Australian firm puts a wrap on storm damage

Rockdale, Australia — An Australian-invented plastic film that protects storm-damaged buildings is soon to make its way to the U.S. market.

Stormseal is manufactured by Stormseal Industries Pty. Ltd. at its factory in Rockdale, a community in southern Sydney. The low density polyethylene film is heat shrunk to seal damaged roofs or walls to provide secure protection from wind, rain and hail until permanent repairs are made.

It can be in place up to 12 months and needs no adjustment during use. It replaces the traditional method of using tarpaulins to cover damage, which often require replacement or resecuring after two to three months.

Already used by one of Australia's largest insurers, Stormseal's inventor and Stormseal Industries Managing Director Matthew Lennox is now in talks with a U.S. insurance company's claims manager, which he would not name, to bring the product to the American market.

A former insurance repair contractor, Lennox told Plastics News he came up with the idea to shrink wrap damaged buildings after trying to protect hundreds of homes and commercial buildings during a series of damaging hailstorms in Sydney in 2007.

He was unable to keep up with demand, running out of tarps and having to revisit many sites after wind dislodged the tarpaulins or rain seeped through.

“It was running up costs and sometimes causing as much damage as the initial storm,” he said. “I knew there had to be a better, more efficient and cost-effective way.”

Lennox began investigating suitable resins and, with the help of a polymer expert, eventually settled on a method similar to how food manufacturers wrap and seal products.

Today he holds patents for Stormseal and the heat-shrink installation method, and manufactures the resin rolls and heat guns in Rockdale. He no longer installs the protective wrap himself, but provides the product and training to licensed installers across Australia.

Lennox said Stormseal film is faster, cheaper and easier to install than tarps. The LDPE sheets are cut and tailored at the worksite and heat cured to increase strength. They fit snugly to the structure without damaging underlying materials.

The 16.5-foot-wide wrap is pulled like household clingwrap from a metal box on a truck's rear platform and installed by two operators. Each vehicle carries a box containing 34,500 square feet of product, heat sealing guns, ladders and other equipment needed to access damaged roofs.

Lennox said Brisbane-based Australian insurance giant Suncorp Group Ltd. took an interest in the product last year and has entered into a licensing agreement for its home repair agents to install Stormseal instead of tarpaulins.

He said another large Australian insurer, Sydney-based IAG Ltd., is considering using the product.

“Insurers like it because it eliminates … costs like additional damage when rain leaks through and sending people out to resecure tarps,” Lennox said.

“Homeowners like it too because it is drum-tight and lasts up to 12 months. People can stay in their homes while they wait for repairs, rather than look for temporary accommodation.”

Lennox will be in the United States in December for talks with insurance claims managers.