Spray foam biz on the rise

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This article was published 31/12/2015 (3542 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It can be a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it. And, when the temperature swings like it does here in Manitoba, it’s got to be done right.

One Winnipeg company has made a name in the insulation game, and the founder will be sharing the ins and outs at the Winnipeg Renovation Show.

From humble beginnings in East Kildonan, Penta Protective Coatings Ltd. has gone on to become one of the largest spray foam contractors in western Canada.

“Our first spray foam rig was a school bus with a tow-behind compressor,” recalled Joe Wedge, founder and president of Penta, with a chuckle. “Now we’ve got offices in Winnipeg and Edmonton, with 10 fully functioning rigs.”

Wedge moved to Winnipeg from Emerson in the mid-’80s, and got into construction as a summer job while he went to university.

“I liked the industry and stayed in it, and just moved from there,” he said.

In 1995, Wedge struck out on his own. Wedge set up shop on McKay Avenue and went all-in on spray foam, which at the time was a new innovation in the insulation game.

“When we started there were very few people doing it,” Wedge said. “We saw it as a newer technology that was going to take off.”

Twenty years later, Penta has moved across the river to a much larger industrial shop in West St. Paul, just south of the Perimeter highway. And while the company has done large jobs as far away as Pelly Bay, N.W.T., Wedge said they still do a ton of the small jobs that got them started in the first place.

“We’ll do everything from the fellow who wants to insulate the bottom of his sunroom, or where the basement floor joists sit on the basement wall,” he said. “We’re able to do any kind of insulation to any kind of project, from $500 jobs to half-million (dollar) jobs.”

Speaking with Wedge, it’s clear he has a passion for his work. And he’ll be sharing that passion with an informative session about insulation and building enclosure systems at the Winnipeg Renovation Show at RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg on Fri., Jan 15 at 5 p.m., and again Sat., Jan. 16 at noon.

“I’ll be talking more on the durability and health aspect of properly selecting insulation,” Wedge said. “We do a lot of retro work with houses that have ice dams or condensation problems in attics. Often, maybe we find it’s inappropriate insulation for the purpose.”

For more information on the Winnipeg Renovation Show, visit winnipegrenovationshow.com

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