Comfort Meets Safety: The SENSTEC Showerpan

Summary

In this conversation, Janet Engel interviews Mark Conacher, Managing Director of SENSTEC USA, about his extensive career in the kitchen and bath industry and the innovative anti-slip technology of  shower trays.

Mark shares insights into the unique features of the SENSTEC'S showerpan, including its patented design, materials used, and the importance of safety in the bathroom, especially for aging populations.

The discussion also covers the product's comfort, maintenance, pricing, customization options, and future innovations, emphasizing the need for effective safety solutions in everyday life.

Takeaways

Mark Conacher has a long career in the kitchen and bath industry.

SENSTEC'S howerpan features a unique patented design for safety.

The showerpan's dimples create an anti-slip surface that is easy to clean.

The materials used in the shower tray contribute to its effectiveness and low maintenance.

Comfort is a key feature of the SENSTEC showerpan, providing a spa-like experience.

The pricing of SENSTEC products reflects their quality and safety features.

Customization options are available for different sizes and colors of shower trays.

Future innovations may include a slab effect design for a contemporary look.

SENSTEC aims to educate customers about the importance of non-slip technology.

Safety in the shower is crucial for all, especially for aging populations.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Mark Conacher and His Journey

05:08 Innovative Technology: SENSTEC Showerpan

16:00 Materials and Maintenance: The Science Behind Safety

25:21 Comfort and User Experience: A New Standard

28:45 Pricing and Value: Investing in Safety

32:59 Customization and Installation: Tailoring to Needs

36:19 Future Innovations: What's Next for SENSTEC?

37:51 Availability and Distribution: Where to Find SENSTEC

40:40 Connecting Customers with Installers: Building a Network

44:32 The Importance of Safety: Understanding Non-Slip Technology

Transcript

Janet Engel (00:01.703)
Hello everyone and thank you for being with me today. Our guest is Mark Conacher. He is the Managing Director of SenseTech USA. He's had a very long career in the kitchen and bath industry. It started in Scotland where he owned his business for many years. Mark, thank you for being with us today.

Mark (00:24.866)
Thank you very much for having me. It's my pleasure.

Janet Engel (00:29.105)
Yes, tell us a little bit about your career prior to SenseTech in the kitchen and bath industry.

Mark (00:37.229)
My career, well I started when I was 15 years old. It was a government training scheme, if you want, that I went on. When I turned up, I always remembered there was like 10 other people. We were put on placement in different areas. I was put with this company and there was 10 other young guys there, if you want, all looking to be joiners. Very quickly I worked out that

I couldn't understand how on earth they weren't going to take on 10 apprentices if you want after this two year training period. So very quickly I judged, you know what, have nothing other than I need to be the best and I need to get the head down and I need to really work as hard as I could. And that's what I did. And thankfully I got the apprenticeship and that started my journey in the building trade. I, so I served my time with my company.

I stayed with them for a number of years and it became to a stage where my journeyman was retiring. And so I had to decide what was going to, what was I going to do then. I was around about 24, 25 years old at that point. And I decided there was an opportunity with a kitchen company. And so in the UK there was a kitchen company called MFI, who a bit like...

Home Depot if you want. It's not a massive brand but they sold kitchens and bedrooms and I had a chance to become an installer with them and it subcontracted to them so I had to start my own little micro business if you want and so that's what I did. I started my business and I installed kitchens for them for many many years. Eventually the traumatic side of it was the MFI actually went

bust at the end of 2008 during the big financial crash across the world. they went under, but because I only worked for them, that was all my work and nobody knew who I was. So I went from having tons of work to nothing, at the coming up to a few weeks from Christmas. And so I just didn't know what I was going to do, but I did learn the big lesson. I had all my eggs in one basket.

Mark (03:02.889)
And so I decided to try and navigate a little bit away from that and start creating a brand for myself. And so I did that, I gathered some more work and then it just so happens the way life takes twists and turns. I happened to, with my wife and I, we decided to move to Vancouver in 2010. So we shipped off to Vancouver, 2010, my wife, my four kids, but I...

