For those of us living in the Northwest, fall is a wonderful time of year. Our weather is generally dry and mild, so it is an excellent time to work on those landscape and home improvement projects that may have been put off during the busy summer months. Imagine enjoying the last remaining warm weekends and evenings entertaining family and friend on a new paver patio. Or you can easily and economically enhance your existing landscape by adding a few natural stone features like boulders and columns. Mutual Materials’ hardscape product lines can provide endless design possibilities. From the simple to the very elaborate, we have the products and sales expertise to help you obtain your desired result.
If you have a fall landscape project that you are considering, feel free to visit one of our 19 Northwest branches for professional help. We’re always happy to send a salesperson out to your home to help you understand which of our products would work best in your house or backyard. If your project is more than “do it yourself”, we have a Preferred Contractor program that makes it easy to find area contractors who are well qualified to do the job. Visit our website to start that process. Have a great fall!
Rob Rosson
Residential Sales Manager
rrosson@mutualmaterials.com
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Notes on the NCMA Summer Convention
I am the Region 5, which covers most of the Western United States, Executive Committee Representative on the NCMA board of Directors. The other region 5 board members are: Eric Absalon (Basilite), Wade Ficklin (Oldcastle Architectural Inc.-West), and Matt Morey (Calstone Company Inc.). The Executive Board does a lot of the work for the organization. Bob Thomas is the executive director that is hired to manage the staff.
The NCMA Board meets twice a year to make sure that the organization is running smoothly (both financially and operationally). Since Bob Thomas has been the executive, the organization is running much more smoothly and there is currently a great opportunity to move NCMA forward.
NCMA does a great deal for the entire industry. However, the industry, from East to West, is very divided. Even on the west coast, California builds buildings differently from the Northwest. On the East Coast, they don’t have the same needs for reinforced masonry. At this point, NCMA represents the Masonry and SRW divisions of the concrete block business.
A partial list of what was covered at the most recent NCMA meeting:
1) NCMA has at long last completed an updated version of the SRW design manual. This document changed the height manufacturing tolerances from 1/8” to 1/16”. At this meeting, many of the producers complained that the new tolerances were too tight, especially for DIY type SRW’s. The Board agreed to change the tolerance back to the old 1/8”. Everyone seemed to agree that for big commercial jobs, the closer tolerances were warranted but not needed for most of the SRW produced.
2) The NCMA board agreed to proceed with a plan to bring ICPI back into a newly formed umbrella type organization. Details to be jointly worked out in future meetings. Now the ball goes back to the ICPI board for voting. NCMA believes that in these difficult financial times, merging the two organizations into one can save cost. Many members of NCMA are also members of ICPI. Mutual Materials has been very active in both organizations.
3) NCMA has reduced expenses tremendously, mainly by reducing staff and eliminating programs. The organization is budgeted to break even for the year.
4) The NCMA Foundation does not have any money left due to the poor performance of the stock market. The mission of the NCMA Foundation is to advance and support the concrete masonry industry and the public interest through research and education programs designed to meet the future needs of the industry. Several projects have been funded, not by the foundation, but by the Paul Lenchuck scholarship fund.
5) Many members are excited about a new program called Vision 2020. The Vision 2020 Program is a collective effort by national and regional industry partners to recapture lost masonry markets and expand by the year 2020. This is a collaborative attempt by MCAA (Mason Contractors Association of America), NCMA , BIA ( The Brick Industry) and other local masonry groups to get together and talk with local planning officials in an attempt to get the planning officials to require a certain amount of masonry on every building in the various municipalities. This type of program has been effective in parts of the USA.
If anyone would like more information, please contact me either by phone or e-mail.
Sincerely,
Jim Anderegg
janderegg@mutualmaterials.com
425-503-7047
The NCMA Board meets twice a year to make sure that the organization is running smoothly (both financially and operationally). Since Bob Thomas has been the executive, the organization is running much more smoothly and there is currently a great opportunity to move NCMA forward.
NCMA does a great deal for the entire industry. However, the industry, from East to West, is very divided. Even on the west coast, California builds buildings differently from the Northwest. On the East Coast, they don’t have the same needs for reinforced masonry. At this point, NCMA represents the Masonry and SRW divisions of the concrete block business.
A partial list of what was covered at the most recent NCMA meeting:
1) NCMA has at long last completed an updated version of the SRW design manual. This document changed the height manufacturing tolerances from 1/8” to 1/16”. At this meeting, many of the producers complained that the new tolerances were too tight, especially for DIY type SRW’s. The Board agreed to change the tolerance back to the old 1/8”. Everyone seemed to agree that for big commercial jobs, the closer tolerances were warranted but not needed for most of the SRW produced.
