Tremco - Read - New Technologies

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MODERATOR:

• Heidi Ellsworth, RoofersCoffeeShop®, Editor

PANELISTS:

• Kurt Sosinski, Tremco Roofing, Market Manager for the POWERply® line

Heidi Ellsworth: Thank you for attending today's RoofersCoffeeShop webinar, part of our RLW read, listen, watch initiative, where we are providing information and education when you want it and how you want it and where you want it. So after we do this webinar today, which I know you're going to love, we are going to also have this on demand as a video, as a podcast, and as a transcript for you to read. My name is Heidi Ellsworth, and I am a partner with RoofersCoffeeShop and I am very honored to welcome Kurt Sosinski with Tremco Roofing. But first, before we get going, I have a few housekeeping items. All attendees will be muted, so feel free to ask questions or comment in the comment area on your webinar panel on the right. At the end of the webinar, we will have a Q&A segment where we will gather your questions and share them with our guests, with everyone online.

Heidi Ellsworth: And this webinar is being recorded, like we said, for future use on demand and will be available on our RLW, read, listen, watch segment of RoofersCoffeeShop. So let's get started. I am so excited to welcome Kurt to today's webinar about Changing the Conversation Between Building Owners and Roofing Contractors. Everyday, roofing contractors are out on those roofs talking to building owners about how to protect their roofs, and how long they're going to last, what's the durability, what's the performance? Tremco is doing some amazing thing on this front, really listening to the building owners, to the contractors on what they need and providing new technologies.

Heidi Ellsworth: So today, Kurt Sosinski, who is the Market Manager for the POWERply line is here to help talk to us about this. He has been with Tremco for 36 years, which I think is so impressive, and he is also a registered roof consultant, and he has worked in many areas of Tremco, including R&D Technical Services and now Market Management. So he really understands not only the markets, but the product and really how we can bring on solutions to both building owners and contractors. So, Kurt, welcome to RoofersCoffeeShop.

Kurt Sosinski: Thanks, Heidi. It's a real pleasure to be on RoofersCoffeeShop today. Thanks for having us.

Heidi Ellsworth: We're always excited to have our friends from Tremco on. As we get started here, Kurt, I wanted to really kind of from your perspective and from what Tremco is seeing out there, what are some of the top concerns that building owners are talking to you about?

Kurt Sosinski: Well, you could see from the screen are some of the concerns that the building owners do have, but I think one of the thing that's missing on there is, well, if this were one of those Steve Harvey Family Feud top five lists, I think people would call out cost as the first one always. But cost is really, it's not really the concern. I think most people are more concerned about the value. Just think of your own last recent purchases, I'm sure that cost was not really the primary factor. It's always considered, but roofing decisions are no different. And there are lots of different options out there, and some of the owners are realizing that restoration is a more realistic option.

Kurt Sosinski: But in order to restore what you have and keep it good for a long time, you have to start with a solid base. And that's what we're going to talk a little bit about today. But when it comes down to the top concerns for the building owners, we want to make sure that we are providing weatherproofing performance. That's over above the primary performance criteria that's up there. But in order to provide that, we have to be able to start with a durable system. And that's about where we are with the concerns for the building owner.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's good. Like you said, restoration is so important, but without that really good roof, you're not going to be able to have the longevity. And the technologies that you're bringing to play on this, it's really what is going to make a difference. And so let's talk a little bit about this. I know you went out, and you talked to building owners, you've been doing it, you've been working on this for a number of years, and you talked to the union top contractors and your R&D folks, and you, Tremco, came up with some really key new technologies that are really taking modified bitumen to the next level. So maybe kind of just from an overview, talk a little bit about how you came up with these new technologies and what spurred it so that as we get into them and talk about it, they have an idea of how this all came about.