Janet Engel (03:03.665)
Mm.

Mark (03:31.145)
decided to keep the business in Scotland running and I brought in a director to run the day -to -day things there, the installations and run the various trades that we had working for us. So he did that side and it allowed me to focus on the business side of things and creating this brand and more awareness about the company and bringing in more private work. And so that's what we did and for 14 years

that was hugely successful. Obviously there was ups and downs in it but we won lots of awards for what we did and there's just this little micro business in Scotland but we became a bit of a national brand, people were aware across the UK of just who Liberty were. yeah, then at the end of, just at the tail end of last year the company was in a position where

I'd kind of gone as far as I could and I was looking for something hugely different and I didn't want to disrupt what was there. The staff were happy, they were all working hard, company was in the best position it had ever been in and so I, as you do, I decided to just step away and needed to find something different. I had a fire in my stomach that needed to be filled or stoked and yeah, so I stepped away.

that led me to the owner of SenseTech, then now the rest is history.

Janet Engel (05:08.379)
Yes, so tell us about the revolutionary patented technology that SenseTech has created.

Mark (05:16.996)
Yeah, so Sensex has been around in the UK for a few years now. But there was about four years of research and testing went into this, to the Showerpan. Now, this is a Showerpan like no other, which the patent dictates that. They don't hand out patents just for nothing. This is very unique product. And what's unique about it is what we call the dimples that are on the surface of the Showerpan.

and it's the height, it's the space, it's the shape of these dimples that creates all the various elements that make it an anti -slip pan. So we ended up, through all the research, all the testing, it has a UK, a US and European patents on it. So a very unique product and something that has really started to take off in the UK and we decided to bring it over to the US because

Everybody needs safety in the shower and this is a really fantastic product.

Janet Engel (06:23.469)
Especially and you're right everyone needs to be safe in the shower because everyone's fall risk increases when you're on water and you have conditioners, shampoos, But with our aging population, they're even at greater risk for falls. And so it's especially important for older people to have shower trays that are non -slip. Tell us about

the shower tray that SenseTech has created, give us all of the features of what it looks like and how it creates such a high non -slip and the dynamic coefficient of friction, and then also why it's low maintenance.

Mark (07:12.643)
So I can actually show you, I've got a little sample here that I can show you. If you look, if I could get the angle there, you can see the little dimples that are on the shower pan there. so, when you're, what they found is, there was, when they started the research into this, it took 42 different prototypes to get to what they have. And now, could they have stopped at 30? Absolutely, they could have stopped at 30, but.

Janet Engel (07:21.479)
Mm

Mark (07:41.411)
Would it have been anything like what we have at 42? No, wouldn't have been. This is superior product. those little dimples, obviously it breaks the contact rather than being on a flat, flush surface. It actually breaks the contact which allows for the grip of the foot to adhere to the surface. But what it also does is one of the key

issues if you want with anti -slip is what ends up in between, as you pointed out there yourself, with the shampoo, with the conditioner, but also things like bacteria, with grime, dirt, I don't believe everybody's scrubbing away or washing away at their shower pan every single time they come into the shower. So slowly this builds up, but because of the spacing in between the dimples and the fact that because of the shape of these dimples,

There's nothing for dirt and grime to cling to. So everything just washes away and goes down the drain. the connection between a clean shower pan and slipping is absolute. That's what's causing the slipping. So that contaminant that's in between your foot and the surface. And so this allows for that contaminant to run free.

straight to the drain. There are various tests that they can do to check how slippy a surface is or how non -slippiest surface is. The traditional one in the US is using a tribometer. Every test has its own little quirks or own little issues. The one with the tribometer is

it doesn't test efficiently on a textured or rough surfaces. It doesn't work. It comes up with freaky results. So the tribometer wasn't really an option to test to prove the efficiency of the SensTech shower pan. So we look at other things. So we turn to the pendulum test. Now, pendulum test invented in the US about 50 years ago.

