Decking insights: Hillman is ready for more
Decking plays a significant role in the success of Hillman’s fastener business. It represents about 25 to 30 percent of sales. And that segment is poised to grow, according to product specialists of the Cincinnati-based fastener industry giant.
“Our theme is: We're ready,” said Tim Ferguson, vice president of product engineering and brand for the Hardware Solutions brand. “The interest rates have come down. Some of the inflation rates have come down. Labor availability and material availability have improved. All of those things play into the idea that ‘we're ready.’”
And that message of readiness is supported by Hillman’s strength in product development, its design capabilities, its breadth of offering, and its understanding of how contractors and deck builders get things done on the job site. Several of those factors are built into Hillman’s new Power Pro Structural Wood Screw Line, launched in April of 2023. The patented design maximizes thread performance with a view toward improving speed.
“Everything that we're doing from a design standpoint is focused around that pro and to help them on the job site," said Ferguson. “And we can get somebody on and off a job from a fastening standpoint 30 percent faster.”
Hillman’s Tony Kovac, director of product management for fasteners, said the new product has excelled on the job site, and—by extension—has excelled in the marketplace.
The new Power Pro line “allows us to benefit from improved drive speed from the time you put the screw on top of the wood to the time when the screw sinks flush to the wood surface,” Kovac said. “We’re 30 percent faster on average —and depending on the competitor, it's even greater than that.”
Everything that we're doing from a design standpoint is focused around that pro and to help them on the job site,” said Ferguson. ”And we can get somebody on and off a job from a fastening standpoint 30 percent faster.”
The Power Pro line is Hillman’s flagship offering. Also in the offering is the Deck Plus line, described by Kovac as a high-performing screw and a “project finisher.” It allows the deck builder to match a variety of colors depending on the style of the project.
Color matching is a concept that Hillman helped pioneer years ago. Today, the trends in decking continue to grow in sophistication. Ferguson described one new trend as “mixed medium decking.”
“Where it used to be a deck or a patio, now we're getting both,” he said. “It's a patio with a wooden structure on top of it. Or it’s a deck that leads directly into a paved or a poured area. The standard, elevated deck is morphing into a multi-tiered deck that leads into a patio. And that patio now has wooden structures anchored into it and built on top. It’s an exciting trend.”
And also, it’s a trend that Hillman is in position to embrace and promote, as it continues to roll out new products that complement its broad offering.
Right now we already have the most expansive mix out there in the industry—with colors, with screw heads, diameters, and lengths,” said Kovac.
Ferguson added: “Whether they're building a deck, a mixed-medium deck, or over land or over water, we've got the solutions that everybody is going to need for those projects.”