2) The NCMA board agreed to proceed with a plan to bring ICPI back into a newly formed umbrella type organization. Details to be jointly worked out in future meetings. Now the ball goes back to the ICPI board for voting. NCMA believes that in these difficult financial times, merging the two organizations into one can save cost. Many members of NCMA are also members of ICPI. Mutual Materials has been very active in both organizations.
3) NCMA has reduced expenses tremendously, mainly by reducing staff and eliminating programs. The organization is budgeted to break even for the year.
4) The NCMA Foundation does not have any money left due to the poor performance of the stock market. The mission of the NCMA Foundation is to advance and support the concrete masonry industry and the public interest through research and education programs designed to meet the future needs of the industry. Several projects have been funded, not by the foundation, but by the Paul Lenchuck scholarship fund.
5) Many members are excited about a new program called Vision 2020. The Vision 2020 Program is a collective effort by national and regional industry partners to recapture lost masonry markets and expand by the year 2020. This is a collaborative attempt by MCAA (Mason Contractors Association of America), NCMA , BIA ( The Brick Industry) and other local masonry groups to get together and talk with local planning officials in an attempt to get the planning officials to require a certain amount of masonry on every building in the various municipalities. This type of program has been effective in parts of the USA.
If anyone would like more information, please contact me either by phone or e-mail.
Sincerely,
Jim Anderegg
janderegg@mutualmaterials.com
425-503-7047
Monday, August 10, 2009
More Masonry Bang for your Buck
One of the silver linings to a recession is that prices typically come down. This is especially true in the construction industry, where many architects have found their projects are beating budgets from 10% to 30% or more.
So what does this mean for designers? It means that you can afford to use more masonry in more places than ever before. We have seen block buildings turn to brick buildings. Interior walls that once were finished with sheetrock and paint, can be built with more durable masonry surfaces. On one project, the designer incorporated structural groundface block as an interior finish, with insulation between that wythe and the outer wythe of brick. He achieved tremendous durability, high insulation value, and best of all, no maintenance and no paint.
There has never been a better time to upgrade your project with the higher end finish of masonry. It's a local, sustainable, durable and aesthetically pleasing material that fits comfortably in both exterior and interior environments. And, today, it is quite the bargain.
Sincerely,
Gary Zagelow
Commercial Sales Manager
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Continuing Education for the Design Professional
Mutual Materials offers a variety of continuing education programs that are registered with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Continuing Education System (CES). As an AIA/CES Registered Provider, Mutual Materials plays an active role in providing technical information and guidance on a variety of masonry topics that aid in the professional development of AIA architects and other design professionals. In addition to providing Learning Units (LU) that are required by the AIA for its members to remain in good standing, continuing education is also required by over 33 states nationwide as a requirement for re-licensing.
Our continuing education programs cover a variety of topics ranging from design and installation of brick veneer, load bearing brick and concrete block construction and tours of masonry production facilities. And within the last year we have begun offering a program that discusses the sustainability aspects of masonry and the ways design professionals can earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) points by utilizing the many positive environmental attributes of masonry products and wall systems.
Many of our courses meet the AIA’s Health, Safety and Welfare (HSW) requirements. Except for the plant tours, all courses are offered in a seminar format that can be presented at your location.
Check out the course listings below. For more information visit our website.
BR 100 Designing With Brick Veneer (HSW)
BR 200 Structural Clay Masonry (HSW)
BR 300 Brick Production Facility Tour
BR 400 Masonry and Sustainable Design (HSW)
CMD 400 Overview of Concrete Masonry Design and Construction (HSW)
Thanks,
Steve Hubbard
Distributor Sales Manager
Our continuing education programs cover a variety of topics ranging from design and installation of brick veneer, load bearing brick and concrete block construction and tours of masonry production facilities. And within the last year we have begun offering a program that discusses the sustainability aspects of masonry and the ways design professionals can earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) points by utilizing the many positive environmental attributes of masonry products and wall systems.
Many of our courses meet the AIA’s Health, Safety and Welfare (HSW) requirements. Except for the plant tours, all courses are offered in a seminar format that can be presented at your location.
Check out the course listings below. For more information visit our website.
BR 100 Designing With Brick Veneer (HSW)
BR 200 Structural Clay Masonry (HSW)
BR 300 Brick Production Facility Tour
BR 400 Masonry and Sustainable Design (HSW)
CMD 400 Overview of Concrete Masonry Design and Construction (HSW)
Thanks,
Steve Hubbard
Distributor Sales Manager
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