Each of his four sons, = plus=20 grandchildren, are involved in business enterprises related = to SPF.=20 The family name remains connected to firms such as SprayFoam = Southwest, United Coatings and Nesco. Now in retirement at = age 78, it=20 was Coultrap's vision as a PPG chemist in the 1960s that = initially=20 recognized SPF's potential as a revolutionary roofing = material.=20 "He said, 'We could use = that as a=20 roofing system,'" says Mason Knowles, executive director of = the=20 Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA). "He certainly is = one of the=20 pioneers of foam." "It was a thought that = I had,"=20 Coultrap recalls, "since the foam had a continuous = monolithic=20 surface without seams-to me it seemed a natural. It has = everything=20 you want in a roof." Convincing others of = foam's=20 future for roofing was no easy task. The product, coatings = and=20 application techniques have seen numerous enhancements over = the=20 ensuing years, and Coultrap remembers well the struggle to = convince=20 others of foam's proper place-which is up on the roof. = "People used to say, = 'Why are you=20 fooling around with this stuff?' Spray foam had a bad name = for quite=20 a while, but it's a great product." Carrying with him an = energetic=20 work ethic and a firm belief in foam's future, Coultrap = persevered=20 as the material steadily gained acceptance for a myriad of=20 architectural applications. "He's been very = dedicated to his=20 work all his life," reports granddaughter Joy Warden, = national sales=20 coordinator at United Coatings. She and others in the family = give=20 much credit also to Coultrap's wife Pat, who took care of = rearing=20 seven ambitious children; four boys and three girls. = "My grandmother kept my = grandfather working" by covering many of the necessary = domestic=20 details, Warden says. And the SPF journey has taken the = Coultrap=20 clan around the world to exotic locales while bringing them=20 financial success plus the admiration of others for their = business=20 ethics. "We always looked at it = as a=20 family enterprise, and that's what it was," Coultrap = declares,=20 quickly adding that "we didn't have a monopoly on all the = ideas;=20 others brought a lot to the party." This SPF bash now = enjoys an=20 annual industry growth rate averaging about 5%, according to = Knowles. In 1969 some 65 million pounds were in use. By 2000 = that=20 figure had climbed to 87 million pounds, with current = applications=20 now topping the 100 million pound mark. "There is nothing you = can't do=20 with this product if you put your mind to it," Coultrap = says. "It's=20 amazing what happens when you work in a field like this."=20 Making it work The foam material was = first brought=20 to the public's attention in 1949 when Life magazine = profiled its=20 frothy solidity. A photograph shows a big bulky chunk being=20 outweighed by a plate of meringue pie. It was hailed as "the = lightest solid material in the world" and pegged for use as=20 insulation in products such as coolers and aircraft. Created = by=20 cooking a secret molasses-like resin until it expands to 100 = times=20 its original size, the substance gains its buoyancy and = insulating=20 properties via oxygen bubbles entrapped during the heating = process.=20 As a research chemist = who rose to=20 managerial duties during a 10-year career with PPG (then = known as=20 the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.), Coultrap obtained several = patents=20 to further refine the highly complex material and the = required=20 coatings as he sought commercially viable applications for = SPF's=20 use. These endeavors brought him into close contact with = various=20 industries such as construction, marine, aircraft, wood = processing,=20 petroleum and mining. In 1964 Coultrap = applied the=20 first urethane foam roof in the United States. "It was a commercial = structure in=20 Little Rock, Arkansas," Coultrap recalls. "It was quite = involved=20 because no one had done it before, and everyone was running = the=20 other way." The skeptics were many, = but the=20 performance of this manufacturing facility's new roof gave = Coultrap=20 a strong sense of confidence not shared by others-especially = within=20 the traditional construction trades. "The jobs that we found = to do=20 it on were few and far between" in those early years. = "We just wouldn't = accept 'no' for=20 an answer," Coultrap explains. The SPF push went forward. = "We gave=20 the industry the best we had," he says. "While other people = were=20 thinking about it, we were out there doing it. It's amazing = what you=20 can develop and achieve if you go to work." Coultrap is rather = annoyed with=20 "people who sit back and feel put-upon" when opportunity is=20 beckoning. "A lot of people don't know what they can do = because they=20 never try it." So it was with SPF. "We made it work, and we = prided=20 ourselves on the projects we took on." Opportunities galore = arose amid=20 the soaring temperatures and lower-sloped roofing styles of = Arizona=20 when the Coultrap's went West in 1971 to Phoenix and formed = Spray=20 Coatings Southwest, which later became SprayFoam Southwest. = The=20 contracting operation developed a specialty in SPF roofing = that=20 continues to this day. "There were many places = we went=20 and many projects we took on," says Coultrap. "First thing = you know,=20 we were in business 10 years, then 20 years, and now 30 = years."