Monarch Deck Products

mawe54180

Do any of you have any experiance with Monarch products? Decking, railing, etc. I am considering this to be my main deck line.
Mark
SF&D

BreyerConstruct

I don't know a lot... seems like decent product, not really around my area... not totally sure of the company's stability... that's always a big concern for me, I don't want to use a product from a shaky company.

HTH,

~Matt

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MartyCD

Monarch recently closed their factory and are auctioning off all their assets. They have entered into a production agreement whereby the product will continue to be made by another company. This business never fails to be interesting! Remember, CX is as good as/better than any PVC on stain and fade, and has HFS...

Here is the release from Plastics News:
Green Tree, Premium ink deck-making deal
By Matt Griswold
PLASTICS NEWS STAFF

VEBLEN, S.D. (Jan. 4, 5:20 p.m. EST) -- St. Joseph, Mich.-based Green Tree Composites has entered into an agreement with Veblen-based Premium Composites LLC to make Premium the exclusive manufacturer of Monarch-brand wood-plastic composite decking. Green Tree announced recently that it would stop manufacturing the product in-house. The company plans to sell its 12 extrusion lines and a palletizing line at auction Jan. 28.
Hilco Industrial LLC of Farmington Hills, Mich., will conduct the sale.
Green Tree will continue to operate as the sales and marketing arm of Monarch deck and railing products, but will cease to be a manufacturer, said Bill Schlottman, Green Tree’s national sales manager, in a Jan. 3 telephone interview.
“This will help us evolve the line and find new, innovative products to put in the marketplace,” Schlottman said.
Customers should notice no change at all, according to Schlottman.
The firm hopes to grow its distribution network to become a larger-volume player within the industry, he said.
“Our main focus is to produce high-quality products,” he said. “We want to stay ahead of the curve, be innovators. That should hopefully increase sales for us.”
Premium already manufactures its own line of composite deck and railing products, called PC Ultima.
The company has more than enough capacity to handle bringing on Monarch, Schlottman said.
Both the PC Ultima and Monarch-brand decking are made with virgin, rather than recycled, polyethylene, which is atypical in the industry.
Green Tree is regarded as an innovator in the industry. The company was the first to market with a tropical hardwood look-alike board, which kick-started the predominant industry trend of 2006-07. Green Tree was also among the first to introduce coextruded white composite railing.
The firm plans to join other composite decking manufacturers in launching an upper-price cellular PVC decking line to expand its portfolio.
The company’s focus on growing its distribution is the right strategy, said Steve Van Kouteren, a principal with Exton, Pa.-based building products consulting firm Principia Partners.
“That’s the whole key — distribution,” Van Kouteren said in a Dec. 26 telephone interview. “If you don’t get it, you get stuck in a certain size range and your margins get squeezed.”
Green Tree has less than $20 million in annual sales. Comparatively, market leader Trex Co. Inc. in Winchester, Va., will sell about $320 million worth of goods in 2007.
“For a little company, they’ve had some nice innovations, and were leaders in a sense,” Van Kouteren said.
The industry should expect further downsizing in 2008.
“More companies will be under duress,” he said. “I won’t be surprised to see more consolidation.”

deckman22

[quote=MartyCD;350644]Monarch recently closed their factory and are auctioning off all their assets. They have entered into a production agreement whereby the product will continue to be made by another company. This business never fails to be interesting! Remember, CX is as good as/better than any PVC on stain and fade, and has HFS...

Marty, what is HFS?

Another one bites the dust, maybe not right now, but give it a couple of years there won't be a Monarch decking. The bigger guy gobbles them up, keeps their name on for a couple of years then quits making it all together. What will the Monarch boys do then with no extruders to make boards with? Fold. Oh well there's only about 65 companies making composite boards all ready, that's about 60 too many imo.

Distribution is the key, just look at Trex. One of the worst performing composites sells the most cause they're in HD.

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Bone Saw

word

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BuiltByMAC

Hidden Fastening System

Mac

MartyCD

Word!

RobertCDF

Hey Marty, how are you guys starting to stack up against trash oh sorry I mean trex? I am starting to run accross more and more people that have at least HEARD of you guys. It used to be whenever I would show up for an estimate no one had heard of CD.

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deckman22

Damn, I thought it was going to be some kinda high tech composite thingy.

Were their clips any good?

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BuiltByMAC

Never worked w/ Monarch or their clip system...

My opinions on HFS I've used:
TimberTech ConcealLocs - good (quick and secure, screw heads powder coated black),
Eb-Ty - bad (flimsy, visible screw heads),
Grabber DeckMaster works well with non-grooved boards (labor-intensive)

I know HFS have been talked about in other threads, a search on that term should bring up additional opinions/reviews...

Mac

mawe54180

I was told by Biewer Lumber (who owns Monarch) that the plant that was sold at auction, was an old plant. They moved production to a newer / larger plant in the Lansing Michigan area.

John Hyatt

Composite is a gamble, the Wallet is the player, most of the time we Contractors are the dealers,,we just pass out the cards ..NEXT Please,will you move off the table please Sir. Ghesssssssssss. J.

mawe54180

I just got done talking to the Monarch rep., actually a guy from Biewer lumber who owns Monarch. They did sell their palnt in MI, and are now having their product produced by a plant in SD. They have about enough inventory to get through the year. They will keep some around for waranty issues or add ons. They will then be using the new product which will look about the same, but will be grooved for a hidden fastener.
Mark

MonarchGal

Hi all -

I want to make sure this doesn't sound like an advertisement - but Monarch as previous posters have stated has not folded it has simply moved its production facility. I should know, I'm in sales and marketing for Monarch!

In 2008 we're updating the brand to include a new railing line - Charleston and to update the Exotics brand with a grooved board.

Have any questions? Feel free to contact me through our website
Monarch Deck dot com

John Hyatt

Every thing is fine,the product is great,we just moved,dont worry,and if there are any problems its all the Installers Fault. Same ol Same ol composite Bull****. J.

John Hyatt

This Guy is the adverage manmade, something went wrong, the stuff was junk to begin with,bad batch, total crime/lawyer infested Co, Wallet complaint.


I have two things to say to Folks that are hell bent to use Manmade decking. ---- Moisture Shield --- TimberTech

John Hyatt www.deckmastersllc.com