Janet Engel (10:08.668)
Mm -hmm.

Mark (10:08.716)
Now the pendulum, that's a rubber foot, an arc if you want that swings down, catches the surface in the distance that it travels past. They're able to calculate the slip resistance of that surface as it hits the foot. As it hits the surface, sorry. So they did the test with the pendulum test. So the highest test if you want, with the highest reading if you want.

for the pendulum goes up to 36. So a reading of 36 will give you a one in a million chance of slipping, if you want. So SendStack passed that. They continued doing the test and SendStack tested up to 48. So way beyond what the limit is 36. It doesn't really matter what is beyond that.

they did test it and it went all the way up to 48. So again, hugely beyond standards. you take the 36 is one in a million. But again, this is true conditions when we're in the shower. Are we standing? No, is it rubber that's hitting the surface? No. So in the shower, we're barefoot, we're in wet, and we're in soapy conditions.

The ideal test for that is what's called the German Barefoot Ramp Test. And what's so fantastic about the German Barefoot Ramp Test is it's just so visual. I remember the first time I saw this and it really is amazing and I encourage you to go onto my social media, find Sensex YouTube and you'll see this test and it really is something special. And I'll describe it for you. They take a slab sample.

of the product that they're working on. So we've got the SenStack, so it's like a 4 foot by 2 foot sample of the SenStack tray. Now, the German barefoot ramp test is done in laboratory conditions because this machinery is so big it has to be done in this laboratory type setting. But this slab is on this machine. The person has had their feet barefoot and soaked in warm water.

Mark (12:32.738)
prior to doing the test. They then stand on the sample and they are harnessed in because we don't want anybody to fall or slip or injure themselves. So they are harnessed before they do anything. they are standing on the sample, the sample is on the flat and they will then start spraying warm water and a contaminant, soap, over the surface of the shower pan sample. Now the person starts walking backwards and forwards

across that sample, great, we're on the flat, that's great. But what happens is on this apparatus they start to incline the sample. Now the person knows it's inclining, but they don't know how far it's inclining. And so gradually it goes steeper and steeper and the person's walking backwards and forwards and backwards and forwards. Again, soap water, soap water going across this. the highest, and when the person slips on this, ultimately somebody has to slip.

Janet Engel (13:17.608)
Mm.

Mark (13:30.914)
That's what gives them the reading. But it's graded into an A, a B or a C depending on where someone slips. So the highest is, you would think would be an A? No, it's a C. What the logic in that, don't know. But the highest grade you can get is a C grade. And that's when you get to 24 degrees. So when that sample's tilted to 24 degrees and someone hasn't slipped, it's a

Janet Engel (13:47.557)
Okay.

Mark (14:00.834)
class C shower pan. So they do this test multiple times and they do it with multiple people to collate all the information as to what the sample was. So Sennstec is a class C. Now they only go to a class C and they only go to 24 degrees. Again, another test that doesn't matter where you go but really on paper you're still a class C no matter how far you go. But again, curiosity.

you keep going and they kept testing the SenseTech tray and tilting the SenseTech tray and they managed to get that tray up to 30 degrees 30 degrees before someone slipped now I don't know about you but 30 degrees is huge standing barefoot wet soapy conditions and someone didn't slip now would say if it's 30 degrees and someone isn't slipping can you imagine just how safe that is when that's lying on the flat

Janet Engel (14:50.367)
Yes.

Mark (15:00.204)
That's a safe product. But again, I encourage you to go and look it up. The German barefoot ramp test, again, you'll find it on my social media. It is fascinating to watch. It really is. that's, again, they're real conditions. We can have all these computers. We can have all these, you know, these swimming arms and rubber. But for a shower, that's the real conditions. There's soap, there's water, they're barefoot.

Janet Engel (15:01.127)
That is impressive.

