After knocking up a prototype on a 3D printer some years back, Pete met up with friend Steve Byrnes at a local pub in Newcastle, and decided to bring the model along to get another point of view. While Steve says his background is in business management outside of the building industry, he could immediately see the potential of the innovation.
‘We did our research and found there wasn’t anything else like it in the market,’ Steve says. ‘It’s just one of those things where people obviously thought there must be a better way but Pete was the one to pioneer it.’
The challenge then was translating the breakthrough concept into a marketable and practical product. The end result is a durable 1.2-metre strip, featuring the alternating fixed and removable spacers, which is available in three sizes for 86mm, 90mm and 140mm decking boards. Steve says Decktec is manufactured right here in Sydney under ISO9001 Quality Assurance from 100 per cent recycled polypropylene.
‘We looked carefully into what the market would prefer in terms of quantity as well as size, and distribute in both six-packs and cartons. Decktec works out to be around $15-16 a square metre.’
Even though Decktec has only been available for a short time, its profile has grown rapidly as builders and trades have discovered the solution for their residential or commercial contracts, including mixed use developments, resorts and schools. Impressed by Decktec’s consistency and accuracy as a spacer, Delanty Brothers Construction also recently utilised the nifty system to construct a 24m long x 2.1m high fence.