ATLANTA — Kroy Building Products Inc. is using a coextrusion process to manufacture fencing with a black-iron appearance.
York, Neb.-based Kroy introduced its black composite ornamental fencing at the International Builders' Show, held Feb. 9-12 in Atlanta.
Black-colored plastic outdoor products are difficult to make because the color absorbs heat, making the part prone to warpage. Kroy solved the problem by coextruding a layer of a high-performance plastic over a pultruded profile, said John Forbis, Kroy's president and chief executive officer.
"We think having an extruded finish on a pultruded core really creates the perfect composite product," he said in a Feb. 23 telephone interview. The pultruded core is fiberglass. With a polymer surface, the fence has significant weatherability and durability.
The company entered into a joint marketing venture with Fargo, N.D.-based Tecton Products LLC, which is doing the pultrusion, Forbis said.
"We put a very hard finish on a very structural rigid substrate, so it's an excellent match of materials," said John Jambois, Tecton's president. "The heat deflection is several hundred degrees so we can run any color and have dimensional stability without any softening."
Tecton has developed the technology to run composite products at high speed for continuous process of fiberglass into profile, he said.
"Other attempts at black had failed," Forbis said, due especially to black's heat-absorbent nature.
In other product news for Kroy, they are using a webbed configuration for a 2001 Deck System manufactured from PVC, Forbis said.
"We're trying to create a fairly tall deck board," he said. "Angled rib walls help stabilize product from racking in either direction and allow it to pass the planned [American Architectural Manufacturers Association] impact test for decking."
The company also showed a prototype of the Ultimate Deck Board, which is manufactured by coextruding rubberized material to a PVC deck core to provide an anti-static, anti-slip deck, Forbis said.
"We think it's going to have tremendous applications, especially in the marine market," he said. Kroy plans to release that product in the second quarter.
The company, which is owned by Providence, R.I.-based Nortek Inc., recently announced an expansion with the purchase of a former Owens Corning vinyl siding facility in Fair Bluff, N.C., to meet growing demand on the East Coast. The company also has opened a sales and marketing office in Raleigh, N.C.
