56 | Panel Perspectives: Edge Sealant
After a visit to a major development where the cost to put right a delamination problem was going to be around £1m, plus the increasing specification by architects for marine grade after they had lost faith in exterior grade to do the job, I decided that we needed to take responsibility and solve the problem that was giving all plywood a bad name.
WBPI: WHAT WAS THE R&D PROCESS; WHO HAVE YOU WORKED WITH; AND WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE? PM: Frankly it was never really our intention to get directly into the supply chain, merely to drive others already in the sector to see the potential and create the product to solve the problem. We started by approaching the market leader in tinned timber treatment products, but they didn’t seem to want to engage. In the end we went looking for an independent like-minded company and found Protek Ltd. Based in Somerset, UK it is a second-generation family business with an industrial chemist as managing director. It took little persuading as to the need and the market for such a product and so the partnership was formed to jointly develop the ESP range for both Panel and Timber End Seal to resolve a similar rotting issue on cut end pre-treated timber.
Once a product was developed, we both independently tested the new product at our premises with the tried and tested “bucket test” and panels being left out in the weather in a controlled environment test with untreated and treated boards. Our next-door neighbour was repairing a large sign hoarding, so we asked them to use the product as it was going to be left for a year before being used. Vertically exposed, a year on there is still no sign of a problem.
It was during these tests that we accidentally got two boards too close together and discovered an extra benefit. We designed the product to change colour as it dries from light to dark red – this was to aid with handling – but we discovered that if you put two boards together while the edges are still wet, they stick, creating a water tight joint that cannot be broken. This has huge benefits for flat roofs, sarking, dormer cheeks, site hoarding – the list goes on and on. Once we had convinced ourselves we had a product that worked we sent all the information up to BM TRADA for formal testing. We supplied plywood from our own
stock, which we purchase from an approved importer. BM TRADA tested the plywood prior to applying the product to make sure it
was to grade and the test plywood failed the pre-test on glue line. We arranged for further sheets to be sent
to BM TRADA from a builders merchant who, like us, believed that it was purchasing “better grade accredited plywood”. This also failed the pre-test but on the fibre strength. This confirmed what we believed, which was that plywood in the UK has an inherent problem. We instructed BM TRADA to go ahead, using the plywood supplied even though we knew it was below grade. If ESP worked on this product then we knew we had solved the problem and created something that put us back to a WBP grade material.
Needless to say, the BM TRADA test results proved that ESP Panel makes softwood and hardwood plywood exterior again – and it works on OSB for jointing. We could now move forward to market.
WBPI: HOW BIG IS THE MARKET FOR ESP AND WHAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE SO FAR? PM: Protek has dealt with the chemistry and manufacturing issues and the installation of the new equipment needed to produce and package a product that is of a different texture to its other products. Nicks has taken care of the testing through
BM TRADA and will be responsible for taking this product to market through its current extensive builders and merchant client base. Nicks has separated this from its core business and Protek has set up a subsidiary company to manage the project through which ESP will be sold and supplied. The new company is Protek ESP Ltd. The market is huge with nearly 27 million sheets sold in the UK each year. Major importers such as International
Plywood and Altripan have already engaged by recommending their clients use ESP. Merchant chain Travis Perkins is currently going through the process of getting ESP on the shelf with the recommendation at point of invoice on every plywood sale that it is required to achieve performance. This protects the supplier against complaints when recommended site practice is not used. Independent merchants Covers and Elliots are now stockists and obviously Nicks has been selling it for the past nine months as an easy extra sale with both plywood and OSB. We have had only positive comments back
from everyone we have approached from “we have needed something like this for a long time”, to “this is a no brainer” – and this is at point of sale before we engage with the architect and design end of the food chain. It seems that it will also find its way into
Above: ESP for Timber also offers protection for cut ends of pressure treated timber WBPI | April/May 2023 |
www.wbpionline.com
markets we have not even anticipated. For example, it has been used for quick temporary repairs on flat roofs, and a kitchen
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