Kurt Sosinski: Okay, well, modified bitumen themselves are somewhat mature technology. They've been around since the early 1980s. And here are some of the most important features that we have focused on in our modified bitumen product line. And what we did though is that we took a step back because we've also had a modified bitumen product line since that time period. And we took a look at where we needed to make some improvements or where people are asking for. And we came up with a list of items that really drove our product innovation on that. And the first thing we have listed here is the anti-wicking fabric. Now, we all know that we're here to make sure that their roofs perform against the weather.

Kurt Sosinski:  And the first thing that's mother nature's going to throw at our roof, of course, is water. And when we have a modified bitumen system, it's a field manufactured roof system, meaning that there's a lot of cutting that's done when the roof's being installed. So you do have exposed edges and cut edges at the minimum at the very end laps. So with that, we've realized that an anti-wicking fabric is actually an important base element for your modified bitumen cap sheet. And we have incorporated that technology, and surprisingly enough, that hadn't been included in any modified bitumen that we've really taken a look at. And so we incorporated that. We've seen a little bit of that in a single pliering of course, but not in modifieds. So we actually put that in there, and it really addresses some concerns that were out there in the industry.

Kurt Sosinski: Now, we'll talk a little bit about that later. But the other thing has to do with the adhesive strength. We've also included in our newer systems a new urethane adhesive that provides extremely high wind uplift resistance. And we'll talk a little bit more about that, but in our product development, we also realized that the biggest innovation in asphalt in the past 30 to 40 years has probably been to add rubber modifiers to it. And so that everyone knows that there's SBS and APP modified bitumens out there. And they provide good performance for what they do. But we've taken that one step further by adding some polymers to the blend, which have in turn increased the durability of that bitumen blend. And again, we'll talk a little bit about that a little bit further in the presentation. But not to leave it behind or mention it lastly, but the granules and the granule attachment to the modified bitumen membrane, it's extremely important.

Kurt Sosinski: There's a lot of frustration out there for people that have roofs in place about how well or how poorly the granules have adhered to the roof. And we've taken a look at that now and found some factors in order to increase the granule retention. And finally, in every industry, everyone is applying technical solutions, electronic solutions to their businesses. And roofing has been kind of a, as we said before, a mature industry. But we've added a couple of twists to that to build on it for the future also. And we'll talk a little bit about that in the coming minutes too.

Heidi Ellsworth: Got it. That's great. I was able to do a tour. And so I saw a lot of these things at the plant and where with the R&D and really looking at the fabrics and that bitumen blend. So I want to get in as we talk, I want to get into those technologies a little bit, so the contract is really understand why that's important. And this is a really cool picture here. So talk to us a little bit about the anti-wicking fabrics and what really brought that about. I love that idea, that's the foundation of the sheet and of the membrane.

Kurt Sosinski: Okay, not to backtrack, but just a second, I'm real pleased to hear that you've taken a tour of our plant, and I wanted to make sure that I extend an invite to our Cleveland plant to any guests who might be visiting where Trump Headquarters is located. But we'd be glad to have you in and show you some of these innovations and how our products are made, if at all possible. With that, I don't want to get away from the matter at hand here, is to discuss the anti-wicking fabric.

Kurt Sosinski: Really, what you have is that photograph on the screen which shows two samples of fabric. And they apparently have been dipped into some kind of a red dye. And you'll see some black lines along the bottom of these samples. And you could see how deep it had been immersed in the liquid, and it was only in there for a short while, I believe about an hour. And you could see how much the water has whipped up into the fabric during that short period of time, whereas the first one hasn't. And that really displays the performance of our anti-wicking fabric. And just imagine now if those fabrics were indeed coated with modified bitumen and were in performance on your roof, which one would you rather have in your product, I mean, on your roof? Obviously, it would be the one on the left, which is not wicking any of the moisture.

