Good Fences Make for … New Opportunities for Plastics & Composites

By Ed Hudson, Director of Market Research, Home Innovation Research Labs

The pandemic has created a renewed demand for outdoor living projects--with people spending more time at home, and seeking to make their at-home experience a little more pleasant. As consumers have scaled back spending on travel, dining, and entertainment, they have directed some of those additional resources to outdoor living projects.

Fences have been a very popular way to enhance outdoor living during the pandemic. For some people, fences mean back yard privacy; for others, it means keeping kids and pets in the yard and those of the neighbors out. Or, in my case, a privacy fence has helped to keep my less than “camera ready” projects-in-process from being an eye- (or ear-)sore to my neighbors. 

The fact that wood continues to be, by far, the most popular fence material would not be alarming except that with all the outdoor projects going on, there is a short supply of lumber materials. That translates to skyrocketing prices and a short supply of contractors to build fences. In a recent interview for a Wall Street Journal article, I described the impact of these shortages in more detail. 

Home Innovation’s Builder and Consumer Practices surveys follow the trends in building materials purchases, and our Fences and Landscape Walls reports reveal that wood board fences represent more than half of new fences built last year.

Source: Annual Builder and Consumer Surveys, Home Innovation 

One remarkable thing with our studies is this finding — fence material choices for newly-built homes closely mirrors materials choices for fences for existing homes. In general, materials choice differs widely between new home and repair and remodeling purchases, but not in this area. The primary exception for fences, however, is that concrete is used far more widely with new homes while chain-link and wire mesh are much more common for existing properties.

With lumber prices soaring, I anticipate PVC and other plastics will see a jump in market shares in 2020 when our new Builder and Consumer Practices Surveys are complete. Our 2021 survey questionnaires have been fielded, results are pouring in, and findings will be unveiled early next year. Stay tuned!

This month, Home Innovation re-issued our Builder Practices Reports with a new materials usage forecast. The updated reports reflect the much more optimistic industry outlook we now have compared to the reports published in the Spring when COVID had much of our economy on hold.

Anxious to see how all these twists and turn are impacting your product category? Contact me to learn how you can get access to the most recent outlook available on the U.S. building materials market.

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