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Saint-Gobain completed the acquisition of siding manufacturer/distributor Kaycan.

The purchase makes Saint-Gobain the top siding player in Canada and enlarges its offerings in the U.S. beyond vinyl to now include aluminum and engineered wood.

As part of the deal, Saint-Gobain will sell off Kaycan’s small US distribution business, expected in the third quarter of 2022. 

Kaycan joins Saint-Gobain’s North American construction business, within the Americas Region.

Spahn & Rose Lumber Co. has agreed to acquire 75-year-old Still Lumber, Conyers, Ga.

“Still Lumber is a natural fit with Spahn & Rose,” said Dave Davis, Spahn & Rose CEO. “Like Spahn & Rose, Still Lumber has a long history of providing quality, expert service to contractor and homeowner customers.”

Still will complement Metro Building Products, Marietta, Ga., which Spahn & Rose purchased last year. Based in Dubuque, Ia., Spahn & Rose also owns 22 other locations in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. 

The worldwide green building materials market should nearly double over the next five years, reaching $523.7 billion by 2027, according to recent analysis by Future Market Insights, Inc. The climb would represent 11.06% annual growth from 2021’s $280.5 billion—a rate expected to continue through 2032. 

Insulation is forecast to be the fastest-growing application, rising at a pace of 11.7% over the period due to its excellent energy efficiency and increased emphasis on installing interior insulation solutions.

North America owns a significant green building material market share, with growth substantially driven by strict rules on the use of environmentally friendly products in the construction sector.

Exposed to extreme climate conditions and government initiatives, the Asia Pacific and Latin America are also seeing increased demand for green building materials.

US LBM has acquired Deco Truss, primarily a manufacturer and supplier of structural roof and floor trusses to customers in South Florida and the Caribbean.

Founded in 1983, Deco Truss serves framing and building contractors for residential, multi-family and commercial projects. In addition to manufacturing all types of truss systems, Deco Truss also provides lumber, decking and roofing materials, rebar, millwork and doors, fencing supplies, tools, hardware and more to customers.

Deco Truss operates an 8.5-acre manufacturing plant and retail location in Miami and will operate as a unit of US LBM’s Raymond Building Supply, which has locations across South Florida, including a truss plant in North Fort Myers.

“US LBM is the best partner for Deco Truss to continue to grow and provide more value for customers and employees alike,” said Mario R. Espiñeira, Jr., who will continue to lead Deco Truss’s day-to-day operations.

Westlake Ace Hardware has signed a lease agreement to open a new store in Pleasant Hill, Ca., at the former site of Bill’s Ace Hardware. It will be Westlake’s 13th location in California.

Renovations to the space will begin in late this summer, with a tentative soft opening in late October. The store will feature more than 12,000 sq. ft. of retail space.

“We are excited to show our new customers in Pleasant Hill how we live the Ace Helpful Promise every day through reliable service, helpful advice, and the products they need to get their projects done right,” said Joe Jeffries, president and CEO of Westlake Ace Hardware. “Pleasant Hill is a strong community, and we look forward to becoming part of it as a friend, a trusted neighbor, and an employer.”

In addition to offering such services as key cutting and automotive key fob replacement, a propane tank exchange, knife sharpening, Ace Hardware of Pleasant Hill will sell lawn and garden supplies, fasteners, tools, plumbing and electrical supplies.

It will also feature several specialty departments and store-within-a-store concepts, selling such brands as Milwaukee, DeWalt and Craftsman power tools; Benjamin Moore and Magnolia Home by Joanna Gaines paints; Stihl, Ego and Milwaukee outdoor power equipment; Weber, Traeger and Big Green Egg grills and accessories; Scotts lawn care products; Solo Stove firepits; Yeti coolers and accessories; and live plants and outdoor living supplies.

Building Industry Partners has launched a new lumber and building materials platform, West Coast Lumber, now operating four locations throughout Southern and Central California.

The company’s Agoura Hills and Camarillo locations were established through the January 2022 acquisition of 45-year-old Roadside Lumber & Hardware.

West Coast Lumber then opened two new LBM facilities, one in Bakersfield and the other in San Diego to expand its ability to serve Southern and Central California. West Coast Lumber plans to eventually expand its product offering with truss, millwork, and other value-added component capabilities.