Heidi Ellsworth: And you know that's really cool, Kurt, because I live in Oregon and we deal with a lot of freeze-thaw, and I know a lot of the country does deal with freeze-

thaw. And I had never even really thought about this. The fact that without water getting into the membranes on... it's going to cause problems in there. I know blistering, that water does a lot of things, whether it's in extreme heat or freeze-thaw, tell us a little bit more about how does that help it on the roof deal with the weather.

Kurt Sosinski: Okay, what we've seen in performance over the years is that moisture can wick into to the side lap or the side area. And all of a sudden, the sun comes out and things warm up and that water can't release from the felt fast enough. So it can display itself as a pimple blister on the roof, which would be a small blister. This is an industry wide concern that happens with these high performance fabrics. And we've applied this and been able to resolve that concern for the building owner. But you referred a little bit to the freeze-thaw and I'd also like to draw another analogy, concrete and fabrics are not real similar materials, but we all know that the effects that moisture and freezing can have on concrete over time. Well, that could also have that same effect over time, whereas at first, the concern would be primarily a cosmetic concern because the roof is still dry and it's still performing. But over a series of many, many years, water will just have a tendency to break down things. We know what it did to the Grand Canyon and we don't want to have the same situation repeated on anyone's roof.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's a great analogy. I like that. As we kind of going with that base, I know that you've done a huge amount of work on the adhesives. You have this great membrane, now what are you doing and how you're making sure it stays down? So tell us a little bit about the Endure BIO Adhesive.

Kurt Sosinski: Okay, in order to set the stage for the Endure BIO, I have to go back a few years, about five or six years ago, we really sat down in earnest and started redesigning our modified bitumen line. And that was where the Endure concept came from. At that same time, we realized that we needed a new adhesive that would build on the strengths that we have with with our current core process low odor adhesives. But the modified bitumen took a little bit longer, and we just introduced that this year at the IRR in Nashville. But the adhesive itself, on the slide right here, we're showing a picture of the application of the POWERply Endure BIO Adhesive. And that's a cream color adhesive is an extension of some of our fluid applied technology that's been in line for many years.

Kurt Sosinski: And it's a urethane adhesive. And what it does for us is it provides a fast setting low odor adhesive to lock in the modified bitumen quickly on the roof. This adhesive, we introduced that about two years ago, also at the IRE the year before that. And with that, once we've married these two together this year, the Endure BIO Adhesive with our POWERply Endure membranes, it really has set the stage for a new generation of roof systems.

Heidi Ellsworth: Well, and I know we talked and we have this up on the screen right now, but this is not your grandpa's adhesive, it's ultra low odor, quick drying. I mean, that's something that building owners are going to love.

Kurt Sosinski: Yes, thanks. There are several features that many different people are going to love. First of all, just the name right there, the Endure Bio Adhesive, it is approximately 70% bio-based. We really haven't made too big of a deal about it. But that's a fairly large percentage of a bio-based product, which should make it the sweetheart of many architects and engineers who are looking for products that are truly green and made from sustainable technologies. But I think the key feature for this product or for building owners is the ultra low odor that it provides. When the product from when it's mixed to when it's applied, it's virtually undetectable with regards to smell.

Kurt Sosinski: I'm not going to say that it's no odor because nothing is no odor. I mean, if you put your nose into a glass of water, you might catch even a little bit of a tinge of whatever's coming from the treatment plant, but truly when you compare it to the other options that are up there, and you walk away from the roof installation process realizing that you didn't smell anything. And what that means is that the people inside the building are not even going to know that you're up there putting a roof on your building.

Heidi Ellsworth: That is so perfect for hospitals and even businesses. I can remember early in my career, I was sitting in... before roofing, I was sitting in an office and they were reroofing and the smell just kind of ran everybody out of the office. But now with this, they wouldn't even hardly know you're up there.

