Great things sometimes come from the simplest of ideas. In the summer of 2008, one of our sales reps working in a branch on a Saturday noticed that many of the homeowners coming in were seeking help and advice beyond the basic product oriented questions. Most, in fact, were looking for help with the overall design of their landscape projects. Since we work closely with the design community, the idea seemed simple; connect our homeowner clientele with the local landscape designers. The result has been a win-win-win. Mutual Materials provides the locations and the product displays, the designers meet with potential clients and the homeowners get a free initial design consultation.
The Mutual Materials’ Landscape Designer Program is available every Saturday during the summer season at three of our Washington locations: Bellevue, Vancouver and Spokane. Homeowners are welcome to come in during normal Saturday business hours and get a free 30-minute consult with the landscape designer on duty. There will also be designer information and an appointment sign up sheet during the week preceding each Saturday, so appointments may be set beforehand. After the initial meeting, it is up to the homeowner to decide if they want to proceed with future fee-based design meetings with that designer. This is a great opportunity to ask basic design questions as they relate to your specific project, and it allows the designers to showcase their particular style. Hopefully your ideas, project goals and design philosophies line up resulting in a mutually beneficial partnership.
For more information about the Saturday Designer Program, our branch locations and hours, or our hardscape and masonry products, please visit our website at: www.mutualmaterials.com.
Rob Rosson
Residential Sales Manager
Monday, June 22, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Serving Customers for over 100 years
Mutual Materials celebrates its 109th year in business in 2009. That means we have navigated a depression and some dozen recessions prior to the current one we are experiencing. That got me thinking about what it is that has led to our success though all these down economic cycles.
Sure we have a great breadth of quality products that are functional, stylish, and timeless.
You need those to be successful but products alone won’t keep you in business. It always has and still does boil down to taking care of our customers. Our number one priority for all these years has been and always will be…customer satisfaction.
So what’s new in how we service you, the customer? Well, in the past year we have added branches in Kalispell, Montana; Hayden, Idaho; and Bend, Oregon, bringing our total to 19 in the Northwest.
Recently we replaced our two smaller Vancouver branches with our flagship branch with over four acres of products and outdoor displays, and the largest natural stone inventory in the greater Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area.
We’ve also expanded our hours so you can now visit us on Saturdays in most markets. For those branches that aren’t open on Saturdays, we have longer Friday hours during the summer months. Our Vancouver, Bellevue, and Spokane branches have even added a Landscape Designer program on Saturdays, which provides an on site landscape designer to assist you with your projects. You can stop by these locations on Saturday and receive a free 30-minute consultation on your backyard project.
What hasn’t changed for all these years is that you will still find our branches staffed with friendly, knowledgeable, professional people willing to help you make your project a success. Come check us out.
Sincerely,
Craig Olsen
Branch Operations Manager
Sure we have a great breadth of quality products that are functional, stylish, and timeless.
You need those to be successful but products alone won’t keep you in business. It always has and still does boil down to taking care of our customers. Our number one priority for all these years has been and always will be…customer satisfaction.
So what’s new in how we service you, the customer? Well, in the past year we have added branches in Kalispell, Montana; Hayden, Idaho; and Bend, Oregon, bringing our total to 19 in the Northwest.
Recently we replaced our two smaller Vancouver branches with our flagship branch with over four acres of products and outdoor displays, and the largest natural stone inventory in the greater Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area.
We’ve also expanded our hours so you can now visit us on Saturdays in most markets. For those branches that aren’t open on Saturdays, we have longer Friday hours during the summer months. Our Vancouver, Bellevue, and Spokane branches have even added a Landscape Designer program on Saturdays, which provides an on site landscape designer to assist you with your projects. You can stop by these locations on Saturday and receive a free 30-minute consultation on your backyard project.
What hasn’t changed for all these years is that you will still find our branches staffed with friendly, knowledgeable, professional people willing to help you make your project a success. Come check us out.
Sincerely,
Craig Olsen
Branch Operations Manager
Monday, June 8, 2009
The Summer of PICP
Summer has finally arrived. As if automatically signaled by the change of weather, our thoughts seem to involuntarily turn to the outdoors. We look forward to vacations, baseball games, picnics, weekends at the lake, gardening and neighborhood barbeques. We get introduced to our neighbors once again, chatting over the backyard fence while flipping burgers on the grill and impressing each other with ideas on how to keep lawns green and time-tested keys to successful childrearing. Maybe we boldly add our solution to the latest political controversy. However, since my neighbors’ yards are in much better shape than mine, and their children are so polite and well-behaved, it’s not easy for me to find a subject that I can use to really wow them.
