Cement Board, Hardiebacker, Durock... Which one?

[gjbingham]

Hahahah! I'd love to share that with the staff. I'm there almost every day as its only a mile away. Kind of a man's toy store.

[Dutchoven]

George
Yours in WA may be better than ours...what am I saying it has to be better...ours has lots and lots of just out of high school kids working in the departments as "specialists" or so they say...when I lived in NY there were a lot of retired tradesmen that were working both HD and Lowe's and they were a FANTASTIC resource...we are in ours just about as often getting things for the building remodel we are doing...we have to resize some photos and post them
Best
Dutch

[gjbingham]

No, not much better. A few years back, both HD and Lowes seemed to have a lot of experienced people working their who knew their stuff. Now they either BS you or walk you around to find someone who knows better than they. Of course, they don't wait around to hear the answer and actually learn something.

[RTflorida]

Agreed, James Hardi has done a much better job of marketing and YES they still have an active group of reps. servicing the big retailers - thats why the store associates seem to "know" (more like promote) the product - there IS a Hardi rep that makes his presence known in the store.
I've been managing the big retailer (Lowes, HD) for my company for 10 yrs. A LOT has changed. Most major manufacturers had their own representatives who service, promoted their product, conducted training classes, and worked special sales events. Both Lowes and HD have chosen to go with marketing directives that add to the bottom line...without sales growth. They have taken control of in store service, charging manufacturers a % of sales, then hiring 3rd party rep agencies to maintain the products.....example: HD charges between 3% and 9% (depending on product category) for managing the service, but only pays the rep agencies 1.5% (they pocket the rest); at the same time they reduce their own in store staff putting the workload on the rep agencies. Lowes started this practice roughly 8-9 yrs ago, HD followed suit. Currently both are in the process of changing again...they both realized sales were lagging and are now starting their own merchandising teams, supposedly to have greater control - while still charging the manufacturers for the service.
The bottom line - manufacturers have let reps go (my group released 25 reps in the past 3 yrs), resulting in very few reps in the stores to promote and more importantly - train associates on the products. At the same time, they have cut staffs in the stores and hired mostly part timers.....hence, no one knows Durock from garden fertilizer. They both are telling us their "new" initiatives will make a huge difference.....we will see.

RT

[Dutchoven]

RT
I for one will hope...it is tough when you go into a store and you don't want help from the staff...not just don't ask for it
Dutch

[RTflorida]

Dutch, your statement best somes it up......There is something wrong when a customer takes on that attitude. We think it is amazing that retailers can be so blind to their mistakes and think "hey, they changed things overnight, giving us a painful shopping experience, they will fix it when we stop buying or buy less" . The truth is, these moves are calculated and a certain decline in POS $$$ is acceptable if they have 1) implemented serious cost cutting, or 2) found another source of revenue without much investment. In this case both retailers have done both, thats why it has taken several yrs for them to react or change what we have been bitching about. Its All about the God Almighty Dollar...customer service BE DAMNED.

[Ed_]

Just yesterday I was in Lowe's. I asked three different people if they carried brick, and they all told me to go out to the home and garden section. Of course everything out there is made out of colored concrete.

Not that I expected to find what I wanted there (let alone any selection) but still... brick is brick, and concrete isn't.

Well. This thread has gone thoroughly off topic, hasn't it?

[RTflorida]

I took it off course, so I will start it back.....

Does anyone have any new thoughts or preferences on the various cement backer boards for exterior use??? Whether it be Durock, HardiBacker, WonderBoard or any other brand you have come across. We all learn from each others successes/failures, maybe someone can shed more light on these products.

RT

[Les]

I've used them all. I prefer (in order) WonderBoard, Durock, HardiBacker. Hardibacker is a good product, I just found it a pain in the butt to cut. Durock is easy to shape but it crumbles fairly easy; makes a mess. Wonderboard seems to be the best of both worlds. IMO

Les...

[Phillyson]

Whichever product you use the manufacturers recommend scoring and snapping as the silica dust generated by sawing is toxic stuff. For holes I use a Hole Pro hole cutter so I can make the exact size hole I need and it has a shield to catch all the silica dust and shavings. The tungsten carbide blades work great cutting through Hardi/Hardie products as well as sheet metal, plywood, sheetrock.