Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
July 31, 2018 02:00 AM

Vinyl tops cladding again

Catherine Kavanaugh
Staff Writer
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Royal Building Products
    Royal Building Products is among the vinyl siding manufacturers promoting the aesthetic and performance benefits of vinyl siding for any home, budget or style – even the New Urbanism movement, which calls for walkable, mixed-use communities that celebrate history through architectural design.

    Vinyl siding kept its spot atop the exterior cladding installed on newly built single-family homes in 2017 as efforts continue to offer more colors, improve technology and appeal to architects.

    Some 27 percent, or 213,000 of the 795,000 houses completed last year, have vinyl siding as the primary exterior wall material, according to highlights of the annual survey of construction released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

    Overall, cladding distribution has hardly changed since 2015 and there was no difference at all from 2016 to 2017. New housing again was covered with: vinyl siding at 27 percent, stucco at 24 percent, brick at 22 percent, fiber cement at 20 percent, wood at 5 percent, and other materials (concrete block, stone, aluminum siding) at 2 percent.

    Vinyl siding did pick up market share in the Northeast — going from 71 percent to 75 percent in the region with some hot real estate markets — while fiber cement dropped from 8 percent to 6 percent and brick from 10 percent to 5 percent.

    Vinyl siding use was also up 1 percent to 22 percent in the South.

    However, the gains were offset by lost share in the Midwest, where use of vinyl cladding fell from 60 percent to 56 percent; and, in the West, where stucco dominates with 55 percent of distribution, vinyl siding was down 1 percent to 3 percent.

    To appeal to more homebuilders and remodelers, Cary, N.C.-based Ply Gem Industries Inc., the No. 1 manufacturer of vinyl siding, has added five dark hues to its SolarDefense Reflective Technology brand product line, which comes with a no-fade, no-distortion “promise.”

    With overall sales of about $2.4 billion in the residential market, Ply Gem has estimated sales of $1.9 billion 
for its polymer products, keeping it the No. 2 pipe, profile and tubing extruder in North America amid another ownership change.

    Big deal in works

    Ply Gem is being acquired by NCI Building Systems Inc., which manufactures metal roof and wall systems, insulated metal panels and rollup doors for the commercial market, in an all-stock deal worth about $1.2 billion and set to close in the fourth quarter.

    The announcement of that deal comes just three months after Ply Gem and Atrium Windows and Doors, which makes vinyl and aluminum products, were acquired by private equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and combined to create a company with total sales of about $2.4 billion.

    Now the combination with NCI is expected to create a company with combined sales of $4.5 billion in 2018. NCI will own 53 percent of the new company, and Ply Gem shareholders will take the remaining 47 percent. The publicly traded NCI took a hit right after the transaction was announced July 17 and Barclays questioned the rationale July 20.

    “Barclays believes the strategic rationale for the proposed combination is vague, noting the disparate end markets and customers of the standalone companies — NCS is 95 percent commercial, PGEM 100 percent residential — while both the product portfolios and raw material baskets have seemingly minimal overlap, leaving scale benefits unclear,” according to a synopsis of the Barclays analysis published by Seeking Alpha.

    The analysis also says the disclosed synergies of $150 million includes cost-cutting initiatives already underway and the true incremental synergies will be $30 million to $40 million.

    Other analysts, however, like Matt Zielinski of Freedonia Group in Mayfield, Ohio, said the combined company is poised to be a leading supplier of building products and better withstand swings in the construction cycle.

    “Construction professionals are continually looking for environmentally friendly building products that reduce energy consumption while remaining visually appealing,” Zielinski said in a statement. “Both companies have extensive product portfolios in this growing market segment; Ply Gem with its offerings of insulated vinyl siding and Energy Star-compliant windows and doors, and NCI Building Systems with its insulated metal panel product offerings.”

    Innovations to market

    Made of rigid foam encased between two sheets of coated metal, insulated metal panels create moisture, air, vapor and thermal barriers while the painted steel exterior offers design options, NCI said. The panels are produced at eight sites in the U.S. and Canada for architectural, commercial, industrial and cold-storage uses, such as arenas, stadiums, offices, showrooms, banks, educational facilities, religious facilities, distribution centers, government buildings and community centers.

    Ply Gem's energy-efficient products include ClimaForce insulated vinyl siding (Variform brand), Structure home insulation system (Mastic brand) and InsulPlank II (Mitten brand), which mimics fiber cement.

    However, this building season Ply Gem is putting the spotlight on its SolarDefense line of vinyl siding, sold under the Mastic brand name, as a next-generation alternative for home remodelers. The company, which doubled the number of darker colors to 10, manufactures the product with its new color formulation, improved light reflecting properties and a stronger, heat-resistance base that resists distortion.

    Looking to architects

    As the trade group for manufacturers of vinyl and polymeric siding, the Vinyl Siding Institute based in Washington, is trying to educate builders, architects and planners about the aesthetic and performance benefits of vinyl siding for any home, style and budget.

    Vinyl siding has consistently been installed on more houses than any material since 1994, with use of the cladding peaking at 40 percent in 2002 then falling through 2007 to 30 percent. Vinyl siding gained back a little market share from 2009-11 but lost ground again.

    To help move beyond the industry beyond its 27 percent market share, VSI has a 113-page designing style guide for professionals specifying products to create the architectural styles of Cape Cod, Italianate, French colonial, Queen Anne, Georgian, Federal, Victorian, Craftsman and Greek Revival. A brochure urges urban developers to “think beyond the picket fence” and choose vinyl siding for curb appeal.

    VSI also had an innovations booth at the 26th annual Congress for the New Urbanism in Savannah, Ga., in June to reach out to supporters of walkable, mixed-use communities that celebrate history through architectural design.

    In a VSI blog about the event, the trade group's technical consultant, Fernando Pages Ruiz, said several manufacturers showed products some New Urbanist designers didn't know existed, such as working shutters that replicate wood and panel profiles that can compete with fiber cement and composite wood claddings.

    The manufacturers included Boral USA, Kaycan Ltd., Progressive Foam and Royal Building Products, which is owned by Westlake Chemical Corp. With estimated sales of $1.2 billion following growth of 17 percent, Royal Building Products ranks No. 4 among North American pipe, profile and tubing extruders.

    Ruiz also said he read some of the community design codes being written by architects and the trend is moving toward “solid siding without artificial texture.”

    “Our industry can make smooth siding, and foam backing makes it solid, but manufacturers say consumers prefer the wood-grained material,” Ruiz said in a blog urging siding producers to be ready for the growing demand.

    Smooth-faced siding isn't just a pet peeve of a few architects, Ruiz added; it's becoming a standard for design codes for thousands of homes.

    “Although the New Urbanists have become immensely influential in planning codes, the movement was founded by architects and their codes address the character, or look of a place, as much as traffic patterns land use,” Ruiz wrote. “The interface between our manufacturers and New Urbanist designers has become critical to maintaining our industry's leading position. A position that has slowly eroded precisely because our products are associated with the post-WWII drive-to suburbs that have fallen out of favor.”

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Tooling focus gives Berry another avenue for growth
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    PVC feedstock in train derailment prompts evacuation in Ohio
    2
    Material Insights: Resin prices rise, nonmarket correction for PE
    3
    Illinois AG sues 14 firms over PFAS contamination
    4
    Prices on the rise for PP, PVC
    5
    This is the year the reality of plastics EPR arrives in the US
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified