Building With BarrierTek for 10 Years
Carrington’s a large scale multi family developer here in Edmonton, we’re a family owned business and we’ve been in business for over 48 years. We’ve worked with BarrierTek for close to ten years.
Why Does Carrington Homes Use BarrierTek?
We use it because it protects our assets during construction. We use it because it adds value to the end user. We use it because we’ve had first person experience with the devastating losses that can come with using unprotected wood. We use it because it’s the right thing to do – we have peace of mind knowing that our asset is protected and knowing that the homeowner’s asset is protected.
Mitigating Risk Leads to a Return on Investment
Because it’s not a code requirement, it was curiosity that led to our interest in the product. It wasn’t about the marketing materials or the data it was about actually getting the product treating some wood, sticking it in a barrel – we actually got out tiger torches right with our owner and we were trying to burn it to prove BarrierTek wrong, and we couldn’t prove them wrong, and that got us more interested in it.
In business you’re always looking at risk management, and the risks of us having to go backwards, having to replace products, having schedule delays, the impact on the neighbourhood – these kinds of things all lead to intangible return on investment.
Our First Hand Experience
In May of 2009, we had an arsonist target one of our corporate senior’s buildings. That building wasn’t treated. That building was built before these products ever existed. 165 residents got out safely, there’s only a couple minor injuries. Somewhat of a miracle.
That was my first construction job, 23 years ago when I started the company. You watch it go and you feel a lot of emotions. There’s nothing you can do about it – people say ‘oh there’s insurance, everything’s good.’ It was over five years before we replaced that asset. It was closer to ten years before the lawyers were done with all of the disputes and other issues. It was nowhere near as bad for us as a business as it was for the residents who were affected, but it was horrific for everybody involved.
Looking back on that experience, it’s meaningful to us when people say ‘how can you afford to do that’ and we say ‘how can you afford not to?’
We build multi-family communities within our greater community, and so the MacTaggart sanctuary is our neighbour. The existing large park area is our neighbour.
"...it’s meaningful to us when people say ‘how can you afford to do that’ and we say ‘how can you afford not to?"
Our Obligation as a Builder
In terms of stewardship and sustainability, we have an obligation to ensure that the impact we make is positive. By taking a forestry product – a quickly renewable resource – and bettering it by adding this safety coating on it – it’s just a wonderful story to tell. Not just for the builder and developer but also for the immediate neighbour.
It’s always a challenge, you have to have tenacity to pursue that innovation so the tangible results of what we get from BarrierTek is the most important thing to me. We’re proud to be associated with that and we’re proud to de-risk wood frame construction.
