It’s been a year since Weyerhaeuser introduced the TJ® Insulated Rim Board in Western Canada. As part of the product anniversary, we checked in with two dealers to better understand how TJ Insulated Rim Board is being accepted and used by their regional builders: Tim Van Natter with Home Hardware in Grande Prairie, and Curtis Haxby with Bold Manufacturing in Plamondon, Alberta.
Q. Describe your business.
Van Natter: Home Hardware is a building center and contractors yard that supplies packages to contractors and homeowners. Our market builds 400 to 500 homes per year.
Haxby: Bold Manufacturing designs and builds roof trusses, and pre-cut floor systems.
Q: How did you learn of the TJ Insulated Rim Board product?
Van Natter: Our representative from Trus Joist, Keith Vion, introduced it to us and helped explain how the product provides a time savings in the building cycle, along with a more efficient insulation and vapour barrier. It made sense to us and our customers. It was just common sense to supply our builders with a pre-assembled option for insulating exterior walls.
Haxby: We actually had customers start asking for it. Our builders – who are loyal to our yard – had seen a competitor start using it and asked us to start carrying it for their own installation use.
Q. What kinds of projects is the product being used for?
Van Natter: Anywhere there is an exterior wall. Right now we’re installing a 16 inch into a church project. It just makes sense for all kinds of projects.
Haxby: Eighty percent of the time, the product is being used for single use residential construction, and I know of at least one duplex. Since we provide designs, we include the insulated rim as a fee option. Initially, this created some curiosity about the product. Now, any customer that tried it once has repeatedly used it and not switched back to the plain rim board.
Q. What’s the flip side?
Van Natter: It’s more expensive than just rim board, but it gives a perfect vapour barrier seal. It’s generally an easy sell if we are able to talk to the guy spending the money because he is concerned with and understands the benefits of a higher quality insulation and vapour barrier.
Haxby: The product provides better energy efficiency, and yet, you’ll need to pay for it up front.
Q. What else should builders know about TJ Insulated Rim?
Van Natter: By using the TJ Insulated Rim, at the end of the job, you will have a more effective insulation value and a perfect vabour barrier seal. There is time savings by eliminating the need for an insulating crew to insulate and poly the perimeter of the building. An additional benefit to this product is that when the job is finished, the building is more energy efficient.
Haxby: My builder customers like it once they understand how to use it. By learning how to use the product now, builders will be better prepared once the new energy code is implemented. Builders who use this product will build more energy efficient homes.
To learn more about TJ® Insulated Rim Board, call your local Weyerhaeuser dealer or view the literature at: http://www.woodbywy.com/document/tj-9508