Here’s one that I’m going to try this weekend, low impact development and permeable interlocking concrete pavement! Initially, that may sound a little too technical for a casual conversation, but I plan to add intrigue by using only the acronyms, LID and PICP. There’s nothing like a strategically placed acronym in casual conversation to hint at one’s superior understanding and intellect.
While watering the flower bed, I’ll casually start out something like this:
“Say, neighbor! What do you think about using PICP as a key component of an effective LID strategy?”
With an opening line like that, my neighbor would be speechless. I may give him additional hints of my keen insight into the subject by adding:
“Of course you know that PICP’s can help manage stormwater runoff by allowing direct infiltration, and they can work with other LID tools like rain gardens and bio-swales to minimize post-development impact.”
He’d really get envious with this:
“Yeah, I’ve actually been thinking of adding a PICP patio instead of just creating more impervious surface that will add to stormwater runoff. Besides, studies show that PICP systems can actually help improve water quality, too!”
Since he’s still speechless, I go for the home-run:
“My PICP patio will use Mutual Materials’ new Eco-Priora 4 x 8 and 8 x 8 permeable interlocking concrete pavers (oops, should have said PICP’s again) in a random pattern that will drain over 100 inches per hour of stormwater runoff, not that we’d ever need that much capacity. The smaller 3/8” joint spacing makes Eco-Priora the perfect paver for walking surfaces like plazas and patios, and the patented structural spacer system allows them to be successfully used in parking lots and even streets. And, the lighter natural gray cement color can give my patio a LEED point, too”
LEED, that’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design from the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). I can see the impressed look on my neighbor’s face already. There’s nothing like well-placed acronyms in casual conversation.
For more information on LID, go to:
http://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/
For more information on Mutual Materials’ Eco-Priora PICP, go to: http://www.mutualmaterials.com/Professional_product.asp?pt_id=126&p_id=363
Sincerely,
Rick Crooks
Director of Business Development
Here’s one that I’m going to try this weekend, low impact development and permeable interlocking concrete pavement! Initially, that may sound a little too technical for a casual conversation, but I plan to add intrigue by using only the acronyms, LID and PICP. There’s nothing like a strategically placed acronym in casual conversation to hint at one’s superior understanding and intellect.
While watering the flower bed, I’ll casually start out something like this:
“Say, neighbor! What do you think about using PICP as a key component of an effective LID strategy?”
With an opening line like that, my neighbor would be speechless. I may give him additional hints of my keen insight into the subject by adding:
“Of course you know that PICP’s can help manage stormwater runoff by allowing direct infiltration, and they can work with other LID tools like rain gardens and bio-swales to minimize post-development impact.”
He’d really get envious with this:
“Yeah, I’ve actually been thinking of adding a PICP patio instead of just creating more impervious surface that will add to stormwater runoff. Besides, studies show that PICP systems can actually help improve water quality, too!”
Since he’s still speechless, I go for the home-run:
“My PICP patio will use Mutual Materials’ new Eco-Priora 4 x 8 and 8 x 8 permeable interlocking concrete pavers (oops, should have said PICP’s again) in a random pattern that will drain over 100 inches per hour of stormwater runoff, not that we’d ever need that much capacity. The smaller 3/8” joint spacing makes Eco-Priora the perfect paver for walking surfaces like plazas and patios, and the patented structural spacer system allows them to be successfully used in parking lots and even streets. And, the lighter natural gray cement color can give my patio a LEED point, too”
LEED, that’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design from the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). I can see the impressed look on my neighbor’s face already. There’s nothing like well-placed acronyms in casual conversation.
For more information on LID, go to:
http://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/
For more information on Mutual Materials’ Eco-Priora PICP, go to: http://www.mutualmaterials.com/Professional_product.asp?pt_id=126&p_id=363
Sincerely,
Rick Crooks
Director of Business Development
Monday, June 1, 2009
Commercial Market Update
After a great run, the commercial construction market, like most other markets, is feeling the effect of the general slowdown in the economy. Major pieces of the market, mainly private development in the Retail and Office construction market, have all but stopped. Urban residential development is also suffering with high vacancy rates coupled with falling property values. The one bright spot is the public sector. Schools, hospitals, and the military continue to provide opportunities for the masonry industry. Washington, in particular, is benefiting from the construction of new and remodeled schools and work on the military bases.
