Behind the scenes with Tower Sealants.

This paint life TV. I'm Chris. I'd hope here today. I'm with another special guest here at Tower Sealins in Georgia Gamesville, Georgia. So I've got Dale Thomason with me today and he is one of the original founders of Tower Sealins and You know, Dale Just to give our audience a little bit about your background. Can you just tell me? You know how you got in this business and how Tower Sealins started? Yeah, sure. I started it in the industry back in 1990 with a company called Lighthouse products We were acquired by another big publicly traded company and I didn't like the direction they were going So I left out of there went to work for another company and then about two years into that 10-year I started working on a business model for Tower Sealins So, you know, you started off in the caulking industry and making sealants. Why why did you start Tower Sealins? What was the big motivating factor? The big motivating factor was the over where the industry quality was going in terms of sealants and You know and my previous career we had always worked with a pro painter and you know It was very difficult to find a sealant that you know that really worked For the everyday painter. So when we started Tower, you know, it was more focused on not only the quality of the product But the innovation of the sealant itself So I'm going to say, you know, I was introduced to your guys as products and not that long ago and the very first tube of caulking that I opened up and used from Tower Sealins It was a product tower tech too and from the initial moment that I opened it up and started using it I knew there was a big difference. I knew it was a high quality product I started using it and it was the best product that I had ever used when it comes to caulking and sealants And then one of the major things I noticed which is kind of an epidemic in the caulking industry is Air bubbles or what we call air pops and The caulking tubes and I noticed none of your tubes had that same You know problem and so I was extremely impressed with that, but you know, I don't want to my The one of the people that follows us and he asks a question on Instagram. You know, what separates Tower from the competition And so can you just you know, yeah, you know, it's yeah, it's a number of factors one is is the actual formulation itself You know that is designed to deliver productivity for the professional painter The components the raw materials that we choose you know to manufacture the product the equipment Is extremely important maintenance, you know to make sure that an ensure that we don't you know, we have air free product all of our You know products are you know either transferred or pumped or when they're mixed or all under vacuum So that eliminates any of those air boards It which is really interesting to me because you know It really baffled me because to me it seems like a very simple thing to put some caulking in the tube without air bubbles But apparently it's not so simple because I think you guys are one of the only manufacturers that have figured this out and then Is it difficult or it is it's extremely difficult and you know It has to do with the initial viscosity Versus what the equilibrated viscosity is and The the velocity in which you fill it So, you know if you're you know if you're filling something because it's like a ice cream cone And it has that roping effect if you go too slow that induces air into the cartridge So you know and and cocks are very viscous. So it takes a lot of pressure and a lot of Velocity to get that filled without any air. Yeah, that's it's absolutely fascinating to me And I've got you guys have given me the amazing tour of the factory I've got to see the caulking being manufactured. I've got to Talk to the chemist behind all this madness and the chemist is absolutely amazing stay tuned for that You know video coming up because man there is way more involved into manufacturing caulking Then we actually know about so I think You know the chemist has been involved with this company for quite a few years. Oh, he was yeah Rob stand or he's been with us since the beginning of I've known Rob since back to the 90s He was a polymer development chemist and you know I was purchasing the polymers from Rob and and when I started talking to Rob probably around 2000 and For somewhere along it there about starting a business and you know, he said he was ready to go and was all in so Yeah, that's that's awesome. So stay tuned for Rob's interview because they've got you know Asked the chemists some crazy questions. We're gonna find out You know a little bit about what's inside these tubes and what makes Tower sealants you know superior a superior product. So I'm staying tuned for that All right, they also you know what I what I got here. I started talking to how you the team Matt on the chemist There seem to be something different about you guys and Manufacturing sealants. It seemed like you guys really have a passion for this and it seems like you guys really do care So can you just give me and our audience a little insight what motivates you and what are your goals here? You know what tower sealant. Yeah, I mean what really motivates all of us here is the customer and you know Providing them a product that delivers them productivity that that saves them money where they don't have Have any callbacks They can go to the job one time and get paid You know the customer service delivering the product on time the quality You know, we we love to hear you