Mark (15:29.368)
it doesn't get any better than that, doesn't get any more real than that. So that's a really important one and we felt that that's a good one to let people see. think people can make the connection. We can throw off all these numbers and it comes out at this. But to Mrs Smith that's turning up and wanting to buy the safest shower pan that she can and understand, here's a tool that we can show you just how safe you are and they can make that connection.

And so yeah, that's.

Janet Engel (16:00.115)
That's impressive. Send me that link so that I can include it in the show notes and people will have the opportunity to watch that video. I want to ask you, Mark, what materials are used in the construction of the SenseTech shower trays and how do they contribute to its effectiveness?

Mark (16:08.44)
Absolutely.

Mark (16:17.409)
Ed.

Mark (16:20.674)
So the ScentStack shower tray, it's a stone resin shower tray. So, and it, but with a gel coating. So you have the mold, they spray the gel in, the gel sets, they pour the stone resin in, again, all of that sets and we have this beautiful surface. It's the same similar thing to what's on the hull of a boat.

it's that kind of just extremely smooth, it's not porous, it's a really good structure. Again, because of the material that's used, not porous, nothing's gripping to that surface. It's a very, very smooth surface. So there's no dirt or grime that's going to cling to that surface.

an antibacterial side, nothing's building up, there's no mould building up on that surface, which again, over time this is what causes most of the problems with people slipping in the shower. It's that walking in and the unexpected contaminant that's in between. think, I always think people can walk on ice, we can walk on ice, because we know it's ice and we know the way it is and we know the conditions.

so we adapt accordingly. But people can't walk or slip when it's black ice and we don't know that it's there. And that's what causes, that's when people slip the most because they don't know that that surface and I think a lot of times it's unexpected. You're not prepared for that slip. And so again, having a surface that can resist mold, resist bacteria and is allowing the...

the waste water or the ground to run off of it very easily is critical to keeping that surface safe. Again, cleanliness and slipping is

Janet Engel (18:23.027)
So in the US we call that.

In the US we call that soap scum. The stuff that builds up on the shower floor.

Mark (18:30.706)
Okay, yeah, yeah, so there you go. Yes, absolutely. So that's what causes it.

Janet Engel (18:40.955)
not only are we not going slip, but we're also not going to have to work really hard to clean that soap scum off of the shower tray because it will never have an opportunity to build.

Mark (18:47.069)
Well, that's it.

No, and if you think about it, because what's so special about the SenseTech tray is, so you get different kinds of anti -slip surfaces. it's very easy. One thing is it's very easy to make something anti -slip. Very easy. But to try and make something that's anti -slip, is comfortable to stand on, and is easy to clean, is extremely difficult. Extremely difficult. And that's the beauty of this.

The easy clean side of Senstek is a huge feature. you think of, again, traditional, I remember I had a shower pan in my last home and when the kids were young, they were out in the swimming pool, they were running about bare feet, right in the shower. They're right in the shower. Their feet are obviously w. They're on that anti -slip surface and that's great once, twice, three, four, but then it starts building up.

and you're like, my goodness, and you're trying to get it clean, and you can't. And I'm sure we've all seen these anti -slip surfaces where it's grey, it's no longer white on the top, it's grey. And you can't get it clean. And so what you then have to do is then, you know what, little bit elbow grease, and people start scrubbing at the surface trying to get it clean. And that's not really working, it's not doing its best. And so then, well, we're going to start putting chemicals on that, and harsh chemicals on the surface.

to try and get bleach or trying to get this thing clean. And it's extremely difficult, but all the while, while you're doing this and you're scrubbing it, these surfaces are like a paint on. mean, it's added on. It's a traditional shower tray, standard shower tray, and they put the anti -slip on it. The beauty of SenseDeck is the anti -slip is integrated. It's part of it. There's nothing to wash off. Did you see? It's actually part.

