Cover your Ugly . . .

A long overdue update!

2012-01-24T21:19:00.001-06:00

It has been far too long since I updated these blog posts! When Christmas came I guess I just got too busy to post and forgot all about it. However, that does not mean that things have been overly relaxed at Head Office. Even though it's the off-season there's still lots to do; there have been forklift training, TDG courses, product R & D, and tech-bugs to work out. PLUS we're launching a new Eavestroughing division which will work in our local area: Imperial Eavestroughing Ltd. Starting that has had its own share of challenges, but it will be worth it.

What will probably be the most interesting for people is the testing we're doing to try and replicate whitening problems that we see "in the field." For those of you that think your concrete is hard and almost impermeable, keep an eye on our Facebook page. We've got some concrete patio blocks sitting in salt water, and after only four days the results are shocking: the salt has already made it to the surface of the blocks, and the moisture even appears to have "jumped" over to some of our control blocks that aren't immersed in water! One of those blocks has been cut so we can see what's going on inside, and the salt looks like it's almost oozing out! What's most interesting, though, is which of our products is helping keep the salt off of the surface of our Sierra Stone the best. Watch for updates at www.facebook.com/sierrastone.rubberstone.

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UPDATE: I posted pictures of a couple of the blocks on our Facebook page, and the pictures say it all.

This is a concrete block with Sierra Stone on top that's been sitting in salt water for about 2 weeks:

This is a similar block, but we coated it with our new Efflorescence Blocker before we applied the Sierra Stone. It's been in the same salt water as the other one for the same length of time, but look at the difference!

It's Time to Think About Maintenance in the Cold!

2011-10-09T08:30:00.001-06:00

When our dealers are out selling Sierra Stone and RubberStone, I know they often get asked if our products will survive the freeze-thaw cycle that occurs in many states and provinces across North America. Many people seem to think that because Sierra Stone is so hard that a build-up of ice will cause it to crack or pop off; but that's not the case at all. We've owned the Sierra Stone trademark since the late 1980s, and up here in Saskatchewan it gets cold--I mean really cold. When I was in college I remember a night that the wind-chill brought the temperature down to -51 Celsius! For our American readers that's about -60 Fahrenheit! However, despite what you may have heard, it doesn't stay cold here all year round; we also get temperatures around 30 Celsius (or 86 Fahrenheit) during the summer. That means we get as much of a freeze-thaw cycle as anyone else in North America, and if our product couldn't stand-up to it we probably wouldn't have lasted for almost 30 years. Furthermore, we couldn't have a network with more than 70 dealers across North America without a great product!

So how does such a tough, durable product survive the freeze-thaw cycle of Saskatchewan winters? My theory is that the space between the stones is the key to our success. Although our dealers pack the stones as tightly as possible when they're doing an install, there is still a small amount of space around each stone. We all know that when water freezes it expands, and according to the laws of physics it will expand in the direction of least resistance. Those small spaces between the stones provide that path of least resistance so that the freezing water can expand without putting excessive pressure on each rock. Sierra Stone also has a very high compressive strength, so when you combine that with the space between each stone you get a product that has no trouble surviving harsh winters and hot summers. RubberStone is similar because there are spaces between each crumb of rubber, and it has so much flexibility and compressibility that it survives the freeze-thaw cycle just as well as Sierra Stone; maybe even better.

All that being said, there is one way to guarantee problems with both Sierra Stone and RubberStone during cold winters, and that is using salt on it. Now, if you've read the literature on both products you know that they are both very chemical resistant: especially Sierra Stone. So, how can we say they are chemical resistant and yet harmed by salt in winter months? Because salt erodes concrete! The salt won't harm the Sierra Stone or RubberStone that you've had applied over your old and ugly concrete, but as all of the salt that you've applied to your driveway, patio, or walkway over winter begins to mix with water as the weather warms-up it will run through the Sierra Stone or RubberStone and get sucked-up by the concrete underneath. Once inside it will erode the concrete, and could eventually cause the top layer of concrete to shayl-off, taking your Sierra Stone or RubberStone with it. We recommend that you use ice-melter, not salt, in the winter; the kind that doesn't harm vegetation will probably be the best. This will help keep your Sierra Stone or RubberStone clear of ice while extending the life of your investment.