know all the you know the good news about our products all time Yeah, you know I you know once again got the tour got the um chemist tour of got the Manufacturing tour and I was absolutely amazed at the quality control the passion What goes into making a tube of caulking here and how much pride you guys take into it you know One little fun fact and we do have a photograph back there. I see a race car Back there and I saw a wall back here, you know of some racing photos. I even saw some parts of cars hanging on the wall You actually race cars yourself you were a driver. Yeah, I race cars for years Got into it in 2011 and then it just you know it took you know the racing Got integrated in the business and uh, I couldn't race anymore because I was too busy promoting it and Um Have you ever been in the crash in a race ever just about every race that I've been in And I'm sure like every one of those crashes took a lot of money out of your pocketbook and because I I'm sure those cars aren't Yo cheap. It was worth every penny of it. Yeah, so you enjoyed it and I do have a box of caulking right here And this is manufactured by tower sealants and the product is called a Accelerator and I'm the chemist is going to talk a little bit about this product because it was something I learned This is something you have to hear what this product actually does what it resolves and industry goes back to You know my controversial methods of caulking your tape, but a accelerator The little trivia. What was that named after? It was named after the racing after the racing So a accelerator goes right back to your racing routes and racing cars That's pretty cool a little fun fact with tower sealants. So cool Someday if you ever get an race car again, you got to put me in the passenger seat I would love to be in a race car someday. There's nothing like being in a race. Nothing like being in a race car Cool, so Dale when it comes to you know a accelerator versus tower tech to again is there, you know any Anything that would you know adversely affect the quality of a fast ride caulking versus one that's you know a typical You know dry caulking maybe two hours four hours. I mean yeah There's absolutely no difference in the terms of quality It's just a using a different polymer and has different functionality. There's no adverse side effects From you using one or the other so it's kind of like just You know making a cake versus a pancake. I mean they just got different recipes and they serve a different purpose And they taste a little bit differently But you can have a cake that tastes good and you can have a pancake that tastes good. That's correct I just came up with that myself So so I got another question So you um mentioned something and I know like I've seen You know this a lot and this might you know go back to um the chemist and we're gonna be involved interviewing the mad scientists behind all this stuff and He what I've learned from him was absolutely amazing But I know you know all this stuff like the back of your hand too. So what does um It says exceeds a stm c-834 standards. What does that mean? Yeah, it's a it's a specification There's really two two classifications a call. There's a stm c834 minus 18. That's just a test But that's for an aesthetic type sealant where you have a stm c920 or test specifications for extreme conditions That typo. So is that something like is a um, I'm a repainter So I do a lot of residential repaints interior exterior Repainting do I need to be reading these tubes of caulking and do I need to be looking for that? Is that something I need to be concerned about or is that for somebody else? No, you need to be concerned with it because to make sure that it meets them the The the requirements of the test. So it's it's painable. It has a certain amount of flex to it That it's not you know, gonna turn hard and you know turn into concrete after you know three to six months So if a tube does not have that on there then I can assume that it doesn't meet those standards. Any specific case So when I'm talking to you a little while ago yesterday I think there was there was a lot of these specifications that you know, you have to meet manufacturer caulking and it seems like You guys always go above and beyond way above and beyond meeting just those specifications Yeah, you meet that but um, is there some truth to that did I understand? Yeah, absolutely technology has come a really long way So we're the a stm. Let's just say for example a stm c920 It calls for a minimum of five pounds of adhesion. That's a peel adhesion Today's technology is 20 25 and 30 pounds of peel adhesion So we you we take it to the extremes all right, so now I asked you this a stm Standard now. I've grabbed a tower tech two and this is my go-to caulking It has a completely different a stm standard. So it says a stm c-920 What's the difference between 834 and 920? Yeah, a c834 is an aesthetic It's just meant to join two substrates together and give them a smooth transition It can be used you know a c834 you know can be used in both interior and exterior applications But the a stm c920 if you will is more for extreme conditions where you have high joint movement You know freezing sub freezing temperatures high heat, you know A large daily temperature swing. So that's a that's a good point So like a lot of the caulking that we do on exteriors is what I consider aesthetic caulking so caulking a soft events, you know If there's not a lot of extreme movement. It's a vent that's nailed up there But it just looks