=20 The versatility of the = material=20 made it desirable for unusual roofing situations that = weren't=20 amenable to traditional roofing systems at the time. "You = could put=20 it where you wanted it, you could shape it-and on and on," = he=20 reports, adding also that "there were so many problems to = overcome"=20 with SPF. The application process = itself=20 was a formidable obstacle. So Coultrap teamed up with the = late Fred=20 Gusmer (founder of Gusmer Corp., www.gusmer.com) to find a = solution.=20 The two collaborated on inventing the special spray rigs = needed to=20 get the jobs done neatly and safely. "They were connected at = the hip,"=20 says Keith H. Coultrap II. "My dad was a chemist and Fred = was an=20 equipment guy." "In the early days the = coating=20 systems weren't very good," Coultrap Sr. reports, noting = that the=20 outer coat is required to keep out the elements. Much work = was done=20 in this field to ensure SPF's practicality as a roofing = system. "My=20 dad was convinced that this would eventually come of age," = says=20 Keith II. Doing it right The re-birth of United = Coatings was=20 yet another endeavor the Coultrap family undertook. The = company,=20 founded in 1919, was a key vendor for SprayFoam = Southwest-its=20 largest customer. However, bankruptcy was looming over a = series of=20 business reversals. Keith H. Coultrap II, in conjunction = with=20 William Radobenko took over the failing enterprise, with = Keith II=20 eventually moving up to the top spot. "'Can't' was not a part = of my=20 dad's vocabulary," he says. "Today they'd call it 'thinking = out of=20 the box.' He'd tell me, 'If you say you're going to do = it-then do=20 it!' And, 'If you're not going to do it right, don't do it = at all.'"=20 In 1983 United Coatings = had $5.2=20 million in sales. Sales today are at the $18 million mark = among the=20 65 employees. Keith II initially did have some doubts about = being=20 part of the roofing industry in Arizona. He can still = remember=20 driving into Phoenix and seeing that the temperature was 111 = degrees=20 F-after dark. "My dad instilled in me hard work and = commitment," he=20 says with pride. "My dad was my best friend as well as my = father."=20 Another son, Steve, = describes a=20 similar scenario. "First we were father and son, then we = were=20 business partners, and then we were best friends," says = Steve, who=20 began working with his father at age 15. Across the street = from the=20 SprayFoam Southwest office was a picture frame business = called Nesco=20 that coincidentally used a foam molding process to construct = framing=20 materials. The Coultraps obtained that operation and Steve = was on=20 his way forward with the new enterprise. "When the Nesco = opportunity=20 presented itself I was like a duck in water," Steve says. "A = lot of=20 times people sit in the wings and don't take advantage of=20 opportunities," he observes. Nesco's 130 workers produce a = full line=20 of foam architectural specialties to the tune of $10 million = in=20 sales per year. "I had to learn this business from the = ground floor=20 up," he says. "There is always a challenge in this = business." And=20 Steve makes it his business to find solutions for his = clients. "When=20 you have a problem with architecture you go to Nesco." = Zeal and devotion SPFA estimates that more = than 60=20 SPF contracting firms were founded based on the success that = the=20 Coultraps had with SprayFoam Southwest. George H. Sievert = and Dan=20 Benedict, former executive directors of the SPFA's = predecessor=20 organization (the Spray Polyurethane Division of the Society = of the=20 Plastics Industry Inc.), both acknowledge Coultrap Sr.'s = zeal and=20 devotion to the SPF industry as a whole. "He invested a lot of = time and=20 effort into promoting the association," Benedict says. = Coultrap was a founding = member of=20 the Urethane Foam Contractors Association, and from 1965 to = 1970 he=20 was chairman of the Task Force on Large Scale Test=20 Methods-Flammability Committee, Cellular Plastics Division = of the=20 SPI. He also belonged to a construction plastics = subcommittee for=20 the National Fire Protection Association. Controversies flared = over SPF's=20 flammability and toxicity issues. "Safety was my dad's = passion,"=20 says Keith II. "He was a pioneer on the safety side; he = believed=20 that the chemistry was available-with effort-to reduce flame = spread." Others wished Coultrap would have kept quiet, yet = the=20 dangers were real. "The Sunshine Mine = Disaster=20 almost became the death of polyurethane foam," says Keith = II,=20 referring to a 1972 underground fire in Idaho that killed 91 = miners.