Item 1A.    Risk Factors.

        There are a number of business risks and uncertainties that could affect our business. These risks and uncertainties could cause our actual results to differ from past performance or expected results. We consider the following risks and uncertainties to be most relevant to our specific business activities. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, or that we currently believe to be immaterial, also may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to our Business

A significant portion of our business relies on home improvement and new home construction activity, both of which are cyclical.

        A significant portion of our business relies on home improvement, including spending on repair and remodeling projects, and new home construction activity, principally in North America and Europe. Macroeconomic conditions, including consumer confidence levels, fluctuations in home prices, unemployment and underemployment levels, student loan debt, household formation and the availability of home equity loans and mortgages and the interest rates for such loans, affect both consumers' discretionary spending on home improvement projects as well as new home construction activity. Adverse changes or uncertainty regarding these macroeconomic conditions could result in a decline in spending on home improvement projects and a decline in demand for new home construction, both of which could adversely affect our results of operations and our financial position. While improving, both new home construction and consumer spending for big ticket remodeling projects continue to be below historic average levels.

If we do not maintain strong brands or respond to changing consumer preferences and purchasing practices, we could lose share and our results could be adversely affected.

        Our competitive advantage is due, in part, to our ability to maintain our strong brands and to develop and introduce innovative new and improved products. While we continue to invest in brand building and brand awareness, these initiatives may not be successful. The uncertainties associated with developing and introducing new and improved products, such as gauging changing consumer preferences and successfully developing, manufacturing, marketing and selling these products, may impact the success of our product introductions. If we do not introduce new or improved products in a timely manner or if these products do not gain widespread acceptance, we could lose share, which could negatively impact our operating results.

        The challenging economic environment of recent years has caused shifts in consumer preferences and purchasing practices and changes in the business models and strategies of our customers. Consumers are increasingly using the internet and mobile technology to research home improvement products and to inform and provide feedback on their purchasing and ownership experience for these products. E-business is a rapidly developing area, and development of a successful e-business strategy involves significant time, investment and resources. If we are unable to successfully execute our e-business strategy, our brands may lose share.

        Similarly, the quantity, type and prices of products demanded by consumers and our customers have shifted. For example, demand has increased for multi-family housing units such as apartments and condominiums, which typically have smaller kitchens and smaller and fewer bathrooms, each with fewer cabinets and faucets, as well as less insulation, than single-family houses. While the economy is recovering, we are experiencing growth in certain channels for lower price point products. In some of our segments, these shifts have negatively impacted our sales and/or our profitability, and it is uncertain whether these shifts represent long-term changes in consumer preferences.

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        If we do not timely and effectively identify and respond to these changing consumer preferences and purchasing practices, our relationships with our customers and with consumers could be harmed, the demand for our brands and products could be reduced and our results of operations could be negatively affected.

We may not achieve all of the anticipated benefits of our strategic and operational initiatives or our actions to improve our underperforming cabinetry businesses.

        In 2014, we announced new strategic initiatives, which are designed to increase shareholder value over the mid- to long-term. Our business performance and results could be adversely affected if we are unable to execute these strategic initiatives, or if we are unable to execute them in a timely and efficient manner. We have also identified a number of operational initiatives, which include making significant investments in technology systems that are key to managing our business. We could be adversely affected if we do not effectively implement our operational initiatives in a timely manner.

        The downturn in home improvement and new home construction activity during the recent recession impacted our results, particularly at our cabinetry businesses. In response, we have implemented initiatives to reduce costs and increase sales; however, there is no assurance that our efforts will yield all of the anticipated benefits. Our initiatives to improve our cabinetry operations, including rationalizing our businesses, closing plants and reducing headcount, have been complex, time-consuming and expensive. The consolidation of our North American Cabinet businesses, in particular, involved the integration of multiple manufacturing processes and information technology platforms and continues to affect our operations.

        Our strategy to increase our cabinetry businesses' sales through brand building, enhanced customer relationships and new product introductions requires time to implement, execute and assess. Further, these businesses continue to face pricing pressures, competition from low-cost manufacturers and a shift in the mix of products in certain channels to more value-priced products. If our strategy to increase our sales is not successful, our results of operations may continue to be negatively impacted.

Our sales are concentrated with two significant customers.

        The size and importance of individual customers to our businesses continues to increase. In 2014, net sales to our largest customer, The Home Depot, were $2.3 billion (approximately 27 percent of consolidated net sales). Lowe's is our second largest customer. In 2014, sales to Lowe's were less than ten percent of our consolidated net sales. These home center customers may reduce the number of vendors they purchase from and can make significant changes in their volume of purchases. Additionally, home centers can significantly affect the prices we receive for our products and services, our cost of doing business with them and the terms and conditions on which we do business. If the mix of our business operations significantly changes, including as a result of acquisitions or divestitures, our reliance on these significant customers may increase. Although homebuilders, dealers and other retailers represent other channels of distribution for our products and services, the loss of a substantial portion of our sales to The Home Depot or the loss of our sales to Lowe's would have a material adverse effect on our business.

