Taking aim at the States

Cosella Drken, the first company to introduce an air-gap plastic sheeting product to North America, recently threw a party to commemorate a five, ten and 100-year anniversary.

Ten years ago Joseph Vaccarella and partners started up Cosella Products as a distributor and installer of Delta MS, a dimple plastic sheeting primarily used to water-proof housing foundations. Cosella, at the time, bought the sheet from the German-based manufacturer, Drken GmbH. Five years later, with sales increasing, Cosella merged with Drken and began to manufacture the Delta line of sheeting products from its plant in Beamsville, Ont. Additionally, this year, the German parent company Drken notched its 100th consecutive year in business.

“In the early days, we’d meet up in the morning before going out on an installation and we’d ask who had enough money to put gas in the truck,” vice-president Joe Vaccarella told guests and employees assembled on company grounds.

Today, in addition to Delta MS, the company’s other major product lines are Delta FL and Delta Drain. Delta FL is installed below basement floors to prevent condensation. Delta FL gives homeowners the option to lay down hardwood flooring in the basement, an area in which moisture build-up would normally lead to the risk of warpage with wood flooring.

Delta Drain is designed for road and other large-scale foundations. The air-gap technology incorporated in the sheet allows roadbed hydrostatic pressure to be evenly dispersed, thereby increasing the longevity of the road.

All Delta sheeting is made from high density polyethylene. At present the majority of the company’s sales are in Canada. The large U.S. market beckons, however, and the company, working with a network of independent distributors, plans to focus considerable efforts to penetrate the market in the near future, according to a company spokesperson.