=20 Officially, lack of available evidence precluded assignment = of a=20 cause other than spontaneous combustion, but at the time = there was=20 considerable belief that foam-lined passages fueled the fire = and=20 emitted deadly toxic gases. It was a bad dose of publicity = that the=20 burgeoning industry had to overcome by improving the = product.=20 Keeping things dry Coultrap Sr. consulted = widely on a=20 variety of subjects, including flammability litigation, = performance=20 standards and custom-roofing design strategies. One such assignment was = for the=20 U.S. Navy, where Coultrap was called upon to analyze the = fitness of=20 SPF for military structures. "Because of his = background and=20 his push for foam roofing, Keith was one of the first people = we=20 contacted," says Dr. Robert Alumbaugh, now retired, who was = a senior=20 research chemist at the then-Naval Civil Engineering = Laboratory at=20 Port Hueneme, CA. "He helped us out a great deal," says = Alumbaugh.=20 "He's a very nice chap and he couldn't have been better to = work=20 with." Some of the foam = applications=20 were still in place some 20 years later with just minor = maintenance=20 needed. "They were still keeping things dry," says = Alumbaugh. The=20 SPF was also prized by the military for its ability to = resist=20 radioactivity. Alumbaugh and his wife = Elaine=20 were pleased enough with SPF to have it blown into the walls = for=20 insulation at their Sequim, WA home. "We have trouble = hearing cars=20 come up the driveway," Alumbaugh reports. "We have a very = warm and=20 cozy place. We think a lot of Keith." Several technical = guides were=20 prepared from the experiments, including The User's Guide = for=20 Polyurethane Roofing, published in 1987. "We did this manual = on foam=20 roofs-and I admit that Keith did most of it," says = Alumbaugh.=20 Military personnel, roofing contractors and architects = worldwide=20 have used the publication extensively. The contractor's skill = at=20 applying the material primarily dictates SPF's = effectiveness,=20 according to Alumbaugh's research. "It really all comes down = to the=20 applicator." 95 foam domes The Coultrap family took = special=20 delight in conquering tough architectural challenges = anywhere on the=20 planet. One such job took Keith and Pat to Iran, where they = lived=20 for a time while completing renovations to the palace of the = Shah,=20 Reza Palevi. "It was a building that = needed=20 serious maintenance work," Coultrap reports. "We actually = took on=20 re-doing the whole building. It was enormous-it was a huge = complex=20 of palaces. There was a lot of hand-shaping and molding; we = had to=20 improvise a lot." This project, which had = 95 foam=20 domes, took place during a time of great unrest within Iran, = shortly=20 before the Shah was overthrown by Islamic revolutionaries = (and 52=20 American hostages taken) in 1979. (Note to the ruling = Ayatollas: You=20 still owe the Coultraps some American greenbacks.) "We never = got our=20 final payment of $65,000, which was a lot of money in those = days,"=20 Keith Sr. laments. "We were in a key spot = because we=20 were working for the royal family. We weren't in any = imminent=20 danger, but a lot of people were anti-American. It was an=20 interesting period," he deadpans. However, things were = intense for=20 family members back in the States. "There was a concern over = whether=20 they would get back safely," says Steve. "They got out of = there by=20 the skin of their teeth," says Keith II. "They left three = weeks=20 before the revolution." The overseas pace was a = bit=20 mellower when the Coultraps were applying SPF roofs in Saudi = Arabia.=20 "They were building all these cities in the middle of the = desert,=20 and they all had spray foam roofs with United Coatings on = them,"=20 Keith II explains. Character counts In addition to his body = of work=20 with SPF, Coultrap Sr. is widely admired for a strong sense = of=20 business ethics. "He is a man of = character," says=20 Robert Timmons, vice president of sales at SprayFoam = Southwest.=20 Timmons had been looking for "someone with integrity" prior = to=20 joining the company, and he found that person in Coultrap. = "I wanted=20 to strive for that type of perfection," he says. Timmons, Rick Radobenko = and Jack=20 Laufer are in the process of purchasing SprayFoam Southwest, = which=20 has more than doubled in size since 1988 and employs 50. = "Keith=20 certainly had an influence on us," says Radobenko. "He has = an ethic=20 for perfectionism and getting the job done right the first = time."=20 = |
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