• Survey Reveals Kitchen and Bath Trends for 2010
• Our Product Picks from the 2010 International Builders Show
• Eight Hot Kitchen Trends from IBS
• Here Are the Top Developments To Watch in Decking
• Greener Windows at a Nicer Price
• Dow Introduces New Display to Help Buyers Take Advantage of Energy Tax Credits
• Two Dealers' Homemade Displays Provide Side-by-Side Decking Comparisons

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Survey Reveals Kitchen and Bath Trends for 2010

Building pros can expect to see a growing demand for hardwood flooring and quartz countertops for kitchens and white finishes in bathrooms in 2010, according to a new survey of designers conducted by the National Kitchen and Bath Association. Other kitchen trends highlighted in the results are more familiar, including the continued popularity of cherry cabinets.
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Our Product Picks from the 2010 International Builders Show

Over the course of three days, product editors from ProSales and other Hanley Wood publications swept the show floor at IBS to gather exciting new products. Our choices include a new push-out window, decking made from recycled fly ash and polymers, and a line of hardwood exterior doors.
Day 1 Product Picks
Day 2 Product Picks
Day 3 Product Picks

Eight Hot Kitchen Trends from IBS

Baby Boomers are hitting retirement age, lending standards have tightened, consumers have swallowed a slice of frugal pie, and the number of single households – particularly single women – is rising steadily. All of those ingredients are feeding demand for smaller, more budget-conscious kitchens with a heavy emphasis on style and universal design. Those were just some of the insights served up during a Jan. 20 design workshop at the International Builder’s Show in Las Vegas.
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Here Are the Top Developments To Watch in Decking

Changes in the economy, consumer tastes, and production technology are buffeting deck manufacturers and making things tricky for those dealers who are deciding this winter what to stock this year. Those decisions matter because three out of 10 dealers responding to a recent ProSales survey said they expect decking sales to rise next year, and another 60% believe they will at least hold steady. Here are the decking trends most likely to affect LBM operations in the near and long term.
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Greener Windows at a Nicer Price

The Department of Energy is initiating a volume purchase program for R-5 and low-E storm windows, hoping that the effort will level the playing field for small builders who, until now, have found such specs prohibitively expensive. By catalyzing a virtual marketplace, the federal agency hopes to amass greater demand for high-performance windows, thus enabling high-end window manufacturers to reduce their per-unit operating costs.
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Dow Introduces New Display to Help Buyers Take Advantage of Energy Tax Credits

Dow Building Solutions unveiled last month the Air Sealing Center, a new point-of-purchase display that contains Dow insulation and air sealing products as well as sell sheets for homeowners explaining potential tax credits and energy savings. Air-sealing spaces and adding insulation can save a homeowner up to 20% of heating and cooling costs, or up to 10% percent of total energy costs, Dow says. Expanded tax credits for energy-efficient home improvements increase the savings. Qualifying projects are eligible for a tax credit of 30% of the cost of materials (maximum $1,500) through 2010.
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Two Dealers' Homemade Displays Provide Side-by-Side Decking Comparisons

While traveling through the upper Midwest recently, we found two dealers with the same attitude on how to give customers a way to make side-by-side comparisons of decking products. The displays set up by Deckmasters in Fargo, N.D., (upper photo) and Glenbrook Lumber, Woodbury, Minn., (lower shot) both in essence created same-sized displays of decking from a variety of brands and then attached them to a vertical surface--Glenbrook did it with Velcro. What the customer gets, then, is an opportunity to compare brands rather than having to go from one brand's display to another. And because this also removes the product from a manufacturer's messaging, it puts a premium on the dealer sales rep's ability to explain the differences between the brands, recommend choices and close the deal.

What's your view on this setup? Do you do something similar? Tell us.

Do you have a question, a tip, or a sage piece of wisdom? Feel free to contact ProSales' products editor, Victoria Markovitz, at vmarkovitz@hanleywood.com.