Helping to make affordable flooring a reality

Mission Statement Our goal is to make an inexpensive, domestic flooring-material that has a higher durability than wood, and that resembles wood in any and all aspects. This product also has to be a realistic and competitive alternative to laminate and hardwood flooring. We also try to better the Earth by recycling substances which would otherwise be sitting in dumps for hundreds of years.

What is Bio-Ply? Bio-Ply is an inexpensive and durable flooring that recycles otherwise non- decomposing substances. It is a factory manufactured material with little to no manual labor. It uses a compressed rubber base made from old car tires/SBR.

SBR SBR is the abbreviated name of Styrene- butadiene rubber, one of the most common artificial rubbers. SBR is the type of rubber used in car tires and piping/hoses. SBR is incredibly durable and incredibly inexpensive to obtain. We can obtain SBR from old tires for next to nothing and, after filtration, use them in our Bio- Ply.

The Process of Making Bio-Ply First old car tires are ground and shredded into a fine powder. Next the metals that were in the tires, and now the powder, are separated from the rubber using an electromagnet, leaving only rubber. The remaining rubber is then melted and poured into molds. Then while the rubber is still hot, wiggle wood, or 1/16 inch plywood is bonded onto the outside for textural and aesthetic purposes. The wiggle wood and the rubber base are steam compressed for durability. Finally a varnish is applied to the exterior for coloring.

What does Bio-Ply Look Like? It looks like regular hardwood flooring Bio-Ply comes in quite a few finishes, including: –White Oak –Maple –Cherry –Teak –Mahogany –Birch Mahogany (real) Bio-Ply Mahogany

How is it Installed? The rubber base of each piece is molded to snap-and- lock with the adjacent piece. The only necessary tool is a rubber mallet to lock the pieces in. Locking Joint Just slide the black piece under and then hammer the blue piece down (In reality, pieces arent blue)

Marketing Our test market will be the affordable housing units popping up in places like Queens, Florida, and NYC. By first selling our material here we will determine if it can stand up to: –Normal wear and tear of different people with different lifestyles. –To determine if it will be desirable to contractors of Levit-like communities who are continually looking to decrease costs without losing quality.

Marketing (continued) Bio-Ply would have advertisements during such television programming as: This Old House, Home Time, and Bob Villa. Advertisements in publications like This Old House Magazine. Supplied to stores like Home Depot, Loews, and True Value. Bio-Ply can be advertised as an eco friendly alternative to solid wood products because: –It recycles old car tires which dont decompose and are rapidly filling our landfills. –It uses rubber instead of wood, so we are saving trees. –We could say that we are continually searching for ways to better our environment and preserve nature.

Pros and Cons Environmentally friendly. After Bio-Ply is discarded, the SBR can be reused in new Bio-Ply. Very inexpensive to make, and can be sold cheaper than normal wood or laminate flooring, still with profit. There is an old factory in Crawford, Nebraska which we could purchase. Citizens of Crawford, a small town, would desire jobs, because their town needs an economic outlet. Metal powder separated from rubber before melting could be sold for metal-based paints. Simple installation More durability than hardwood. Varnish comes in various colors: –Mahogany –White Oak –Teak –Birch –Maple –Cherry No cons after basic testing.

Estimated Costs We exchanged s with a landfill owner in Nebraska, asking him how much he would sell his stock of old tires. The price we would be buying the used tires for would be only about $30/ ton, 1000 tons- $30,000 Steam compressor- $750x5= $3,750 Molds for the rubber core of Bio-Ply- $3.99/mold, 75 molds- $300 wiggle wood- $2 for 1/8X96X48, 500 sheets, $1,000 total for wiggle wood Labor- 40 workers at $7/hour for machinery attendants, 8 workers at $350/ week for machine supervisors, a assistant factory manager, who will run offices and aid in distribution, at $400/week, and a factory manager at $500/week. Training- $2.15/hour for training per worker 220-gallon barrels- $7/ barrel, 24 barrels- $168 Economy Sized furnace- $9,999 with shipping and installation A large table saw- $2,199.99x10- $22,000 Varnish $10 a gallon= 500 gallons for $5,000 $4 per square foot including taxes and utilities= $800,000 in gross rent Estimated Costs in Summary- $30,000 for tires. $3,750 for Steam Compressors. $300 for Molds. $1,000 for wiggle wood. $1,000,000 for salaries through the first year. $2,000 for training of all workers with 10 hours each. $168 for steel drums $9,999 for furnace $22,000 for saws $5,000 for varnish $800,000 for the warehouse $10,000 for tire shredder/pulverizer $1.5 million in advertising Total costs- $2,750,000

Statistics

Savings and Profits We will save an estimated $2,400,000 in renting the abandoned warehouse in Crawford, Nebraska rather than building a completely new warehouse Tax rebates from IRS because we are recycling old tires- Saves us $15,000 per year. By selling the metal separated from the old tires, we will make upwards of $400,000 more over a years time. Breaking even: –We would make roughly $2.00 on every square foot of Bio- Ply that we sell. –Assuming that Bio-Ply catches on we could sell as much as one million square feet in a year to distributors. –We would make sure that the distributors (Home Depot, etc.) wouldnt sell the Bio-Ply for more than $3.70 a sq. ft. to stay competitive. –We would break even in roughly one year including the 5% interest.

Breaking Even

If you have any questions concerning Bio- Ply we would be happy to address them.