Kurt Sosinski: Well, we all started in roofing because we liked the smell of asphalt. I never did see what was wrong with that, but with that though, we have moved more towards using mineral spirits adhesives. And more and more so these days, building occupants are starting to shy away from any odor at all, so that's why we think this adhesive really fills the need for that. And we already talked about how strong it is and what we could follow up a little bit more with some further information on it later.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, perfect. Well, I know that part of that is really this whole durability that we're talking about. And in fact, we just had an article on RoofersCoffeeShop about this webinar, where we had some really interesting information from Fredonia about the trends coming up are going to be about durability and longevity on the roof that, and then restoring that roof. So they're showing that... these reports are coming out and saying, "Not just us thinking we need to do it, but now that this is what's going to be expected from the roofing industry." So I know you've done a lot with the durability qualities of the plies. Tell us a little bit more about that. What's happening there?

Kurt Sosinski: Okay, you mentioned the Fredonia part, and we've also found that architects and engineers feel that modified bitumen rolls have a reputation for durability. And I think it leans back towards the built up roof that's in modified bitumen's past. And with that, they do carry through with that, but they have many of the features of some of the single plies and that they're easier to put down, you don't need to surface it. So modified bitumen though do build on that reputation of durability because of the multiply redundancy that is built into a modified bitumen system, the multiplies that are underneath it. So with that, we also wanted to enhance the durability of our own membrane. So what we did was we went after the guts of the material, the asphalt blend, the SBS modified asphalt blend in particular.

Kurt Sosinski: What we've done is we've added a couple of copolymers to that blend. And I can't talk too much about it, but we have added a urethane, we have also added a terpolymer. And between that and how they complex with the SBS, essentially, what we've done is we've raised the softening point of the asphalt bitumen blend by about 10 to 15 degrees without degrading any of the other performance properties such as low temperature flexibility, or any of the elongation properties. Now, this is huge for a roofing contractor because when they're constructing the roof, you're walking on the roof, usually during the heat of the day, and first thing somebody does is they turn and they twist their foot. And what's happened in the past is that that hot modified bitumen that maybe it just been applied in hot asphalt or some solvent-based adhesive, the asphalt and granules will come off of the top of it.

Kurt Sosinski: Well, by enhancing it with these polymers, we've made it more durable to those kinds of forces such that it's firmer underfoot, more firmer than competitive membranes. And it will resist the traffic damage, marring not just during the installation, but also over the long-term performance of the roof membrane on on your building owners roof. So we feel that with a tougher membrane, we will have a longer roof life with that.

Heidi Ellsworth: Well, and it sounds like too from a labor standpoint, between what we talked about with adhesive and what we're talking about with the membrane, you really are going to be helping the contractors install this faster and better with those elements.

Kurt Sosinski: Because they're going to have less time spent having to touch it up afterwards. And I think between the blend and the adhesive that we just discussed, we've given the contractor a couple of new tools to help put modified bitumen systems down quicker and with less problems, less hassle.

Heidi Ellsworth: Less hassle, yeah, that is great. And along the same lines, because we're going to go right into it, so you have the fabric, the adhesive, the blend, and now one of the most important thing, protecting that roof with the granules and granule retention, I'm really excited about this. Tell us about this technology.

Kurt Sosinski: Well, when we first came out with the POWERply Endure MB, I thought the most striking feature for this product was going to be in the asphalt blend itself because that's what really checked off some boxes for me. However, the granule retention that's provided by GranuLock is really been the key feature that's caught the excitement, it caught everybody's eye. Everyone wants to know about GranuLock. And, well, let me tell you a little bit about GranuLock. It's a factory-applied surfacing that protects our modified bitumen surface from UV exposure. It's a clear treatment that's applied while our product is being manufactured, and it serves to lock in the granules that are on that modified bitumen sheet, not only during production or shipment and installation, but also into the service life of the roof.

Heidi Ellsworth: Wow, that's... tell me a little bit about... I just seen these pictures right as the amount of granule loss that the industry is used to and where we're at now with GranuLock and where you guys want to go and share that because I think that's really interesting.

