropped one point to 78.

Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Midwest rose two points to 72, the South increased one point to 74, the West remained unchanged at 81, and Northeast fell two points to 56.

Source: NAHB Eye on Housing

1. Chasing Leads

Just working to get today’s and tomorrow’s leads means you miss out on 97 percent of your potential market that is in various stages of research. Position yourself to capture those folks as well and you’ll always have plenty of people to talk to about your products. —Joe Mills, Sunrise Windows, sunrisewindows.com

Repeat business is the most profitable. You will get more repeat business by being honest with your customers and not taking shortcuts in your product and service provision. —Phil Lewin, The Window Design Group, vinylwindow designs.com

2. Choosing Partners

When choosing a product or supplier, always look for those that can provide unique selling advantages. With products becoming more and more similar, look for suppliers that can offer programs and benefits that can help you to stand out from the crowd. —Mark Davis, Earthwise Windows, earthwisewindows.com

Take advantage of the marketing programs offered by manufacturers to promote your business, such as co-op advertising. Invest in training and/or working with your manufacturers to ensure your staff are knowledgeable about the products they sell and why they sell them. Customers are looking for experts to rely on and the more you can work with the manufacturer, the stronger your sales will be. Choose a supplier that wants to work with you to grow your business. —Tracy Nadiger, All Weather Windows, allweatherwindows.com

Create and nurture strategic partnerships, focusing on quality over quantity. Look at your business’ long-term goals and align your company with specific partners who are leaders in the industry. Consider how a partnership can be mutually beneficial to each company, and remember that chasing short-term results often hinders a company’s ability to achieve long-term goals. —Kevin St. John, PGT Innovations, pgtinnovations.com

3. Selling on Value

Building value in window products and trust with the consumer yields far better closing ratios and gross profits than selling on price. Consumers always pay more when the cost-versus-value benefit threshold is met. —Eric Vidmar, Anlin Window Systems, anlin.com

Customers are looking for a great value when purchasing large ticket items. This is an area of the house that should be treated with high regard concerning energy savings, functionality and workmanship. Saving 10 to 15 percent on a cheaper window may not offer the best value. Dealers should learn all they can about the windows they offer and understand what values and performance they offer to become an instructor, rather than a salesperson. —Scott Gerkin, Gerkin Windows, gerkin.com

The premium vinyl window niche is very strong and most dealers are not getting their share. Partner with companies who serve this niche well with product, delivery and customer/field service. Call backs can be dramatically reduced, thus improving both customer satisfaction and profit margins. The commitment required for training staff on the value of premium products and on identifying premium opportunities is a very wise investment. —Doug Cook, Thermo-Tech Windows LLC, ttwindows.com

High-performance products will continue to strengthen as a category as more people begin to recognize the need for sustainability and how it benefits not only them but the world as a whole. Efficient glass, aluminum, vinyl-composite, and aluminum clad products will continue to grow in popularity. —Eric Wanner, Solar Innovations, solarinnovations.com

4. Differentiation

Always look to carry unique products that will set you apart from big box retailers and aim to provide your customers with excellent customer service and added value. —Cally Dubrofsky, Stanley Doors, stanleydoorproducts.com

Think strategically about how you want to grow your business. Look for opportunities in the market to sell products that are not readily available from your competition. This type of differentiation strategy not only will grow your margins, but will put you in a position to satisfy emerging needs from your customers. —Scott Gates, Western Window Systems, westernwindow.com

Education

A dealer’s ability to educate their customer in order to identify their true needs rather than selling them stock windows they can buy at a “big box” store becomes a powerful differentiator. —Bill Sifflard, Quaker Windows, quakerwindows.com

Don’t just sell products. Create value and differentiate by offering educational knowledge like new building code changes and new fashion options to your contractors to help them stand out. —Jeff Ward, Durabuilt Windows & Doors, durabuilt.com

Educate your employees to the max. Successful companies have knowledgeable people that can help walk an architect, designer, builder or homeowner through the selection process. Because of all the options available today, window and door salespeople have become design consultants on each job. Only educated product specialists can do this well. —Steve Kahle, Lincoln Windows, lincolnwindows.com

Consumers continue to be savvy with performance and product knowledge. However, the amount of information available is so vast that consumers often suffer from data overload. Keeping product information accurate and simple is vital in aiding consumers with product selection. —Laura Doerger-Roberts, Vinylmax Windows, vinylmax.com

Invest in the Future

Reinvest in your company’s marketing strategies to get the next generation involved in fenestration. —Douglas Gillin, Northeast Building Products, nbpwindows.com

Get out and recruit installers at high schools and tech programs. Skilled, reliable crews are a competitive advantage more than ever and we all know our industry offers fantastic careers for smart and driven people who are good with their hands. Put together trade classes on becoming an installer and highlight the opportunities these young adults could have at running their own installation crews at a very young age. College is very expensive, and not for everyone. —Matt Samson, Harvey Building Products, harveybp.com


Source: Window & Door

From estimating with no limits in design and style, generating Bills-of-Material, Parts and Cut lists all the way to Paperless Production using Barcodes; we’d like to show you how EZ-WinDoor can simplify the process, and how it can connect to Weinig/Holz-Her CNC machines.

We provide the ultimate solution for the high-end-custom residential, and commercial, window and door industry. Controlling One-off designs, and high volume production.

We hope that you can come see us, and we look forward to showing you what EZ-WinDoor can do.

While builders are clearly confident, we expect some moderation in the index moving forward. Builders continue to face a number of challenges, including rising material prices, higher mortgage rates, and shortages of lots and labor. The HMI also benefited from unseasonably warm weather at the start of 2017, improving both demand and construction conditions.

Additionally, builders began to realize benefits from President Trump’s actions on regulatory reform, particularly his recent executive order to rescind or revise the waters of the U.S. rule that affects permitting.

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for 30 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

All three HMI components posted robust gains in March. The component gauging current sales conditions increased seven points to 78 while the index charting sales expectations in the next six months rose five points to 78.  Meanwhile, the component measuring buyer traffic jumped eight points to 54.

Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Midwest increased three points to 68 and the South rose one point to 68. The West dipped three points to 76 and the Northeast edged one point lower to 48.

Source: NAHB Eye on Housing