Matt Ogden, founder and managing partner of BIP, said, “We have assembled world-class regional and cross-sectoral business leaders around the organization to help us deliver value to current and future customers and become the employer-of-choice for the best and brightest in Southern California LBM.”

Joe Lawrence, CEO of West Coast Lumber, draws on over 35 years of experience in the California LBM industry to lead the platform. He most recently served as senior VP for the Southwest Region with Builders FirstSource and was previously president of Dixieline Lumber. Jim Stockman, president of West Coast Lumber, previously partnered with BIP on the firm’s creation of Homewood Holdings, and its rapid growth and successful exit to American Construction Source in 2020.

They are joined in senior management by Erich Kepner, CFO; Bill Shadden, VP supply; Carlos Gonzalez, VP sales-Inland Empire, Orange & San Diego counties; Bob Erskin, VP sales-Kern, Ventura & Los Angeles counties; and Claudia Gonzalez, HR director.

BIP operating partners Tony Ciampaglio, Peter Stroble, and Lonnie Schield will serve on West Coast’s board, and Maged Diab will serve as board chair. Diab previously served as president of MiTek USA.

Viewrail, Goshen, In., has agreed to acquire stairway manufacturer Simmons Stairways, San Jose, Ca.

Trent Jacobs, Viewrail’s director of California business development, will run the company until the end of the year, at which time all new business will transfer to Viewrail.

Len Morris, CEO of Viewrail, called the acquisition “a fantastic opportunity to bring Viewrail’s design ability and manufacturing power to the California region.”

“It seemed like a good fit,” said Howard Simmons, current owner of Simmons Stairways, Inc. “Viewrail has the product and technology, and I am in a great market with years of experience on the West Coast.”

Morris added, “This will help us tremendously as we work towards having a local presence in regions all over the country, so that our lead times and installation options are universal to every customer’s experience.”

Citing insufficient timber supply, Neiman Enterprises has cut back hours at both of its Black Hills sawmills—eliminating a shift in Hulett, Wy., and trimming hours in Spearfish, S.D.

Neiman president Jim Neiman said, “While we may not agree with the reduction in timber harvest that led to these curtailments, we are committed to our partnerships with all stakeholders, including the local, regional and national levels of the U.S. Forest Service, and will continue to work side-by-side with them to maintain the health of the Black Hills National Forest.”

The company continues to seek enthusiastic partnerships with policymakers and public land managers to accomplish long-term forest health solutions that engage the industry, minimize community hazards, and support the multiple-use goals of the Black Hills National Forests.

A newly-formed Mass Timber subsidiary of Western Forest Products, Vancouver, B.C., has agreed to buy certain assets of glulam manufacturer Calvert Co., Vancouver, Wa., for $12 million, including $2.5 million in inventory.

Calvert is one of the oldest glulam manufacturers in the U.S. with more than 60 years of experience producing high quality glulam beams in multiple species for industrial, commercial and residential projects around the world. Calvert has manufacturing plants in Washougal and Vancouver, Wa., with a combined annual glulam capacity of 35 million bd. ft. on a two-shift basis. Its operations employ approximately 60 employees and produced 13 million bd. ft. of glulam in 2021 on a single shift.

“We are excited to welcome Calvert’s employees to Western. This acquisition will help position Western to capitalize on the growing North American Mass Timber building market and is consistent with our strategy of moving up the product value chain and growing our portfolio of value added products,” said Don Demens, Western’s president and CEO. “We look forward to working with Calvert’s owner, Doug Calvert, who will be remaining with Western following the closing of the transaction in a consulting capacity.”

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022. As part of the transaction, Western has created a new engineered wood subsidiary, which will remain focused on further growth opportunities throughout the entire Mass Timber value chain.

McCoy’s Building Supply has agreed to sell its four stores in Mississippi and Arkansas to Central Network Retail Group (CNRG).

CNRG is a multi-format, multi-brand retailer currently operating 140 hardware stores, home centers, and lumberyards in 16 states, including locations in both Mississippi and Arkansas. The McCoy’s locations—in Greenville, Vicksburg and Laurel, Ms., and Searcy, Ar.—will be operated by CNRG under the brand Home Hardware Center.

McCoy’s president and CEO Meagan McCoy Jones explained, “We have learned in recent years the importance of managing our own distribution for core products, and we have made big investments in growing our distribution capabilities to serve as many stores as possible. These four stores are outside the reach of our distribution network, and as we plan our growth, Mississippi and Arkansas are not in our target geography.”

