Does Penofin give Kickbacks?

[Palmetto Home and Deck 167]

I have stripped Penofin from three IPE decks since the first of July. One of the decks was one that I, actually, was the one that applied the Penofin on two years ago due to the customer's insistence that I could use nothing else. She stated that the warranty on the IPE would be void if anything but Penofin was used. ???

I thought that was weird, but to satisfy the customer I agreed to apply the Penofin. I explained to the customer what she could expect from the sealer she insisted on and if it turned out she was not happy with it that I could strip it off and put something else own she would be much more pleased with.

When I said deck it was actually a covered wrap around porch so the IPE was not exposed to direct sunlight and true to what I said two years earlier the Penofin had turned her IPE black as coal. She called me this spring and told me she didn't care about the warranty anymore and wanted that stuff off and for me to put on what ever I thought best.

Getting back to my question, after hearing that customer stating that anything but Penofin would void her warranty on her IPE, I started asking my other customers why they used Penofin on their IPE and they told me the same thing. Recently, I had a phone call from someone that wanted their IPE deck re stained and wanted to know if I used Penofin. When I tried to explain I had a better product she said if I used anything, but Penofin the warranty on her IPE would be no good then hung up on me.

So what is going on here? Is Penofin giving kickbacks to the salesmen at the lumber yards that sell IPE to scare the homeowners into using their product? Have any of you run into this?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Interesting...but not surprising. I have seen manufacturers of products do that kind of thing before. Eventually the homeowners break away from it.

Beth

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Good question..but do not know answer on kickbacks.. Only kickback I know of with Peno is when it kicks ya in the nose with it's smell or darkens a wood a tad more than expected.

[Chappy 138]

A deck builder friend of mine told me the other day that Penofin was the only thing recommended for IPE. I didnt get a chance to ask him Who recommended it before he changed the subject. I'll have to remember to ask next time.

[CB works 14]

When I said deck it was actually a covered wrap around porch so the IPE was not exposed to direct sunlight and true to what I said two years earlier the Penofin had turned her IPE black as coal. She called me this spring and told me she didn't care about the warranty anymore and wanted that stuff off and for me to put on what ever I thought best.

Len,

Do the boards run from the house out to the edge of the deck? Or do they run parallel to the house?

I talked to an importer of Iron Wood (brand) and he swore that the only thing you could put on ipe without degrading it (chemically) was ATO. I thought for sure he was getting kick backs.

[James 625]

Many types of Hardwoods come pre sealed so there is some type of collusion with the sealing complanies. Penofail has marketed very well in the hardwood market.

[MudDuck 20]

Most big box stores (even HD and Lowes) have gone to 7.00 8.00 per hr workers (kids) phasing out their 15.00 grown up workers. Big box stores now have corp trainers who follow a ver battem script when training new associates keeping everything as simple as possible. I'd bet that made it into one of the corp scripts and thats all they know to tell you when you buy the lumber and ask what your supposed to seal it with. But yes I know for a fact that they also "push" certian "accesories" with specific products that have the most margin in it for corp in those scripts and give the salesman what they call a "spiff" for every customer they push into that product. Go shop for a new flat screen tv and see how many salesmen tell you you HAVE to have one of those 200.00 to 500.00 serge protectors. Theres more margin in that serge protector than in the tv.

[Palmetto Home and Deck 167]

Len,

Do the boards run from the house out to the edge of the deck? Or do they run parallel to the house?

The boards run from the house out to the edge. I measured the total length of the railing around this porch to be 265' long. The owner said there was $40,000.00 in IPE alone in the porch.

I'll post some pictures as soon as I get a chance.

[Palmetto Home and Deck 167]

Most big box stores (even HD and Lowes) have gone to 7.00 8.00 per hr workers (kids) phasing out their 15.00 grown up workers. Big box stores now have corp trainers who follow a ver battem script when training new associates keeping everything as simple as possible. I'd bet that made it into one of the corp scripts and thats all they know to tell you when you buy the lumber and ask what your supposed to seal it with. But yes I know for a fact that they also "push" certian "accesories" with specific products that have the most margin in it for corp in those scripts and give the salesman what they call a "spiff" for every customer they push into that product. Go shop for a new flat screen tv and see how many salesmen tell you you HAVE to have one of those 200.00 to 500.00 serge protectors. Theres more margin in that serge protector than in the tv.

MudDuck,

You may be right. I was at my local lumber yard last week buying an IPE 2x4 to build a gate for one of the decks I stained last month when the salesman wanted to show me a display for a new product they are going to carry. Its new to me, but others here may have seen it and I would like to hear from anyone that has. This is pine, but rather than chemically treated it is cured in a steam oven. You can check it out at www.eco-thermowood.com .

Anyway, it looks like a good product and I am sure I will run into a deck with it soon so I told the salesman I would be interested in buying a short piece of it so I could see how it is going to stain. That is when the salesman told me that according to his sales rep that the only thing that should be used on it is Penofin. So there you go. It seems like it is the sales reps that are indoctrinating the store salesmen into pushing Penofin onto the unsuspecting customer as the only thing that should be use on their decks.