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If this post was helpful to you, find out more by vising www.SierraStone.ca, or visit our pages on Facebook and Twitter. If you still have questions please call your local dealer or our head office at 1-888-799-3960.

Meeting Customer Demand . . . for a cheaper product?

2011-09-19T09:49:00.001-06:00

I've been helping out in this office, and in our packaging facility, ever since I was strong enough to hold up a 4L jug; but even after all this time some things still come as a surprise to me. I'm a very practical person: I like to buy a decent products and items that I will use. I've also become a bit smarter over the years when it comes to buying quality products: you get what you pay for, and often when I've bought cheap junk I've paid extra in frustration. That's why it surprises me when we have a better quality product than our competition, but we have to bring in a slightly inferior product to meet customer demand.

When we first introduced our Rubber Stone product line (which is a product we use to cover ugly concrete, asphalt, pavers, and even decks with 100% recycled rubber) we took a look at a couple of variations of the product. The two main contenders were pigmented rubber and EPDM, and it was quickly decided that EPDM was the better quality product that we should carry. Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (i.e. EPDM) rubber is a synthetic rubber that has its pigments or dyes added to it during the production process; the end result is that the EPDM rubber granuals that we purchase are purely pigmented so that their color will not wear off over time. We chose to use EPDM over pigmented rubber crumb because the the pigmented crumbs are simply black with a thin coat of color put over top of them, and that means the color will wear off over time. If we had a product that would refresh the color after a few years the pigmented crumb approach would make more sense, but at this point we haven't found anything that will do the job.

You can see by the pictures on our Facebook page, the Tweets, and (soon to come) the color samples on our website that we are now adding a line of pigmented colors our Rubber Stone product line. For now, you'll find a sample photo of our colors below. Our local competition has been selling jobs with the pigmented rubber, but at a lower price because the pigmented crumbs are much cheaper than EPDM. As it turns out, even though our customers know that they will end up with tire-tracks on their driveways, and worn areas where there is high foot-traffic a surprising number of customers are still choosing to go with the cheaper product. In all honesty, I can't say that I completely understand their decision, but good business means meeting demand with supply and for the moment that means bringing in a cheaper product for our customers. I just hope that the cheaper product doesn't create headaches for both ourselves, and our network of 70+ dealers across North America.

Be Careful Who You Work For: Contracts Don't Mean Much Anymore!

2011-08-31T16:32:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week we received an email from one of our dealers, and it was one that we definitely didn't see coming! This particular dealer, who I'll call John for simplicity, had called us a month or so ago to tell us one of his customers was launching a lawsuit against him--because his Sierra Stone had cracked!

Now, I should make you aware that John has used or at least based his contracts on the standard contract we use in our office. In the warranty section of that contract it clearly states that there is no warranty either expressed or implied against cracking because we can't control the movement of the substrate. If my memory serves me correctly, in this particular circumstance the Sierra Stone was applied over existing cracked concrete near a body of water that was known to hit the concrete fairly hard when high winds occurred. I'm also fairly confident that John made the customer aware that it was extremely likely that the Sierra Stone would crack under those conditions. However, the customer insisted and they did the work anyway.

As expected, the Sierra Stone cracked in the same way the customer's concrete had, but--with little or no regard for the limitations of warranty stipulated in his contract--the customer launched a lawsuit for damages. In the email we received earlier this week, John told us that it appears the courts are going to rule against him and he is going to have to pay to have the Sierra Stone removed and replaced! As I said before, this is all in spite of the fact that the contract very clearly states we do not warranty cracking due to substrate movement and the customer's verbal consent to that aspect of the contract!!

Due to the severity of the lawsuit John now faces, and the fact that it appears to defy any form of common sense, I want to pass along a bit of advice to all of our dealers: choose your jobs carefully. I know that--to some extent--we can't be too picky about the applications we choose, but we need to balance that with a willingness to walk away from potential headaches. At some point every one of us has done a job that we knew would be a headache from the moment we pulled up to the house. Sometimes those jobs come out OK, but sometimes they end up costing more than we can handle. For some of the jobs we can keep the Rubber Stone in mind because of its increased flexibility and compressibility; but even Rubber Stone can't go over everything.