nicer if it's caulks so you can use you know One that has an stm 34, but you know if you got siding where two joints butted together And there's going to be a lot of movement. You're definitely going to be want to look in for an a stm 920 caulking So and I assume there's there's going to be a little bit of price difference because this is Yeah, absolutely The a stm c920 products are more they cost more and obviously you get what you pay for. I know It's interesting because now I know the difference you guys have an amazing handout that people can get to kind of Walk them through you know what would be the proper caulking you know to use where they're using I I always like to keep things simple. I keep one on two sizes tape inch and inch and half I keep one size of paper nine inch. I keep 72 inch masking film and I know I just keep this in my van. This is my go-to caulking that I use for aesthetic caulking and extreme joint movement I like to just keep the process simple and I'm more concerned about giving my customer A good quality job with good quality products. I'm not so concerned about saving a few pennies on a tube of caulking But you know for those people that margins, you know, make a difference, you know, you can look at multiple You know options you can have you know one versus the other and it looks like you guys got a massive line up of caulking types of different caulking could you tell me How many different caulking products you guys sell do you know off the top of your head? Yeah Yeah, that's a That's a good question because this is the big Yeah Yeah, I have to count them right there There's a lot so we can just say there's a lot of different products you guys sell so All right, Dale, I've got another question for you and And it's gonna you know kind of talk about you know tower tech to you Which is the go-to caulking that I use in a sellerator so you know I use to refinished and still do refinished cabinets and and one of the things we used to do is Caulk the cabinets and paint them the same day and It's very important to have a fast ride caulking so you can do that process You can get in and out and paint these cabinets you know very quickly But I know you guys didn't manufacture this caulking for me the Idaho painter So you know, why did you guys create a fast ride caulking? Yeah, I mean let's just say you have a job and it's only going to take a few hours Maybe it's so you know you got to go in and paint a closet and you can't wait you know four to six hours to you know Before you apply paint you need to move on to the next job So the the fast ride Caulk the quit paints are designed so you can you know get in there caulk paint And move on to the next job. Yeah, now where I see that coming into play and this is where you walk into a bedroom A customer hires you to paint just one room and this one room had some brand new trim You don't put in there so you got to spray the trim And then you got to let that trim dry and then you got to paint the walls and so I've got to caulk that trim So I'm going to caulk that trim it's going to be dry within third. It's actually sprayable Immediately you can spray it immediately and then the trim paint that we paint you weak typically can mask on it in a couple hours So we're going to mask on it and then we're going to begin rolling your walls So it's important to you know have paints that dry fast. It's important to have caulking that dries fast That's actually going to perform you know very well. So It's a great product one thing I discovered about this product is a sellerator I'm going to go back. I'm going to test it. I might make a video because I've got a lot of people asking me world wide about this You know when you caulk over your tape. So I use frog tape I'm putting caulking down to get a straight line. I'm painting right over it And people are asking me well what happens if the paint cracks because you're using flat or matte paint Apparently paint does not flat paint does not call our crack using the sellerator product I've seen some test samples in the lab from the chemist that designed you know this product and I'm super excited to test it out I'm super excited to show my audience because this has been A problem for a lot of people using flat paints and I think we've got the solution to your guys's problems Stay tuned for that How you can paint with flat paints over the top of wet caulking and it not crack. So That's going to be some you'll want to check out that video when you're done Watching this video. All right, so it's been an awesome opportunity talking to you for Dale and Thank you very much for having me here. Absolutely. Thank you for very much for You've given me the grand tour of the facility and given me a lot more understanding of what it takes to manufacture coxene caulking There's so much more involved. There's so much more involved in making the best products out there and I appreciate your passion I appreciate your guys's hospitality You know bringing us here and if you know the audience if guys got questions I'm sure Dale and the staff will be monitoring this video if you got any questions about caulking You know just leave them down in the comments section below anything and everything You know caulking and sealant related just throw it down in the comments section below I'll bet Dale would appreciate it if you gave him a thumbs up you know on this video So would I it's what motivated us to keep doing this and like we always say Thank you Dale for having us here. We'll see you on the next video