        Further, as some of our customers expand their markets and their targeted customers, conflicts between our existing distribution channels have and will continue to occur, which could impact our results of operations. We may undermine the business relationships we have with our current customers if we increase the amount of business we transact directly with consumers. In addition, our large retail customers are increasingly requesting product exclusivity, which may affect our ability to offer products to other customers and may diminish our ability to leverage economies of scale.

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We face significant competition.

        Our products and services face significant competition. We believe that we compete on the basis of price, product and service quality, brand reputation, customer service and product features and innovation. Home centers continue to purchase select products in our segments directly from low-cost foreign manufacturers for sale as private label and house brand merchandise. Additionally, home centers, which have historically concentrated their sales efforts on retail consumers and remodelers, are increasingly marketing directly to professional contractors and installers, which may impact our margins on our products that contractors and installers would otherwise buy through our dealers and wholesalers.

        In our other distribution channels, we compete with foreign manufacturers in a variety of our product groups. These foreign manufacturers are putting downward pressures on price. In some of our segments, we are continuing to experience a shift in the mix of some products we sell toward more value-priced or opening price point products, which may impact our ability to maintain or gain share and our profitability.

        Our ability to maintain our competitive position in our industries and to grow our businesses depends upon successfully maintaining our relationships with major customers, implementing growth strategies and entering new geographic areas, including successful international penetration, developing a successful e-business strategy, maintaining strong brands, managing our cost structure, accommodating shorter life-cycles for our products, and developing and innovating products, none of which is assured.

If we experience increased commodity costs or limited availability of commodities, our operating results could be negatively impacted.

        We buy various commodities to manufacture our products, including, among others, wood, brass (made of copper and zinc), titanium dioxide and resins. Fluctuations in the availability and prices of these commodities could increase our costs to manufacture our products. Further, increases in energy costs could increase our production costs as well as our transportation costs, each of which could negatively affect our financial condition and operating results.

        It has been, and likely will continue to be, difficult for us to pass on to customers cost increases to cover our increased commodity and production costs. Our existing arrangements with customers, competitive considerations and customer resistance to price increases may delay or make us unable to adjust selling prices. If we are not able to increase the prices of our products or achieve cost savings to offset increased commodity and production costs, our financial condition and operating results could be negatively impacted. If we are able to increase our selling prices, sustained price increases for our products may lead to sales declines and loss of share, particularly if our competitors do not increase their prices. When commodity prices decline, we may receive pressure from our customers to reduce our prices.

        To help reduce price volatility associated with certain anticipated commodity purchases, we use derivative instruments, including commodity futures and swaps. This strategy may increase the possibility that we may make commitments to purchase these commodities at prices that subsequently exceed their market prices, which could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.

We are dependent on third-party suppliers and manufacturers, and the loss of a key supplier or manufacturer could negatively affect our operating results.

        Our ability to offer a wide variety of products depends on our ability to obtain an adequate supply of products and components from manufacturers and other suppliers. We rely heavily or, in certain cases, exclusively, on third-party suppliers for some of our products and key components. Failure by our suppliers to provide us quality products on commercially reasonable terms, or to comply with applicable legal requirements, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or operating results. Resourcing these products and components to another supplier could take time and involve significant

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costs. Accordingly, the loss of a key supplier, or a substantial decrease in the availability of products or components from our suppliers, could disrupt our business and adversely impact our operating results.

        Further, we manufacture products in Asia and source products and components from third parties in Asia. The distances involved in these arrangements, together with differences in business practices, shipping and delivery requirements, the limited number of suppliers, and laws and regulations, have increased the complexity of our supply chain logistics and the potential for interruptions in our production scheduling. If we are unable to effectively manage our supply chain, our operating results could be negatively affected.

If we cannot adequately protect or prevent unauthorized use of our intellectual property we may be adversely affected.

        Protecting our intellectual property is critical to our innovation efforts. We own a number of patents, trade names, brand names and other forms of intellectual property in our products and manufacturing processes throughout the world. There can be no assurance that our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights will prevent violations. Our intellectual property may be challenged or infringed upon by third parties, particularly in countries where property rights are not highly developed or protected. In addition, the global nature of our business increases the risk that we may be unable to obtain or maintain our intellectual property rights on reasonable terms. Furthermore, others may assert intellectual property infringement claims against us. If we are not able to protect our existing intellectual property rights, or prevent unauthorized use of our intellectual property, sales of our products may be affected and we may experience reputational damage to our brand names, increased litigation costs and adverse impact to our competitive position, which could affect our results of operations.