Mark (20:51.371)
of the mold. that stuff there is the same as that stuff there. There's no difference. So you can't rub it off, you can't scrub it off, and it's there for the lifetime of the tray. And so with paint -on solutions, these kinds of surfaces wear away. You think the condition that you're in, a shower pan, it's wet, dry, wet, dry, hot, cold, hot, cold. All these things are happening to you. All these things are...

are creating this surface to start breaking down. You're scrubbing it, you're putting chemicals on it. And as the years, know, the months and the years go by, it starts deteriorating and you end up with some areas are little slippy, some areas are not so slippy. And so then the uncertainty begins inside that shower tray. Whereas with the sense deck pan, you know, it's the same every time you walk in it. And because it's easy clean, it's...

It's warm water, little soap and a cloth. You clean it down like you would wash your basin or your wash hand basin. It's just the same. It's an easy clean. And as I say, it lasts for the lifetime of the shower tray.

Janet Engel (22:00.943)
Well, I see many benefits to that because it's low maintenance, which that makes it aging in place friendly. And then also we're not having to use chemicals, which as we get older, we become very sensitive to harsh chemicals like Clorox, ammonia, bleach.

And so not having to use that is going to improve the air quality or keep it from degrading. And it just seems like a great product. And then it's also non -slip and it's going to remain non -slip.

Mark (22:39.278)
Absolutely.

Mark (22:47.034)
And even all these products that you're using from an environmental side of things. I mean that's not good throwing all that down the drain. From a cost point of view. mean every week going shopping and trying to get different things. But also from a maintenance point of view. always believe that... So a paint on surface when something's been added to the tray, obviously it needs to be maintained. But I always doubt...

how many people actually do maintain it. Every three to five years that should be really replaced. And it's fine when you first get that traditional anti -slip shower pan and it comes from a factory, it's been put on in a factory, great, it's one sweep, it's an even surface. And they can test that surface to how slick resistant that surface is.

But now when it has to be replaced, so whether it's yourself or whether it's a contractor comes in to do it for you, they buy these solutions off the shelf to make it anti -slip, they put it on. So it's then painted on and the old stuff stripped off and then we've painted that on again. But when they do that, you can't guarantee the slip resistance of that tray.

It's certainly not going to be the same as it was when it came out the you're going to put it on maybe too heavy on one end and maybe not enough on the other. And so you can't guarantee just what the slip reading of that shower pan is going to be. It's going to be all over the place. Whereas, again, go back to the sense tick tree. It's exactly the same. It's 30 degrees inclination for the lifetime of that tree.

Janet Engel (24:16.083)
you first put it in.

Janet Engel (24:40.083)
Yeah.

Mark (24:42.163)
Just because that structure, that pattern, the dimples, is part of the actual trace integrated, it won't change, won't wear off. you know, again, you know what it's like to walk into the pattern. You know what you're going to walk into. So that uncertainty is taken away.

Janet Engel (25:02.109)
Mark, tell me about the comfort feature. You mentioned this a few minutes ago that it's easy to make a shower tray or suffer slip resistant, but it's not easy to make it comfortable and make it low maintenance. So how has SenseTech made it comfortable?

Mark (25:21.674)
You know, again, numerous samples, going through all the 42 different prototypes, we're standing there for an extended period of time. It has to be comfortable to stand on. throughout those 42, there was many that weren't comfortable, if you want. And so we got to the stage where we felt that this was the one. But again, we have to prove that.

So they brought in the podiatry department of the University of Ulster and asked them to carry out a user study on the Sense Deck tray. So they multiple people and created this user study to test out and get feedback on what people felt without just what they felt about the tray. Now every study always throws up surprises.

and you have your own expectations but then it throws up surprises. And the surprise from this test, this user study, was words like comfort came out, but was also words like massage and reflexology. And that was a huge surprise to come out, that it was giving that feel to people, the spa effect of standing on this high level of comfort. And that was really...

there's no more proof you need other than Joe Public using the two. These are user studies. And we had that and so that's a great place to start. But then obviously this being in the UK, the reviews started coming in. And so these words continued throughout the reviews. I know myself as a contractor, bathroom, having a bathroom installation company and

Janet Engel (27:18.642)
Hmm.

