Things may not be as rosy for the home building industry as they were, say, two years ago, but the show must go on. Of course, by “show” we mean the International Builders’ Show, which is taking place this year for the last time (for a while) in the land that Mickey Mouse built—Orlando, Fla. From there, it moves to Las Vegas for two years. The show, as always, will have much to offer, which proves that manufacturers are busy even if home buyers aren’t.
Mission Viejo, Calif.–based James Hardie, for example, has produced a fiber-cement siding for the luxury market that is thicker than Hardie’s regular product and has a tongue-and-groove edge.
Mobile, Ala.–based Centralite Systems is offering an affordable alternative to whole-house lighting control with its JetStream wireless system. All a builder needs to do is replace existing rockers with the company’s dimmers and keypads and the system does all the work.
In another effort to save builders money, Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific and Quiet Solutions in Sunnyvale, Calif., have teamed up to produce wallboard that is paperless and soundproof. The companies claim that a single layer of the panel on a single wood stud wall reduces noise by 75 percent and is cheaper than alternative soundproofing methods.
These products show that manufacturers are working hard to solve problems and save you money. And the show is a good time to familiarize yourself with the fruits of those efforts. Read on for more new products being introduced at the show.