International political, monetary, economic and social developments affect our business.

        Approximately 19 percent of our sales are made outside of North America (principally in Europe) and are transacted in currencies other than U.S. dollars (principally the Euro and the British pound sterling). Increasing our international sales is an important part of our future strategic plans. In addition, we manufacture products in Asia and source products, components and raw materials from third parties in Asia. We face risks associated with changes in political, monetary, economic and social environments, labor conditions and practices, the laws, regulations and policies of foreign governments, cultural differences and differences in enforcement of contract and intellectual property rights. U.S. laws and regulations affecting activities of U.S. companies doing business abroad, including tax laws, laws regulating various business practices, and trade regulations which may include duties and tariffs can also impact us. Our international operating results may also be influenced by economic conditions in Europe. In addition, our financial results could be adversely affected by the currency conversion rate if the U.S. dollar strengthens in value relative to foreign currencies, particularly the Euro, and fluctuations in currency exchange rates may present challenges in comparing operating performance from period to period.

The long-term performance of our businesses relies on our ability to attract, develop and retain talented personnel.

        To be successful, we must attract, develop and retain highly qualified and talented personnel who have the experience, knowledge and expertise to successfully implement our key business strategies. We compete for employees with a broad range of employers in many different industries, including large multinational firms, and we invest significant resources in recruiting, developing, motivating and retaining them. The failure to attract and retain key employees, or to develop effective succession planning to assure smooth transitions of those employees and the knowledge and expertise they possess, could negatively affect our competitive position and our operating results. Further, as the economy continues to recover, if we are unable to recruit, train and retain sufficient skilled labor, we may not be able to

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adequately satisfy increased demand for our products and services, which could impact our operating results.

Claims and litigation could be costly.

        We are, from time to time, involved in various claims, litigation matters and regulatory proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of our business and which could have a material adverse effect on us. These matters may include contract disputes, automobile liability and other personal injury claims, warranty disputes, environmental claims or proceedings, other tort claims, employment and tax matters and other proceedings and litigation, including class actions.

        We are subject to product safety regulations, recalls and direct claims for product liability that can result in significant liability and, regardless of the ultimate outcome, can be costly to defend or manage. Also, we rely on other manufacturers to provide us with products or components for products that we sell. Due to the difficulty of controlling the quality of products or components sourced from other manufacturers, we are exposed to risks relating to the quality of such products and to limitations on our recourse against such suppliers.

        We have also experienced class action lawsuits in recent years predicated upon claims for antitrust violations, product liability and wage and hour issues. We have generally denied liability and have vigorously defended these cases. Due to their scope and complexity, however, these lawsuits can be particularly costly to defend and resolve, and we have and may continue to incur significant costs as a result of these types of lawsuits.

        Our homebuilder customers are subject to construction defect and home warranty claims in the ordinary course of their business. Our contractual arrangements with these customers may include our agreement to defend and indemnify them against various liabilities. These claims, often asserted several years after completion of construction, can result in complex lawsuits or claims against the homebuilders and many of their subcontractors, including us, and may require us to incur defense and indemnity costs even when our products or services are not the principal basis for the claims.

        Although we intend to defend all claims and litigation matters vigorously, given the inherently unpredictable nature of claims and litigation, we cannot predict with certainty the outcome or effect of any claim or litigation matter.

        We maintain insurance against some, but not all, of these risks of loss resulting from claims and litigation. We may elect not to obtain insurance if we believe the cost of available insurance is excessive relative to the risks presented. The levels of insurance we maintain may not be adequate to fully cover any and all losses or liabilities. If any significant accident, judgment, claim or other event is not fully insured or indemnified against, it could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

        See Note U to the consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this Report for additional information about litigation involving our businesses.

If we are required to take additional significant non-cash charges, our financial resources could be reduced and our financial flexibility may be negatively affected.

        We have recorded significant goodwill and other intangible assets related to prior business combinations on our balance sheet. The valuation of these assets is largely dependent upon the expectations for future performance of our businesses. Expectations about the growth of new home construction and home improvement activity may impact whether we are required to recognize additional non-cash, pre-tax impairment charges for goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets or other long-lived assets. If the value of our goodwill or other intangible assets is further impaired, our earnings and shareholders' equity would be adversely affected.

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        Further, our credit agreement contains financial covenants we must comply with, including covenants regarding limits on our debt to total capitalization ratio. If we are required to record additional non-cash impairment charges, our shareholders' equity would be reduced, and our borrowing capacity under our credit agreement may be limited. We have negotiated amendments to our credit agreement to allow for the add-back to shareholders' equity for impairment charges we have taken. There can be no assurance that in the future we would be able to further amend our credit agreement, that alternative financing would be available on acceptable terms and at acceptable rates, or that we would be permitted to obtain alternative financing under the terms of our existing financing arrangements.