While business is down, Mutual Materials continues to offer support to the design and construction community with full time architectural and sales representatives. While others in the construction business have found it necessary to cut back in these areas, Mutual has made the decision to stay the course. As the Northwest’s leading producer of brick and block we feel an obligation to those that design and build with our products. With this commitment we hope to help position our industry to emerge from this downturn even stronger and more popular than ever.
One of the ways we hope to influence the design community is through the many Continuing Education presentations that we provide. With the slowdown, architects have the time to listen and learn about the many ways masonry can resolve design issues while providing unique and sustainable buildings. So far, in 2009, we have provided over 50 AIA/CES lunchbox presentations to regional design firms. This activity provides a great forum to provide essential design information, while meeting new clients, and teaching the young apprentices, who will someday be designing the buildings we inhabit.
Besides pure promotion and education, our architectural reps fill the role of consultants on many masonry projects. In fact, color selection takes up only a fraction of the time our reps spend in an office when working on a new masonry project. In many cases, our reps spend many hours helping to guide the designers through important details, specifications, and product layout. This activity is critical to ensure that architects feel comfortable and confident when designing with masonry products.
If you are a designer and would like further information on available educational opportunities, please check our website for instructions on how to contact us. If you are a contractor and would like more information about our support and services, please contact your local Mutual Materials representative.
Sincerely,
Gary Zagelow
Commercial Sales Manager
While business is down, Mutual Materials continues to offer support to the design and construction community with full time architectural and sales representatives. While others in the construction business have found it necessary to cut back in these areas, Mutual has made the decision to stay the course. As the Northwest’s leading producer of brick and block we feel an obligation to those that design and build with our products. With this commitment we hope to help position our industry to emerge from this downturn even stronger and more popular than ever.
One of the ways we hope to influence the design community is through the many Continuing Education presentations that we provide. With the slowdown, architects have the time to listen and learn about the many ways masonry can resolve design issues while providing unique and sustainable buildings. So far, in 2009, we have provided over 50 AIA/CES lunchbox presentations to regional design firms. This activity provides a great forum to provide essential design information, while meeting new clients, and teaching the young apprentices, who will someday be designing the buildings we inhabit.
Besides pure promotion and education, our architectural reps fill the role of consultants on many masonry projects. In fact, color selection takes up only a fraction of the time our reps spend in an office when working on a new masonry project. In many cases, our reps spend many hours helping to guide the designers through important details, specifications, and product layout. This activity is critical to ensure that architects feel comfortable and confident when designing with masonry products.
If you are a designer and would like further information on available educational opportunities, please check our website for instructions on how to contact us. If you are a contractor and would like more information about our support and services, please contact your local Mutual Materials representative.
Sincerely,
Gary Zagelow
Commercial Sales Manager
Monday, May 25, 2009
Staycation
According to the Urban dictionary a “staycation is a vacation that is spent at one’s home enjoying all that home and one’s environ’s have to offer”. There is a lot less stress hanging out in your own backyard instead of spending hours surfing the net for a destination that fits everyone in the family’s perception of that perfect vacation place. Not to mention lugging half your belongings across country.
Many are choosing to do hardscape projects during their time off to create outdoor living spaces that become the envy of the neighborhood. Flagstone pathways leading to patios paved in eye catching pavers or retaining walls that give structure to an otherwise sagging hillside will make your backyard more enjoyable than any stuffy airport waiting area filled with tired travelers. The best part about creating your own backyard utopia with Mutual Materials products is that you can enjoy it year round!
The Homeowner section of the Mutual website provides installation instructions for paving and retaining walls. Using a staycation to improve and enjoy your living space will result in less stress and a greater feeling of achievement.
Sincerely,
Brian Healow
DIY Segment Manager
Many are choosing to do hardscape projects during their time off to create outdoor living spaces that become the envy of the neighborhood. Flagstone pathways leading to patios paved in eye catching pavers or retaining walls that give structure to an otherwise sagging hillside will make your backyard more enjoyable than any stuffy airport waiting area filled with tired travelers. The best part about creating your own backyard utopia with Mutual Materials products is that you can enjoy it year round!
The Homeowner section of the Mutual website provides installation instructions for paving and retaining walls. Using a staycation to improve and enjoy your living space will result in less stress and a greater feeling of achievement.
