Ekena Millwork Announces that FiberThane Balustrade is Certified for 16’ Lengths

Nov. 7, 2011 - PRLog -- Ekena Millwork announced late last week that their new balustrade line – FiberThane – just passed the certification tests at 16’ lengths. While they have been telling customers and industry professionals that their system was privately tested at this length, those comments didn’t mean anything until the formal testing was conducted. Now that FiberThane is actually certified at 16’ lengths for both commercial and residential projects, this changes everything.

If you don’t understand how big of a deal this is, let me try to explain it to you. Previous composite balustrade systems have traditionally been made out of urethane with PVC pipe running through the center of the rails, spindles, and newel posts. Essentially, the PVC pipes were the structural components for these systems, and were only certified at 8’ lengths. This is simply the way it has always been in the composite balustrade industry. Even companies like Fypon who have been around forever in the balustrade market, have never changed the fundamentally flawed design of their balustrade system. It has always, and still, can only span 8’ lengths.

Now that a manufacturer – Ekena Millwork – has designed and manufactured a balustrade product with stronger structural components – fiberglass – it will truly change the market. With FiberThane being certified at 16’ lengths, this provides architects and builders with a product that is twice as strong, and can span twice the distance as the previous products they had to work with.

Architects no longer need to design in newel posts or columns in the middle of a balustrade span that they didn’t want to – but needed to – because the balustrade products in the market couldn’t span the length the architect wished they could. They now have the flexibility to run the entire length of a deck, porch, or balcony – using FiberThane – without the need of a newel post. This also makes construction significantly easier. Rather than install a newel post or column every 8’, contractors can now span 16’ lengths without the need for one of those structural components, and use half as many as they would have previously used.

I imagine now that FiberThane is certified at 16’ lengths and has been adopted by several architects around the country, that we will begin to see projects with a lot less newel posts. I further believe that many builders will begin using it as the standard balustrade system for balconies and porches. There is no more need to put a newel post in the middle of that 12’ balcony; builders can now span the full 12’ length using FiberThane.

Major distributors around the country have also seen the quick adoption rate for this product and have jumped aboard. While Fypon and Spectis are still the big players in the composite balustrade market, more and more distributors and national retailers are picking up the FiberThane line. Columns and Carvings (www.columnsandcarvings.com) was one of the first national wholesalers to start selling FiberThane, and they have already sold several Ekena Millwork balustrade projects in the last month alone.

Chad – the founder and owner of Columns and Carvings – says that FiberThane is “great” and that he “can’t wait to start including the brochures in his weekly mailings to builders/contractors/lumber yards.” Columns and Carvings is a national player in the columns, balustrade, and millwork categories and is located in Hoover, Alabama.

Not only is FiberThane now certified to span 16’ lengths, but because it is an Ekena Millwork product, it also has all of the other advantages that come with using Ekena Millwork; it ships within 72 hours, it has over 100 spindle options, and it is more cost-effective than any other balustrade system on the market.

I look forward to seeing how FiberThane changes the landscape of the balustrade market, now that it truly has something that no other balustrade system has. Anyone can be a few dollars cheaper than the next person, and ultimately, the different designs between manufacturers is all about the same, but now that one manufacturer is certified to span twice the distance as its next closest competition, it will truly redefine what the standard should be. We will see.

For more information about Ekena Millwork, visit www.ekenamillwork.com
For more information about Chad or Columns and Carvings, visit www.columnsandcarvings.com