Kurt Sosinski: Okay, you may have seen a magazine ad or the two piles of granules that we showed at the very beginning of this presentation. Now, what that is it's our attempt to show a graphic example of the amount of granules that can be lost just if you follow the industry standard versus if you use GranuLock itself. And I don't need to get into the nuts and bolts of it, but there's a QC test that every modified bitumen manufacturer has to undergo in order to not only to comply with building code, but also to meet the ASTMs standards for MB. But with that, that test allows for a granule scrub of up to two grams of granules off the sample size. And what we're saying is, is that with GranuLock, that granule loss is down to about 0.2 grams of loss, which is approximately 10 times better than the industry standard.

Kurt Sosinski: But if you were at the IRE, you might've seen the trade show display that we showed. We had a huge pile of granules behind a glass wall that showed how much granules could potentially come off from modified bitumen roof for a 30-square roof and compared to what would come off for our GranuLock. And also realized that the granules, this is based on an ASTM test, which is pretty strict. You're taking a wire brush and rubbing across it with pressure for a period of a couple of minutes, but still that's the industry measurements for this to show the durability of your product. We're at 0.2, but I know the goal within our manufacturing group is zero grams lost. It's a difficult goal.

Kurt Sosinski: And the only way I know now that you can get it is by putting maybe some kind of a field-applied coating over the top of your MB after it's been installed. But GranuLock comes straight from the factory with nothing else for the contractor to do during installation. In fact, we've had some people ask, "Hey, can we get GranuLock? I can put it on in the field." And unfortunately, we can't do that at this time. It's a UV cure treatment that's applied on our line. So it's locked in right when the roofs are rolled up. Does that help give you a picture of what the GranuLock does for the product, Heidi?

Heidi Ellsworth: It does. And you know, Kurt? I would like to, and I know probably everybody who's watching, listening to this realizes it, but sometimes the simplest things we just have to remember is when you're talking about the granules protecting that roof, it's not just for longevity and performance, but it's also, there's a huge safety factor. And I mean fire resistance. I know we mentioned that on the screen, but to me that just seems like this is so important to keep those granules on the roof, on the membrane.

Kurt Sosinski: Exactly, exactly. And I'm glad you mentioned that the fire resistance component of granules on a modified bitumen roof is not really talked about, but it's very real and it is required. And it's something that's if your modified bitumen roof has shed its granules, it's probably something that the building owners should address with some kind of a field-applied coating at that point just to make sure that the roof does have the ability to resist fire. But what we're trying to do with the GranuLock on our POWERply Endure is to make sure that your granules stay in place for as long as possible.

Kurt Sosinski: Heidi, one other thing that we haven't mentioned in addition to the fire resistance is, is the fact that it's still very easy for a contractor to work with a membrane that's been manufactured with the GranuLock treatment. We've worked with the water-based coatings and also urethane sealants and silicone sealants. And you may need to put down some lightening terminals or put a new coating over the top of the roof for whatever reason if it's been specified in a certain area. But the GranuLock treatment does not inhibit any of these coatings or sealants from adhering to the new roof. And I just wanted to make sure that the contractors weren't concerned that you were putting something on there that was going to be incompatible. It's not, it's totally compatible with those types of materials.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, because 20, 30 years down the road when they want to coat this, you want to make sure that it all works.

Kurt Sosinski: Definitely.

Heidi Ellsworth: So and make sure of that roof. Perfect. Kind of talking about that, it really leads us into our next thing is that one of... as you know, we've talked I've

worked for other manufacturers, but really once that roof goes down, once it's down, and maybe 10 years from now somebody wants... is doing some maintenance on it or even five years from now, they want to know what the roof is and how to idea it. This is a brand new technology that you're bringing out on your MB Endure products, the POWERply that it's going to allow people to know who did this roof when and how and the date and everything else. Tell us a little bit about that.

