My name is Ronald (Ron) Wolfe. I am a product developer with 40 years experience in the wall repair and painting industry. I saw a need in the marketplace for a wall repair product for cracks that have ongoing movement. I call it Cracks Won’t Come Back (CWCB). When you repair a crack it may expand or contract after the repair. There are products on the market which can flex if the crack expands but not avoid buckling if the crack contracts. I have developed a product which solves this problem. It’s patent number is US 11,130,297. I have made and installed prototypes yielding successful long term (6 years) results.
The market for my product includes painters, handymen, wall repair contractors, property managers, and skilled do-it-your-selfers. There are about 178,000 painting contractors in the U.S. and 91,000 handymen. 36% of the 80 million US homeowners took on DIY projects in 2023. 79% of millennials started a DIY project.
Almost every homeowner I have met has a wall or ceiling crack that has been repaired and has come back due to changes in humidity, vibration, or settling. I did a survey on Facebook and Linked In. Handymen and painting contractors said they would buy CWCB in a heartbeat. Homeowners in Colorado, Missouri, Tennessee, Minnesota, Michigan, and Toronto said they had a need for CWCB to solve a recurring crack problem in their home.
CWCB consists of two pieces of self adhesive drywall tape which are attached to a flexible center membrane. This assembly is pre-stretched about ¼” and held in place by a structural support (presently I use a 1/32” thick piece of flexible plastic) with repositionable tape . After peeling off the facing paper on the drywall tape and pressing it firmly to the wall, the structural support can be peeled off leaving the pre-stretched assembly on the wall. The two paper tape edges can be feathered into the wall with joint compound and sanded smooth. Paint is applied over the entire patch. With no joint compound over the elastic membrane it is free to further expand or contract with the flexible latex paint over it. The crack behind it can expand or contract with no change detected on the surface.
My initial estimates for manufacturing costs are approximately $2 for a 2’ patch. The wholesale price should be set at $4 and retail about $7. Any person of sound mind would gladly pay $7 to solve their perennial crack repair problem. I have identified two possible contract manufacturers, Pepin Manufacturing in Lake City, MN and Lakeview Industries in Carver, MN. I have developed engineered parts drawings with a bill of materials and dimensions for each layer. To begin contract manufacturing it would take $500,000 to finalize a manufacturable prototype, design packaging, and create test runs and first year sales quotas.
The existing competion is best explained in my Power Point presentation. It can be viewed at the following link. There is also a marketing video and an installation video. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Tkmz-ghHD5NlMgG0IvDOsmWrqaDm0Led
Some possible distribution networks are Sherwin Williams, Ace Hardware, Menards, Home Depot, and Lowes. With all of them it is difficult to get a foot in the door. I have contacted Menards. Connecting with an existing manufacturer/distributor who already has a presence in the marketplace would provide the best channel to test market CWCB. I am inquiring with St. Gobain, manufacturer of drywall repair products.
In addition to funding, I could use team members with marketing expertise.
Ronald (Ron) Wolfe
ronaldjwolfe@gmail.com
651-428-9815
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