Compliance with government regulation and industry standards could impact our operating results.

        We are subject to federal, state and foreign government regulations, particularly those pertaining to health and safety (including protection of employees and consumers), climate disruption and environmental issues. In addition to complying with current requirements and requirements that will become effective at a future date, even more stringent requirements could be imposed on us in the future. Additionally, some of our products must be certified by industry organizations. Compliance with these regulations and industry standards may require us to alter our product designs, our manufacturing and installation processes or our sourcing. Such actions could divert our attention and resources to compliance activities, and could cause us to incur higher costs. Further, if we do not effectively and timely comply with such regulations and industry standards, our results of operations could be negatively affected.

Our operations may be adversely affected by information systems interruptions or intrusions.

        We rely on a number of information technology systems to process, transmit, store and manage information to support our business activities. Increased global cybersecurity vulnerabilities, threats and more sophisticated and targeted attacks pose a risk to our information technology systems. We have established security policies, processes and layers of defense designed to help identify and protect against intentional and unintentional misappropriation or corruption of our systems and information and disruption of our operations. Despite these efforts, our systems may be damaged, disrupted, or shut down due to attacks by unauthorized access, malicious software, undetected intrusion, hardware failures, or other events, and in these circumstances our disaster recovery planning may be ineffective or inadequate. These breaches or intrusions could lead to business interruption, exposure of proprietary or confidential information, data corruption, damage to our reputation, exposure to litigation, and increased operational costs. Such events could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operation. In addition, we could be adversely affected if any of our significant customers or suppliers experience any similar events that disrupt their business operations or damage their reputation.

Risks Related to our Proposed Spin-off Transaction

We are pursuing a plan to spin-off our Installation and Other Services segment (our "Services Business"). We are incurring significant costs in connection with this transaction, which also requires considerable time and attention of our management, and we may not be able to complete the transaction or, if the transaction is completed, realize the anticipated benefits.

        In September 2014, we announced a plan to separate our Services Business from our other businesses through a spin-off transaction in which we would distribute the common stock of the Services Business to our existing shareholders in a tax-free transaction. Completion of the transaction will be contingent upon approval by our Board of Directors, our receipt of an opinion from tax counsel, the

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effectiveness of a Registration Statement on Form 10, and certain other conditions. Additionally, our ability to complete the spin-off in a timely manner, if at all, could be affected by several factors, including:

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our ability to obtain sufficient financing for the newly-created entity on acceptable terms;



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our ability to obtain any necessary consents or approvals;



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changes in the underlying businesses, contracts, or customers; and



•

political and economic conditions at the time of the transaction.

For these and other reasons, we may not be able to complete the spin-off within the expected time frame or at all. Even if the transaction is completed, we may not realize some or all of the anticipated benefits from the spin-off. We have incurred and will continue to incur significant costs in connection with this transaction, which will affect our profitability and operating results through completion of the transaction. Executing the proposed spin-off also requires considerable time and attention from management, which could distract them from other tasks in operating our business and executing our other strategic initiatives.

The proposed spin-off of our Services Business could result in substantial tax liability to us and our stockholders.

        Among the conditions to completing the spin-off will be our receipt of an opinion of tax counsel substantially to the effect that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the spin-off and certain related transactions will qualify for tax-free treatment under certain sections of the Internal Revenue Code. However, if the factual assumptions or representations made by us in connection with the delivery of the opinion are inaccurate or incomplete in any material respect, including those relating to the past and future conduct of our business, we will not be able to rely on the opinion. Furthermore, the opinion will not be binding on the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") or the courts. If, notwithstanding receipt of the opinion, the spin-off transaction and certain related transactions are determined to be taxable, we would be subject to a substantial tax liability. In addition, if the spin-off transaction is taxable, each holder of our common stock who receives shares of the new Services Business company would generally be treated as receiving a taxable distribution of property in an amount equal to the fair market value of the shares received, thereby potentially increasing such holder's tax liability.

        Even if the spin-off otherwise qualifies as a tax-free transaction, the distribution could be taxable to us (but not to our stockholders) in certain circumstances if future significant acquisitions of our stock or the stock of the new Services Business company are deemed to be part of a plan or series of related transactions that included the spin-off. In this event, the resulting tax liability could be substantial. In connection with the spin-off, we expect to enter into a tax matters agreement with the new Services Business company, under which it will agree not to enter into any transaction without our consent that could cause any portion of the spin-off to be taxable to us and to indemnify us for any tax liability resulting from any such transaction. These obligations and potential tax liabilities may discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of us or of the new Services Business company.