Stormking Plastics Ltd is a leading UK manufacturer and trade supplier of high quality moulded GRP parts used nationally for residential building construction.
The company, which has gained BBA approval for its main product lines, specialises in producing finished GRP parts which are very visible to a home owner. Main entrance canopies and porticos, doors, bay window roofs, dummy chimney stacks, finials and gable ends are all examples of Stormking GRP products specified by UK house builders and installers.
As such, the focus of its workforce of over 160 people spread across the three Stormking production sites in Tamworth, Staffordshire, is very much on finish quality and long term product performance. As part of an on-going product innovation and quality improvement programme, Stormking has specified the use of Scott Bader’s CrysticLS 96PA spray gelcoat in both white and slate grey for all its GRP residential products.
Crystic LS 96PA is a filled low styrene isophthalic spray gelcoat, with a proven track record in use for providing reliable long term performance for external and internal GRP parts used in building, transport and general industrial applications.
The technical team at Stormking selected Crystic LS 96PA spray gelcoat due to a combination of its good handling properties, being a robust filled spray gelcoat which can be evenly applied with an airless spray system, alongside its proven long term weathering performance for UK building applications; for chopped glass reinforced parts Crystic 2.8500PA orthophthalic back up resin is also used.
Gary King, who co-founded Stormking Plastics with Barry Whitehall back in 1985, commented: “At Stormking there is a strong emphasis on continually improving product quality and methods of manufacture.
"We value Scott Bader as a reliable supplier of consistently high quality gelcoats and resins, which also provides valuable technical support to help our research team select the best GRP production methods and optimise productivity to remain cost competitive without compromising quality.”
In addition to spray moulding, Stormking also uses vacuum assisted Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) in one of its factories.
Gelcoated fibreglass finished parts, such as those made by Stormking, have gained NHBC (National House-Building Council) and BBA (British Board of Agreement) approvals.
The use of GRP parts is now well accepted and acknowledged by architects, local authorities, specifies, and leading UK developers of residential buildings as a cost effective alternative to using traditional building materials like: stone, slate, concrete and timber.
Lower overall material and construction costs, due to faster installation being possible, as GRP finished sections such as a bay roof only require fixing in place on site, has contributed to the continued growth in the use of fibreglass in house building, both internally and externally.
