Rubbermaid trusts FiberTite^® Roofing Systems to protect its largest facility at Greenville, Texas - high winds and extreme temperatures are no match for Seaman Corporation's technology

Over the last 30 years, the Rubbermaid distribution and manufacturing facility in Greenville, Texas, has grown from 266,000 square-feet to one that is now over one million square feet, making it the company's largest manufacturing and distribution center in the United States.

Located in north Texas, in one of the most unforgiving climates in the United States, Greenville experiences hail, rain, blazing heat, extremely cold temperatures, snow, constant high winds and occasionally tornados. In a single day, temperatures can fluctuate from over 100 degrees during the day to near freezing at night. The wind blows at a near constant speed of 25 mph with regular gusts up to 75 mph.

Mike Decker, a 26-year veteran employee and a current automation engineer at the Greenville plant, recalled a storm in 1983 that produced high winds and large amounts of rainwater. During the storm, the stone ballast covering the facility's four-year-old EPDM roofing membrane shifted to one side of the building, exposing the membrane to the storm. The strong winds lifted the membrane from the building, causing major "bubbling" and ultimately the complete failure of the roof.

"It was a mess," Decker said, and added facility managers had to act quickly to determine a better long-term solution for protection against north Texas's unforgiving climate. They selected a 36mil FiberTite Roofing System.

Decker reports that the FiberTite product has performed better than anyone at the facility expected. Decker, who makes many of the repairs around the facility, said that during his tenure with the company he has had no major problems with the roof. It performed so well, in fact, that when it was time for Rubbermaid to add on, the owners again selected FiberTite. To date, Rubbermaid has selected FiberTite Roofing Systems to protect seven different sections of their Greenville facility, for a total of more than one million square-feet. According to Decker, the original FiberTite roof from 1984, still performs as well as it did they installed it.

FiberTite's long-term protection comes from Seaman Corporation's superior fabric engineering and proprietary knitting and coating processes. FiberTite is a unique four-layer membrane that begins with a base fabric that has nearly twice the fiber content as other roofing membranes, making it over five times stronger against punctures than even modified bitumen products – the roofing material many believe to be the strongest. To the base fabric, Seaman Corporation applies a unique, proprietary adhesion coat and then finishes it with identical face and back coats that have the industry's highest content of Dupont™ Elvaloy KEE®.

FiberTite's proprietary face and back coat formula ensures that the membrane has the capacity for strongest seams, and is fit to survive the worst rooftop conditions, such as severe weather, harsh chemicals (like food grease, jet fuel and motor oils), and glaring UV rays.

John Metzer, Rubbermaid's facilities and environmental engineer, reported, "Over the years, the roof has proven to be a great return on Rubbermaid's investment".

"To me," he continued, "there is no comparison between FiberTite and competitive roofing products. We get heavy foot traffic on our roof due to regular air conditioning and maintenance requirements, but we've never had a major problem with these roofs."

The Rubbermaid facility in Greenville is a two-time recipient of the FiberTite Silver Roof Award. This award honors facility owners, roofing contractors and consultants who were involved in selecting a FiberTite Roofing System that is today 25 years old and still performing.