Mark (27:18.809)
I knew about SenseStack, I started using SenseStack myself and putting it towards my own customers. And again, it was the same feedback that we got. People were just delighted with the product. They loved how comfortable it was. And it's obviously again, it's back to that dimple effect that's creating that you're not standing on this flat, solid surface. There's a bit of no movement in it. Well, not movement, but a bit of...

the dimples allow the texture of your feet to distribute the weight in little differently. And so people find that as a kind of a massage texture on their feet, which again, just points to comfort.

Janet Engel (27:51.305)
to distribute your weight a little differently.

Janet Engel (28:00.755)
So you know that's interesting because that's the same composition that they use for wheelchair cushions except of course for a wheelchair cushion the profile is much deeper but it's that same dimple effect to distribute someone's weight when they sit on the cushion so that they don't develop a pressure sore.

Mark (28:08.133)
Okay.

Mark (28:14.267)
Yeah.

Mark (28:23.942)
Press or source? really interesting.

Janet Engel (28:28.783)
Yeah. So tell me how does the price of the SenseTek shower tray compare to other similar high -end products or products that are focused on safety?

Mark (28:44.293)
Just looking away with it. It's going to be a bit more expensive than your standard shower tray. There are other manufacturers out there that do great products, great anti -slip products. Again, it's not about everybody should buy a Sensitec tray and that's the only tray that there is. There's other options out there. It's what option is right for you. And I do encourage everybody to have.

an anti -slip shower tray, no matter what shower tray it is, it should be. From a price point, probably they're peaking at for a, it depends again, obviously price is dictated by size. that's a huge thing. If we took a comparison of a standard shower tray, you're probably coming in somewhere on the high end of a brand, it's around about two and a half thousand that they will be. We're just slightly over that, starting at around about two seven.

for our tray but bear in mind there's no maintenance on that shower tray. 2700 that'll be the stats where we will start for a standard shower pan. But there's no there's maintenance on that. It's not as a lifetime warranty on it. These things are all building trust you know what you're walking into and as I said these things it's a patent I mean so it's guaranteed that how unique

Janet Engel (29:48.915)
So you said 2 ,700, is that what you said?

Janet Engel (29:57.479)
Okay.

Mark (30:13.079)
this product is. So it's always going to come in a little bit higher than a standard shower pan if you want. But I don't think it's exceptionally beyond the realms. You've also got the fact that it is a shower pan. It's easily installed. We don't have coatings to put on it. We don't have tiles to lay. It's one and done and it's in.

Janet Engel (30:35.003)
Right, so it's already gonna be a cheaper product than if someone has a shower floor that's tiled.

Mark (30:42.271)
Absolutely, you don't have tiles involved, your plumber is going to plumb this in, put it into place, plumb it in, seal it and away you go. It's extremely quick to install. And it's quite interesting as much as what you have here is this, again, curbless is a great thing, but it's these tiled floors running in, what we would call a wet room floor in the UK. And yeah, they're gaining popularity in the UK. Whereas here it tends to be

that style of floor then there's a curb put in to contain the water if you want and that's kind of traditional in North America as to how a shower environment would be created. Again, probably dictated because of, it came like that because of size and that's where it started off, bigger houses, bigger bathrooms, you were able to have a bigger shower, you wouldn't be able to buy a pan that size so it had to be constructed.

Janet Engel (31:14.397)
There's the curve.

Mark (31:40.641)
Whereas in the UK, a shower tray, shower pan is far more traditional method of having a shower. It contains the water in itself, it's easily installed. I would also encourage any of these things to be installed by a professional. I know there's lots of great DIY people out there, but as a professional bathroom installer, I would obviously, you please speak to the experts.

because they just... There's water, do you know what? I've just seen it. I've been back to jobs to... Water creates so much damage. It's just crazy. it doesn't necessarily to be... I always found that no matter where the water leak, the damage could be somewhere else. So trying to find where that is. And it's just a headache. It really is. And it's a headache people don't need.