Kurt Sosinski: Sure. RFID chips are nothing new in any business. I mean, people have been using RFID chips in department stores and in warehousing for many years. And it's a very proven technology in that way. However, certain applications are just starting to be taken into effect here. What we've done, and we've been doing this a for about a year now, we've been applying the RFID chip onto the back, at least one on the back of every roll that we've been manufacturing. And what that incorporates is the ability to identify the product, and at no extra charge to the contractor or to the building owner. Most of the time, once a roof's down, you just don't know whose it is, or what it is, or where it is, for that matter, what we've started to do with the RFID chips, and you can actually see one of the RFID chips that we're working with now on that photograph it's in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.

Kurt Sosinski: It's been dropped and pressed into place on the underside of the roll. And what you have is a picture there of one of our rolls being pushed out and just catching an image of it. We surprised a few contractors when we put them on. They're wanting to know what that was first of all. But we would encourage you not to cut it out, just to leave it in place. It could be there for your protection at some point down the road, but it just goes to... it gives us the ability to prove that this is our material, and locked into that RFID chip is information that if we scan it with the common RFID scanner, it reveals information that went cross referenced. We can get at the batch number, we can get at the original QC information for that product, the identity of the product, and who knows what further applications we can have down the road.

Kurt Sosinski:  Many people have asked, "Is that RFID chip bothered if we mopped down the sheet and hot asphalt?" No, it's not. It's very durable and it will withstand those high temperatures that go for a short period of time. There are no batteries and there's no lithium cells in there, so there's no fire risk. And it really just comes down to the ability to identify a roof at some point down the road.

Heidi Ellsworth: I just think that's so cool, and I think that's going to be a huge asset to building owners to really have that type of ID opportunity and security on the roof. I know you mentioned to me, I mean, if we just to take two seconds and have a glimpse into the future here, you had talked about that this kind of technology couldn't even become read-write potentially in the future. And so there's a lot of opportunities as we're thinking about it, of how we can use this type of technology on the roof, right?

Kurt Sosinski: Even with just within these RFID chips, there may be a way to link them together. Who knows? It really comes down to the imagination. I had an experience just within the past two weeks where I was running a session, where we had a bunch of new trainees in. And some of the ideas they came up with and some of the applications, I honestly don't know how they came up with it, but there's some really creative thoughts going on out there. And I would challenge anyone to try to think of what kind of information you need or what kind of application you have because there is a lot of technology out there that may help really tie this stuff together these days.

Heidi Ellsworth: It really true. Okay, so this is pretty exciting stuff, and I'd really like to bring it back to the name of our webinar here in the RLW series is how are we changing that conversation? How are we changing the conversation when you get up on the roof? And you started out perfect, like in the past and a lot of times is that cost or about money. But really, the conversation should be about longevity and performance and longterm ROI. So can you just bring it home for us with talking about these technologies and how building owners, how this is going to really create a sustainable, in many ways, returnable roof with return on investment for them over the years?

Kurt Sosinski:  I'm sure. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to backtrack just a little bit. Tremco was founded in 1928, and it was really... the start of Tremco, it started out as a restoration company. It was field representatives went out to work with existing building owners and help make sure that their roof was being maintained, the roof and floors at the time actually. We've gotten a little bit away from the floors, and we've concentrated on the roofing systems. But Tremco evolved over the years and started adding new roof systems to our repertoire. We have modified bitumen system, single ply, metal fluid applied, and the conventional built up roof, and MB systems.

Kurt Sosinski: But one thing has stayed certain is that we still have the ability to restore existing roofs. But in order to restore a roof, you really need to have a solid base, a solid roof system. And all of the roofing technology has come so far in the past, past two or three decades, that even now you can restore a single ply roof with lots of different technologies. And many people, not just Tremco are doing that now. But one thing does stay certain is that you really do need to have a solid base if you intend to restore it. And many times it becomes a real key criteria for the building owner because they don't want to have the odor, they don't want to have the just the noise of somebody working above their building. They don't want to create the waste either.