Separately, McCoy’s announced it will be forced to close its Corsicana, Tx., location due to an expansion of a highway project by the Texas Department of Transportation. The Corsicana market will continue to be served by surrounding McCoy’s locations.

After deal closes on Aug. 2, McCoy’s will operate 85 stores, three distribution centers, and two millwork plants in three states.

US LBM has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Co., Plano, Tx.

Founded in 1901 by W.L. Foxworth and H.W. Galbraith, the chain today operates 28 locations across Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas under the Foxworth-Galbraith banner and two locations in Oklahoma under the Forest Lumber brand. Its primary customers are pro builders, commercial contractors and homeowners, which Fox-Gal serves from its building materials yards, distribution centers, home centers and manufacturing locations, which are focused primarily on floor and roof trusses and structural beams.

Upon completion of the acquisition this fall, US LBM will operate 80 locations in Texas, 13 in Arizona, nine in New Mexico, five in Colorado, and four in Oklahoma.

“US LBM shares Foxworth-Galbraith’s principles of service, integrity and providing solutions for customers and a great place to work for our people,” said Fox-Gal CEO/president Jack Foxworth. “We’re excited for the many new opportunities this partnership will create for our employees and customers.”

“Over the past 120 years, the Foxworth and Galbraith families and generations of associates have built one of the most widely respected and successful building materials distributors in the industry, and we are proud that they will be joining US LBM,” said US LBM president and CEO L.T. Gibson. “The addition of Foxworth-Galbraith augments our already robust network in the Southwest, expands US LBM’s reach and reinforces our strong position in several key housing markets, including the growing Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix metro areas.”

US LBM’s existing locations in the Southwest go to market under multiple locally recognized brand names, including R&K Building Supply, Higginbotham Brothers, Parker’s Building Supply, and J.P. Hart Lumber and Components.

Growing redwoods for the future was the original tagline for Big Creek Lumber and now 76 years later, they are excited to also be growing their lumberyard locations with the addition of a sixth retail lumber and Ace hardware store. Big Creek Lumber is in the process of acquiring O’Connor Lumber in Vallejo, Ca., and the name will be changed to Big Creek Lumber when the sale is finalized.

The store will remain open with the same products and staff. “Big Creek Lumber is pleased to have found a great fit with O’Connor Lumber. We like that it is a turn-key, well-run yard with a knowledgeable team that we can grow into the future. We plan to keep most things the same and are excited to also offer a full-service lumberyard with more lumber selection and a larger inventory,” said Kevin Dussault, retail divisional manager at Big Creek Lumber.

Big Creek’s leadership team is eager to carry on the traditions set by Joe and Rose Pierre and their family for the last three generations. “Rose and I really enjoy working with Big Creek and their staff.  We are so grateful that our employees are being given the opportunity to work for Big Creek,” said Joe Pierre, the current owner of O’Connor Lumber.

Big Creek Lumber was founded in 1946, remains locally and family owned, and is currently led by the third generation of the McCrary family in the business. Both Big Creek and O’Connor are trusted and respected local companies and look forward to having the two business merge, prosper, and grow locally. “Big Creek would like to welcome the O’Connor employees to our team and congratulate the Pierre family on their retirement. We’re really excited about the opportunity to complement our operations with another really well-managed facility. It also is well-located to expand our market area,” shared Ellen McCrary Rinde, Vice President of HR and part of Big Creek’s ownership group.

As a part of the transition, Big Creek will roll out some customer service initiatives including offering customer credit accounts, an expanded delivery zone and a larger assortment of lumber and building materials. All O’Connor Lumber employees are encouraged to stay on the team as it transitions to Big Creek Lumber.

A grand opening will be scheduled for the fall. Big Creek Lumber is looking forward to continuing to provide quality lumber and hardware while ensuring that the success of Big Creek’s customers will remain their highest priority.

The global power tool market size—estimated to be $34.3 billion in 2021—is projected to grow 5.7% annually, reaching $45.2 billion by 2026, according to a recent forecast by MarketsandMarkets.

The hottest products? Cordless electric tools, drilling and fastening tools, and those intended for pro users.

