Waterproof this

If he could, businessman Verne Britto would waterproof everything. His company, Dover Waterproofing Technologies, with its offices on Watts Street in Curepe, is a small outfit that carries a big punch. That the company has been around for the past 15 years and is still carving a niche for itself and looking to expand says a lot about the people behind it. “We can waterproof anything,” Britto says in a recent interview in his office. “You want it done, we can do it.” From sewage plants, swimming pools, roof tops to water tanks and parking lots, Britto’s company has left its waterproofing mark. In order to harness the best technology out there and to keep ahead of the competition, the company has sealed alliances with international companies.

These include Radcrete from Austrailia, Canadian-based Kryton International and UK-based Degussa. Radcrete Pacific is an Australian-based company which specialises in the manufacture and distribution of advanced silicate products for concrete construction. Kryton relies on a revolutionary crystalline technology that turns porous concrete into an impermeable barrier. “The result is a structure with reduced cracking, self-sealing and water-resistant abilities that provide a powerful defence against water damage and corrosion of reinforcing steel,” the company said. On both Kryton’s and Radcrete’s websites Britto is listed as their sole Trinidad and Tobago representative. Britto says the local arm of the business has grown over the years and recalls that it took him a year to land his first job. It was coating the roof the CCN transmission tower in Gran Couva, he said, noting that the damage was so bad that the company resorted to using a tarpaulin to keep the water out.

With more buildings going up and contractors seeking to save money, Dover seems set to have an inside track for waterproofing.  A growing  market for waterproofing is the Caribbean region, he said, noting that more contractors are going for technology instead. Britto got his foot in the waterproofing door, when 15 years ago, he attended a trade show at Piarco International airport. At the time, Radcrete was looking for a point man in the Caribbean. Not long after the company held discussions with him, he said he took the bait, and never looked back. The company now employs about 32 people. The other directors of the company are Anthony and Dolores Jardine. He talks about waterproofing the way a stock broker becomes animated when talking about stocks. Companies that use asphalt to waterproof are  neither economical nor very bright, he says. “A membrane lasts about 5-10 years and eventually has to be replaced,” he said, noting that asphalt is  going to deteriorate after a while.

He says with the rapid technological changes taking place, the industry has gone past the days of using asphalt as a protective membrane. What the company has found is that the imitation silicate-based materials with no crack sealing capabilities are making their way into the market. These end up giving a bad name to the legitimate waterproofing industry. The technology that Dover offers, Britto said,  is such that if a hairline crack developed, the product comes alive and “heals” it, the way cuts heal in human skin. Now Radcreate is working on a revolutionary way to waterproof concrete without using a membrane. Dover, though, is moving to cement its position in the industry by setting up a manufacturing plant in Frederick Settlement, Caroni which should be operational by 2005. Britto  hopes to be in the new building by September. “The company will be moving from being just a distributor to manufacturing the products in TT,” says Britto, who once worked as a contractor in the construction business.

With a technology transfer agreement in place with the foreign companies, Britto says when the plant is fully operational, it will be staffed entirely by nationals. The setting up of the plant is going to be a feather in the cap for Britto. “When the plant comes on stream, the market is going to move from the Caribbean to Latin America,” says Britto. While Dover is left to find ways to penetrate the local and regional market, Britto says the close ties with the Canadian and Australian companies have helped give him the edge in a market where companies are elbowing for more room.  He thinks he has the advantage though. “We are the best at what we do,” he said, noting that Dover’s track record speaks for itself. The company, he said, has done work on BHP Billiton’s multi-million dollar head office at Movie Towne, as well as Ispat, the Industrial Court, the National Library, the prestigious Bayside Towers in Westmoorings and PowerGen.