Kurt Sosinski:  So that goes back to the original premise of our discussion, whereas the building owner is looking for greater value, and what greater value is there is to take a solid roof that's in great shape and just to upgrade it. And my contention is, is that our PoWERply system if you are in a situation where you need a new roof, the POWERply Endure system is that roof system. And I've shown you the features here today, and hopefully, we've talked enough about the benefits that you could see the reasoning behind that. But when it does come time to restore it, that roof system will remain a restoration candidate, and it would serve as a solid base for that restoration approach.

Heidi Ellsworth: That is great. That is I think something that everybody who's watching this can take and really put into their conversations as they're talking to their building owners about the importance of that solid base, that durable performing roof that can then be continued to be restored throughout the years, really saving money for everybody, but also protecting what's underneath, which is the business we're in, to protect. There may be some folks out there right now who are kind of wondering like, "How do I get this? How do we do that?" This is a Tremco product, and Tremco has a very large certified contractor group. They are across the country, in Canada, globally.

Heidi Ellsworth: So what we would ask is if you are interested in what Kurt has been talking about today and what we've gone over, please go to the tremcoroofing.com page and go to the contact, and it's on the screen right now. And the best thing you can do is talk directly to Tremco, talk to the Tremco sales rep and see what opportunities there are for you. Because as you can see, there's a lot of great, great things going into this product and into this whole lot... it's everything that Tremco is doing with their roofing system.

Heidi Ellsworth: So, Kurt, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your time today. And we have your information up here. So again, if you have questions and you want to talk to somebody, please contact Kurt at either his office or through his email. And what we'd like to do right now is open this up to questions. I have a few here that have come in. And so, Kurt, one of the questions that we had come in is they noticed on the side about the adhesion that you were rolling on that adhesive. They would really like to know a little bit more about the sprayability and how that works with spray machines, maybe what you recommend?

Kurt Sosinski: Well, Heidi, I'm so glad that question came in because we did need to talk about that. Rolling application is just one way that the POWERply Endure BIO Adhesive can be applied. It can also be spray-applied, it can definitely be sprayed. It does involve the use of a plural component pump. It's the Graco XP70 is recommended, and it allows the product to be spray-applied at a coverage rate of about two gallons per square. And, oh, I'm just so glad that question came in because spray application is so key to productivity for contractors, especially for modified bitumen systems. So we would have been remiss had we not mentioned that.

Heidi Ellsworth: Well, when we're talking about technologies and the spray machines, the spray on equipment that is up on the roof, that's a whole another webinar we could do on the technologies that are going into that and how that helps with labor and the roofing contractors up on the roof. So I know you work very closely with Graco and are really trying to bring a lot of those technologies to bear to help with that labor problem.

Kurt Sosinski:  With Graco, and in particular, there are two distributors who offer a custom packages both here in the US and in Canada. So I would be glad to forward that information, that special kit package for the spray equipment if you wanted to contact me or any Tremco representative. Thanks.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's perfect. You know what? You kind of answered this earlier, but it's still, maybe just talk a little bit about the GranuLock in the fact that it is factory-applied because someone is asking like, "Well, can we do that on the roof? Can we do that while we're up there?" So maybe just real quick, just revisit that for a second on really not doing it on the roof, but that it comes that way.

Kurt Sosinski: Right, the GranuLock treatment it's not a coating, it's a treatment. But since it's UV cured, it just can't be applied in the field effectively. I'm sure that somebody could feel to apply any kind of a coating on top of an MB on the roof if that was a desire. But the whole benefit of this is to reduce labor, to reduce the need to put field-applied coatings on. So that's why we apply the GranuLock in the factory.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's perfect. And one last question, and this is more on... this came in from us folks at RoofersCoffeeShop, but what are you hearing from the contractors who have been installing this on the roof?

Kurt Sosinski: With respect to the Endure Bio Adhesive or the MBS? Does it say?