Tops by Power: Electric Tools

Based on mode of operation, the electric segment held the largest share of the power tools market in 2020 and is expected to continue making gains through 2026. The growth of electric tools will be fueled by innovations in battery technology and the growing adoption of cordless tools among industrial and residential users.

Currently, most manufacturers are focusing on producing cordless tools powered by lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries. Stanley Black & Decker, for example, recently introduced the DeWalt PowerStack 20V MAX—stacked Li-Ion pouch cell batteries for the construction industry. They are said to provide 50% more power from a battery that’s 25% more compact and 15% lighter.

“Our groundbreaking dependable lithium-ion battery pack represents a new threshold of cordless power tool performance, helping to further realize the full potential of the cordless jobsite of the future,” said Jaime Ramirez, executive vice president and president of Global Tools & Storage for Stanley Black & Decker.

Soon after, Flex Power Tools unveiled its own stacked battery technology, which had been in the works for five years.

A common thread has been manufacturers rolling out comprehensive cordless platforms—entire suites of tools that can be powered by the same batteries and chargers. DeWalt has its MAX and FlexVolt systems, Makita the XGT, Hilti the new Nuron platform, Bosch Profactor, Metabo MultiVolt, Milwaukee RedLithium. Their promotions and marketing slogans (Makita, “One System;” Bosch, “High Power, One Battery;” Milwaukee, “Everything Fits”) stress the idea of “one system fits all.”

Tops by Type: Drilling and Fastening Tools

By type, drilling and fastening power tools currently hold the largest share of the market and are estimated to retain that lead during the 2020-2026 forecast period, primarily due to their adoption in specific industries. Electric drilling and fastening tools are used by professionals and DIYers, while most pneumatic drilling and fastening tools are used in industrial environments, such as automotive and aerospace manufacturing plants.

Tops by Market: Pro Applications

According to the study, power tools are more often used in industrial/professional applications, and are rising extensively in prominent industries such as construction and automotive. The construction industry accounts for the vast majority of power tool demand, due to professionals heavily relying upon them for all manner of projects and uses.

The resumption of construction activities across the world following the outbreak of the pandemic has led to a surge in demand for power tools. Additionally, the growing industrial expansion, as well as rising repair and maintenance operations, have contributed to the growth of the market.

Tops by Region: Asia Pacific

APAC is expected to hold the largest growth rate of the global market during the forecast period, in great measure due to rising road construction and infrastructure activities, especially in emerging economies such as India, Singapore, China and Japan.

Kodiak Building Partners has agreed to purchase The Miller Lumber Co., Bend and Redmond, Or.

Established in 1911, Miller Lumber is one of the oldest businesses in central Oregon.

As third-generation owners, Charley Miller will remain president of Miller Lumber, his brother Harry Miller will continue as VP, and his sister Connie Marshall will remain the CFO. The men have also elected to become a part of the Kodiak Building Partners ownership group.

Kodiak operates 94 locations in 21 states.

Pacific Woodtech Corp., Burlington, Wa., has acquired Louisiana-Pacific’s Engineered Wood Products division for $210 million.

Set to close in early August, the deal includes LP’s laminated veneer lumber and I-joist manufacturing facilities in Wilmington, N.C.; Red Bluff, Ca.; and Golden, B.C.; associated timber license assets; and the SolidStart brand.

The acquisition comes as PWT expands its North American engineered wood product offerings while maintaining its reputation as an industry leader in unrivaled customer service and dedication to innovation and quality. PWT looked to LP’s premier building solutions when identifying the ideal product mix—one that meets the evolving needs of the current building market and answers the call for more sustainable building products.

“Adding Golden, Wilmington, and Red Bluff to PWT’s existing EWP business will propel the company into new growth,” said president and CEO Jim Enright. “PWT continues to drive positive change at the cutting edge of engineered wood products, and this acquisition will provide a more streamlined and focused resource for the industry.”

PWT has experienced impressive growth since its inception in 1998, a result of its commitment to innovation and its sole focus on engineered wood products for over 20 years. Today, PWT is the only EWP supplier to offer indoor and outdoor whole-home solutions.

“We believe that Pacific Woodtech is well-positioned to invest in and grow the SolidStart brand, and its acquisition of LP’s EWP business marks another important step in LP’s ongoing strategic transformation,” said LP chair and CEO Brad Southern. “We will work with Pacific Woodtech to ensure a smooth transition for our EWP employees, customers, and suppliers.”