The Pitfalls of Technology

2011-08-19T22:02:00.001-06:00

As many of you know, all but one of the telephone lines that we use at the Sierra Stone Head Office are internet-based, voice-over-internet-protocol (i.e. VOIP) lines. We implemented the VOIP system a few years ago because we needed more lines due to higher call volumes, and being in a rural area made the cost of getting more land-lines put in far to expensive. Voice-over-IP services have proven to be both highly effective and extremely economical for many companies in recent years, and I had hoped that ours would benefit as well.

Over the years we've fought with inconsistent internet service and slow internet speeds more often than we would have liked until the last few months. We switched internet service providers and now have a very strong and consistent internet signal. However, now our VOIP provider has decided to change over its billing system which means creating new accounts and changing our settings. This has led, at least in part, to a barrage of persistent (and extremely frustrating), technical problems which have lasted for a good portion of this month. On Thursday the problems peaked when our VOIP provider attempted to do a "simple" account upgrade which has resulted in an almost complete lack of VOIP telephone services in our office: we can call out, but our customers can't call in.

We all know what an office space can be like when important pieces of technology aren't working, and our office is no exception. All of us have been frustrated at the current situation, and the most frustrating part about it is that we are essentially at the mercy of technicians who are a very long distance from our office. The frustration and pressure from within the office have prompted me to switch VOIP providers, so we are now using the services of a company that provides VOIP for Delta Airlines, IBM, StateFarm, and a number of other large companies. HOWEVER, it appears that we have run into a similar problem during the setup process: I can call out, but our customers cannot call in. The symptoms of the problem are different than those with our other provider, and I am relatively certain they should have things up and running by Monday at the latest.

In any case, we ask that you be patient with us as we try and work this out. Believe it or not, we're as frustrated as anybody about this whole situation. Hopefully this new service provider will be the last step in perfecting our system.

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UPDATE: As of August 22, 2011 our 1-888-799-3960 number has been call-forwarded to our new provider so we are up and running again. Now to see how reliable the service is . . .

Website Modifications

2011-08-17T13:15:00.000-06:00

This morning I got an email from our dealer in Calgary about the twitter page he has set up for Sierra Stone. I had completely forgotten about that, but now a link to it has been added to our homepage as well. I'll add a link to the other pages shortly, but it will take a little time. The main problem with updating our website continually is that it was created using Microsoft Notepad back in the 90's, and that means that I have to edit each page individually by copying and pasting in the new code. Now they have new scrips like PHP which allow you to use a standard template for the site so you can edit all the pages in each step. At this point that would be nice since we've got 8+ pages for me to edit.

In addition, I'll be making the following changes to the website over the next while:

add a sample of our Grey Blend stone color to the Sierra Stone colors page
setup slide shows on our colors and pictures pages so the images are larger
add downloadable MSDS sheets for safety
add a separate page for downloading brochures and viewing our YouTube videos
adding a link to this blog to our pages

I'll probably do more than that, but it's a start. I also have to add EnduraFlake Floors and RubberStone Mats to our website soon. I guess I'd better get started, but if you have any ideas for the site please feel free to email them to me!

Blogging for the Top Spot!

2011-08-16T16:03:00.000-06:00

Well, I've finally decided to start a blog about what's going on at E.W. Industries Ltd: the home of Sierra Stone, Rubber Stone, and EnduraFlake Floors. Admittedly, I've been boycotting things like blogs, Facebook, and other social networking concepts because up until now I've been of the opinion that I don't need to let the whole world know my business. I've been happy talking to friends and coworkers, but to put things on the internet for all to see is a big step up from there!

However, over the past year or so I've heard a lot about using social networking sites in order to increase a website's ranking with Google, Yahoo, and other search engines. At this point my understanding is that once I link our Facebook Page, this blog, and our main website together, when each one is updated it helps to increase the ranking of all three. Apparently, one aspect of the page-ranking process includes how often a webpage, and the linked pages within it, are updated; so blogging and creating Facebook discussions can help. So, here it goes: from now on there will be opinions, bulletins, and other information posted within the pages of this blog and I'll be watching our sites to see what happens!

Now . . . to link this to our webpage and our Facebook page. This will be fun . . .