Nevada Coating Systems-Granite Deck Polyurea as a Deck Coating-Use at Your Own Risk

I've been getting beat up a little bit in a pricing battle with one of the larger local competitors in San Luis Obispo lately...

one of my clients, who is a little more astute than the average guy, came back to me and started asking questions about my competitors bid and product. They had got a bid from local competitor DeckTech, who is using "NCS Granite Deck"

They sent me the other company's proposal for me to review. After investigating the product they were proposing to use, I found out that it's a Polyurea 2 part spray applied coating. The manufacturer, Nevada Coating Systems of Rancho Mirage CA, offers their "NCS Granite Deck" (sounds tough right?) as a solution for walkways and decks.

Nevada Coating Systems website is found at http://www.nevadacoatings.com/; we invite you to look for yourself. On their site is all kinds of mfg specs, videos and marketing yackety yack about how good the product is for various coating needs.

The problem is that their Granite deck IS NOT an ICC-ES evaluated traffic deck coating (I could not find any ICC-ES report at the ICC-ES website) that has been tested and evaluated independently. So while maybe you could put it on, my question is why would you want to?

Reading their literature they have a "warranty" that is predicated on frequent maintenance that traps you into having to use the original installer for the next 10 years. Then I read their disclaimer, which basically negates their warranty...

Then I read their literature on NCS Granite deck....click here to read it yourself at the Material Safety Data section...see firefighting measures and then ask why would I want a coating on my deck that if it catches on fire or is exposed to flame, can ...well read it for yourself below...


5. Fire-Fighting Measures
Suitable Extinguishing Media: All extinguishing media are suitable.
Special Fire Fighting Procedures: Firefighters should be equipped with self-contained breathing apparatus to
protect against potentially toxic and irritating fumes. Use cold water spray to cool fire-exposed containers to
minimize risk of rupture.
Unusual Fire/Explosion Hazards: Toxic and irritating gases/fumes may be given off during burning or thermal
decomposition.

So, no ICC-ES report, doesn't meet traffic coating requirements that it be Class A fire resistant (so people can escape burning buildings safely), emits potentially toxic fumes when burned or exposed to flame...


DECK EXPERT GIVES THIS PRODUCT A "F" for failure, failure to protect, failure to meet the needs of code compliant building products, F for &$!*ed up as a product being sold to unwitting consumers.


I can only recommend that you STAY AWAY far far away and seek a better product that meets code requirements.


Our investigation also shows that Nevada Coating Systems is backed/owned by Dave Krubinski, former manager of Mer-Kote. That explains the shitty "warranty". Krubinski used this same basic warranty/sales formula when he was king at Mer-Kote, to twist extra money out of clients on a maintenance contract.


Further investigation shows that we could not find where NCS granite deck polyurea and their other products is manufactured; by snooping around my competitors trucks, I saw "Reactamine" polyurea on the truck...so by  reviewing their website at www.reactimine.com, it's my opinion that Reactamine sells to NCS and NCS is simply a private labeler, not a manufacturer. Unless NCS is making the stuff in their garage...but that's probably illegal, since the address listed in NCS' website is a residential address.

The 2 companies color charts are virtually identical too; see for yourself by clicking the links and comparing.... NCS Color Chart   Reactimine Color Chart So is their "Disclaimer". If I were a betting man, I'd bet Reactimine makes NCS' products under a private label deal..

Polyureas has a place as a coating, but not for decks under it's current formula. But that's just my opinion using my right to free speech.

A "NEW" Manufacturer, NEVADA COATING SYSTEMS, Makes It's Online Debut

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Browsing the web this weekend, I saw a WICR, a competitor had finally put up their website...looking through, I saw they were a "Nevada Coating Systems" applicator...so I clicked the link to see what was there.

Nevada Coating Systems is an entity using an address down in Rancho Mirage, so I googled the phone/address and found that it is linked to Dave Krubinksi, a former Mer-Ko salesman and current Roof Consultant Institute member.

NCS is advertising their coatings for decks, liners, pools and many other areas that don't really interest me as I'm not in that line of work...they appear to have a Polyurea system, a 2 component system that is in heated tanks and is sprayed on using a gun that mixes the 2 parts as it's sprayed.

Polyureas have their place in many applications and their fast drying/curing makes a tough competitor for some other coating sytems for various applications...I'm just not convinced of it's use on decks as a long term solution...but that's just my opinion.

Despite an impressive array of testing done, the 2 most important tests for deck coatings at least, appear to be missing-Class A and One Hour Fire Testing. There is no that I can find at ICC-ES in Div 7 Traffic Coatings and so I would say that in my opinion, this product would not be a suitable candidate for decking where residential codes must be met. Ask about E109 and E119 testing when inquiring...

The stuck in my craw thing about NCS is their "sample warranty" which is more of a service contract, and the way it's written might be a Sherman Act or Magnuson Moss issue...at least in my opinion from reading through the FTC's website. Click here to read some interesting info on warranties and service contracts at the FTC website. I dunno, it's just a really stacked in the installers/mfg's favor warranty...the odds are far better for you to put it all on black in Vegas...

Attached is a picture of their warranty with my notes on it. We are publishing this under the Fair Use doctrine and have the right to publish, criticize, comment on and satirize it if we want, all protected by the doctrine of Fair Use. So despite the terms of use at their website...it's aconstitionaly protected use.

As of now, with the way this warranty is written, it's a bad deal for consumers in my opinion. It ties you to the original applicator for 10 years, giving them residual income for resealing your decks every 3 years...you get no choice as a consumer to have who you want service the decking. Imagine buying a Ford and you got the best deal at one dealer, but don't really like their service dept., but your warranty said you have to use that dealer, and that dealer only... pretty crappy terms.

This warranty is similar to the old Mer-Ko "warranty", whose terms were changed as soon as new Mer-Ko management could.

My opinion is to search elsewhere for other coating options due to the warranty restrictions.