Flavor du Jour

We have all seen so many “new and improved”, “revolutionary”, and “game changing” products come on the market that “new” starts to feel “old”. The script is often the same. The manufacturer rolls out the new product in a big push with a lot of fanfare with all the sensitivity and grace of a night time bombing raid on WW2 Berlin. One thing that most of us have learned the hard way, new products usually have to outgrow new challenges. Typically new models have teething issues and it takes a couple of generations of development on the part of the manufacturer and pain on the part of the consumer before things work and feel the way they are supposed to. It would not be kind for me to bore you here with the list of what I remember in the way of flash in the pan introductions, because you already have your own list that you’ve had to live through. You know the feeling.

Our job as a supplier is to research what we sell and save our clients from the unexpected. We are always on the lookout for thoughtful products that have been well engineered and designed from the user’s perspective. We look for products that aren’t just forced or flooded on the market but that carefully vetted and introduced to succeed. So many manufacturers fall into the trap of simply wanting to kill the competition with their new offering. When you are busy scorching the earth with your blitzkrieg advance, it’s pretty hard to consider your innocent bystanders!

Azek has been in the PVC trim and decking business for decades. They are a market leader and they have earned their position and our respect. We have been asking them for a clapboard product that looks like wood, but holds paint better than wood, doesn’t absorb moisture, doesn’t rot, and most importantly doesn’t expand and contract the way a lot of PVC trim does. This is a lot to ask. Here is what they have delivered. The paint holding prowess and enduring beauty of PVC, the appearance of wood in a traditional 1/2x6 profile, the promise of a paint job lasting 25 years, and a 70% reduction in the typical expansion and contraction of standard PVC. One more feature – Azek’s success with paint holding and longevity has been improved with their new Paint Pro technology that makes paint flow easier, grip better, and dry in as little as an hour. Sherwin Williams’ Duration acrylic latex is warranted to last for 25 years on PVC. Azek has also worked with paint manufacturer Aqua Sure-Tech on reflective paints that further enhance the performance of PVC trim and their new bevel siding by lowering temperature gain by reflecting the sun’s heat away from the PVC core. Better stability, better longevity, and less stress on the core and the finish.

Shepley and Azek want to help on another level with this new bevel siding. Instead of simply handing you instructions and a new product to learn, we want to help you install Azek bevel siding correctly and successfully. We want to coach you and your installers though your first job or two. Let’s do it right and let’s do it together. Azek bevel siding is priced very competitively with 1/2x6 Western Red Cedar primed and finger-jointed clapboard and from that point on the savings get even better. Often a single coat of white top coat can fully cover Azek. Use the good stuff and you shouldn’t be looking at a recoat for many years.

If you want to be a test crash dummy, there are plenty of other products on the market with which you can satisfy your thrill seeking urges. If you want the confidence of a well-researched, carefully thought out solution to some of the woes of wood, Azek bevel siding may be just the ticket. Please ask your Shepley sales rep for more information and samples. We’re here to help….together. Azek bevel siding, a whole lot more than just the flavor du jour!