More Colour for the Façade

Finalfix is a plastic profile system for the façade which ? its creators are convinced ? will conquer the DIY scene

?Anyone who buys plastic windows is a potential customer for a plastic facade profile system,? Uwe Bührer, Managing Director of Finalfix, is convinced. His innovative product is perfect for all those DIY-enthusiasts who do not only want to protect the façades and gables of their homes against bad weather but are looking for a permanent solution which a modern and aesthetic appearance. Bührer is convinced that ?Finalfix? caters to and fulfils all of these expectations and thus becomes a viable alternative to the panels currently available in DIY stores.

Since 1985, Schwarz Profilbeschichtungen GmbH und Co. KG from Binsdorf in Southern Germany has been producing film coatings for wooden, plastic and metal windows profiles and has gained a 90% share of the European market. Nevertheless, Schwarz has never had a marketable product of its own. The experience with tongue and groove systems, however, naturally led the company to developing a product for the DIY scene. The result is a film-coated profiles system for the façade, which consists of only five components: the main panels, corner profiles for interior and exterior angles, end profiles, U-shaped profiles, as well as connectors for the individual panels. 

?The system is so incredibly easy to handle,? says Bührer, ?that you can renovate the entire façade of your home by yourself without having to be a professional expert.? In less than 6 months, Bührer and Ewald W. Schneider, interim manager for sales and marketing, have not only developed the product, but also checked out supply chain options and distribution channels, designed profiles, compared suppliers? prices and a whole lot more. The result is a profile system which, according to Schneider, is perfectly suited for the German DIY scene and has a high potential in DIY markets worldewide. The film coating makes the product absolutely weatherproof and washable, so that there is never ever a need to sand down or repaint a Finalfix plastic façade profile. That is why Finalfix is also suitable for damp indoor locations. Currently, an expertise has been ordered concerning the physiological qualities of the product in home construction.

?What are the chances for a DIY store to be offered exclusively a new and typical DIY product for sale ?? asks Schneider and adds that they are currently looking for partners in the home improvement scene. ?We contact the headquarters of DIY chains to find out what they expect from a new product and from us. And then we deliver.? In unison, Bührer and Schneider announce their goal ?to get the product, which is suitable for DIY markets worldwide, ready for its launch by early 2004 and to sell it exclusively via selected DIY chains.?

The men responsible for Finalfix have a vision: more trendy façades. Even though the surface of the profile system looks a lot like real wood, it can be coated with many different kinds of coloured film. This option invites responses to fast-changing trends and fashions which, in turn, require an annually updated range of colour schemes. ?In the end, the consumers will decide which colours and patterns are most popular and sell best,? says Bührer. Another advantage for the new product on both the national and the international level are its comprehensible mounting instructions, which explain in only nine illustrations how to assemble and mount the product ? no need for words !

(This article ist a a special reprint from diy magazine 10/2003)

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