Heidi Ellsworth: To both, to the systems because they've been replying me, really what kind of the feedback from the contractors?

Kurt Sosinski: The major feedback's been the lack of odor. And in fact, that's the one question that you ask somebody when you're up there. I was like, "Hey, do you like that smell?" And and they say, "What smell?" And it's like exactly, they don't realize that they're not smelling anything because it's so innocuous from that angle, you're not catching a little bit of a xylene smell or a mineral spirits, spirits smell. But the other thing that contractors have been impressed with is the strength. This material, the adhesive, the POWERply Endure BIO Adhesive can cure within a half hour to one hour depending on the weather conditions.

Kurt Sosinski:  And that gives the contractor even more power. For instance, if you have an adhesive that cures within the hour, you're not tracking asphalt's bleed out across the roof for the next several days. We've seen roofs over the years where tracking has been significant, the building owners left asking for the roof contractor to coat the roof when he's done because it's gotten tracked up. Everybody wants things to look sharp and stay sharp these days, and you will have that opportunity with the Endure Bio Adhesive because it cures so quickly and it won't have that tracking. In addition to the quick cure, the strength of the adhesive is also jumped out of contractor comments back to us.

Kurt Sosinski:  We did a demonstration at the IRE in, oh, two years ago when we introduced the product at the IRE two years ago, the Endure Bio Adhesive. And we were

able to demonstrate live and in person with the field wind uplift test that we can achieve pressure resistances of over 300 PSF with this POWERply Endure Bio Adhesive and the resulting system, which are hurricane force pressures. Now, we all know that there's a lot that goes into building a roof so that it can withstand hurricanes. But having a durable cap sheet and having an adhesive that's not going to peel back is a big part of that. It's just as important as making sure that your perimeter edges are properly tied down and constructed. So that's been some of the feedback we've received on the adhesive and how it performs.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's great because it really, as a contractor, what we hear from our contractors all the time is they want to hear what other contractors are finding and what they're seeing. So that have that kind of great feedback on odor and wind lift and the ease of installation. I think that makes a huge, huge difference for other contractors who are looking at it and wondering how they want to make it part of their business.

Kurt Sosinski: Heidi, it's not the time of the year right now, but I'd also like to extend an invite to any contractor to our contractor training sessions. We usually do those during the cold time of the year, not right now when everyone's working, but during the slower times of the year, probably from November through February. So please follow our websites, talk to our reps. We'd love to have you come in and watch some of these real systems be installed. We'd love to demonstrate them to you and some of these technologies live and in person, plus to our plant.

Heidi Ellsworth: That is an amazing invitation. And how better than to sit with other contractors and be able to talk about it and look at it and really hands on. That's great continuing education for any contractor on during the winter.

Kurt Sosinski:  We'd love to have you.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's great. Well, Kurt, I just want to thank you. This has been so informational and I just love the fact of how we're taking something, or that you're taking something that has been around, that has been proven and making it even better and even stronger with all these new technologies. And so we would like to encourage our readers, and our audience, and our contractors to continue to follow this, follow Tremco on RoofersCoffeeShop. There are blogs, there's going to be this RLW, which we'll have, as we said before, the webinar on demand video. You'll have a podcast that you can listen to and, of course, we will be downloading the transcript so that we can read about it and continue to blog on these technologies. So, Kurt, again, thank you so much for being here.

Kurt Sosinski: Thank you, Heidi. I enjoyed talking to you and enjoyed sharing our product information with all of your readers and listeners at RoofersCoffeeShop.

Heidi Ellsworth: Thank you so much. And to everybody online, thank you for spending your time with us today. Thank you if you're watching this on demand, and to be sure to visit our webinar page for upcoming RLW, for upcoming webinars, and for our podcasts, which are we have some really fun podcasts to listen to out there. So we encourage all of you to take some time and read, listen, and watch. Thank you all and have a great day.

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