Sincerely,
Brian Healow
DIY Segment Manager
Monday, May 18, 2009
Canada’s Federal Home Renovation Tax Credit
Canada’s Federal Home Renovation Tax Credit was introduced in the February 2009 budget by the Government of Canada to encourage and stimulate consumer spending for a targeted menu of “shovel ready” projects and covers a large spectrum of rehab or renovation projects. Each homeowner is entitled to a 15% credit for a project up to $10,000, resulting in a maximum return of $1,350.
Mutual Materials™ has products that fit three types of projects in the program: driveways, retaining walls and decking slabs. We want to further increase the money going back into the homeowner’s pocket with an additional $0.15 per-square-foot rebate on pavers for driveways. Our goal is to bring attention to and encourage customers to choose segmented concrete pavers for renovated driveways. Our research shows driveways built in the late 80’s and early ‘90’s using concrete or asphalt are in great need of repair. This is certainly true in my area in the South Surrey / Crescent Beach area. Just as important, we also want to encourage business opportunities for our dealers and their installation customers.
Our dealers have product displays of all products eligible for the Tax Credit. We are encouraging them to make sure customers know they can also use architectural slabs on their patio and/or deck and/or Roman Stackstone ® or Pisa2 ® for garden and retaining wall projects.
For a listing of the nearest dealers call 888.816.2111 or check out our Canadian website at: www.mutualmaterials.ca.
Sincerely,
Brian Cote
Canadian Sales Manager
Mutual Materials™ has products that fit three types of projects in the program: driveways, retaining walls and decking slabs. We want to further increase the money going back into the homeowner’s pocket with an additional $0.15 per-square-foot rebate on pavers for driveways. Our goal is to bring attention to and encourage customers to choose segmented concrete pavers for renovated driveways. Our research shows driveways built in the late 80’s and early ‘90’s using concrete or asphalt are in great need of repair. This is certainly true in my area in the South Surrey / Crescent Beach area. Just as important, we also want to encourage business opportunities for our dealers and their installation customers.
Our dealers have product displays of all products eligible for the Tax Credit. We are encouraging them to make sure customers know they can also use architectural slabs on their patio and/or deck and/or Roman Stackstone ® or Pisa2 ® for garden and retaining wall projects.
For a listing of the nearest dealers call 888.816.2111 or check out our Canadian website at: www.mutualmaterials.ca.
Sincerely,
Brian Cote
Canadian Sales Manager
Monday, May 11, 2009
Need Help Finding A Contractor?
If you have ever had a home improvement project that required you to get contractor bids, you know that the process can be very stressful and time-consuming. For most of us, finding a good contractor can be a little intimidating.
This is the reason why Mutual Materials developed it's Preferred Contractor program back in 2002. We wanted a simple program that would match our hardscape and masonry contractor customers with area homeowners who needed good, professional service. If you are considering using pavers, slabs, retaining wall block, brick, natural stone or Cultured Stone for your project, we have well qualified contractors who can do the job. Nothing enhances your home like a beautiful paver patio or an outdoor living space with a brick or stone fireplace.
If you are ready to find a Mutual Materials' Preferred Contractor, visit our website at www.mutualmaterials.com and look for the header "Connect with a Preferred Contractor", then click "Get Connected". Then its as simple as filling in your project information and hitting "submit". Be sure to spend some time on our website beforehand to see the wide variety of hardscape and masonry products we offer. Good luck with your project.
Sincerely,
Rob Rosson
Residential Sales Manager
This is the reason why Mutual Materials developed it's Preferred Contractor program back in 2002. We wanted a simple program that would match our hardscape and masonry contractor customers with area homeowners who needed good, professional service. If you are considering using pavers, slabs, retaining wall block, brick, natural stone or Cultured Stone for your project, we have well qualified contractors who can do the job. Nothing enhances your home like a beautiful paver patio or an outdoor living space with a brick or stone fireplace.
If you are ready to find a Mutual Materials' Preferred Contractor, visit our website at www.mutualmaterials.com and look for the header "Connect with a Preferred Contractor", then click "Get Connected". Then its as simple as filling in your project information and hitting "submit". Be sure to spend some time on our website beforehand to see the wide variety of hardscape and masonry products we offer. Good luck with your project.
Sincerely,
Rob Rosson
Residential Sales Manager
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