Janet Engel (32:12.403)
Especially when there's water involved.

Janet Engel (32:22.099)
Dammit.

Janet Engel (32:29.223)
Yeah, yeah, it could be in a much larger everywhere place.

Mark (32:37.568)
For that additional cost, you don't have a Tyler or anything like that, so please focus on getting a professional to install these types of products.

Janet Engel (32:45.821)
Let me ask you about the different size of the shower pan. can do you, does SenseTech have several sizes or can it be created custom?

Mark (32:59.455)
So what we have, obviously everybody's got to start somewhere. So because we're a new product coming to the United States, we decided to start with 10 different sizes. The biggest of those sizes is about six foot by four foot is going to be the biggest size. They'll all be in white. Now, that doesn't mean to say that the sizes that we have, that's in the UK. I think there's 40 odd different sizes and shapes.

of shower pans available and those shower pans can be in absolutely any color, any raw color that you want they could be made into. obviously, having the, bringing the trays over here and having them stored here for sale doesn't mean to say that we can't access what the UK does. So we can do a custom tray and if someone was looking for a custom tray, a custom color for whatever reason.

then please reach out to me, drop me an email and we can start that process of creating anything you want, any colour you want. And also you would have access to the various different sizes. But it can be organised obviously, there's just a little bit extra cost involved in that and also extra time to allow that to happen for it to be. All these trays, it's like a one -off, it's a unique tray.

But absolutely we could do that.

Janet Engel (34:27.207)
What about if someone wants to have a curbless shower? Can the SenseTech tray be adapted so that someone can either reframe the floor or recess the subfloor and then place the SenseTech shower tray over and have a zero step entry into their shower?

Mark (34:51.1)
Absolutely. Obviously this is designed as a standalone shower tray. It's 36mm high but that's about an inch and 3 .8 something like that in height. yes, but what it can be, I know you've got some great products like the Rapid Recess where you could cut the floor out, you put these fantastic brackets in and sink the floor down.

on these brackets and that stops any structural changes to joists and whatever underneath the floor. Again, a real cost saver. So once you drop that in, that's another three quarters of an inch that you're able to drop the tray down for the thickness of the flooring. And then it's just about your various builds up depending on what's thickness of your tile and whatever you're going to be laying the tiles on. So that really builds it up and so ultimately you end up

with this flush curbless entry. yes, with a switched on installer, absolutely. Again, that's why I would always advise you go towards a professional. A very simple procedure to do if that's what you are looking for, that style that you're looking for,

Janet Engel (36:01.117)
recommended.

Janet Engel (36:10.643)
Well, that's great. Looking ahead, what future innovations or improvements do you see SenseTech developing?

Mark (36:19.855)
very difficult to improve something that's unique, but what we are looking at.

Janet Engel (36:26.419)
Perfect! You can't improve perfect!

Mark (36:33.002)
It's just one of those things. And so, yeah, now what they're actually coming up with is they're working on a slab effect. So again, there's obviously this texture, shape to this, but they're looking for the slab effect. So it's going to be slightly thinner. It's a slightly thinner about inch and an eighth. But it will be square edge, sharp edges, and have the sense deck dimple on the top of it.

Janet Engel (36:33.363)
Mark (37:02.582)
It's just a slight difference, again from a design point of view. In the UK, again the shower pan is a feature, it's there, so people like different styles. So that's something that they're working on right at this moment, is the slab effect and having the sense -stack dimple on it. So I'm excited to see how that turns out.

Janet Engel (37:09.425)
a more contemporary look.

Janet Engel (37:33.445)
The last time I spoke with you, which was a couple of weeks ago, you were telling me that there was a shipment headed to Florida and you were tracking the truck. Is this available yet? when, where will we see the SenseTech ShowerTree product?

Mark (37:51.768)
So absolutely, I was such a sad person watching that ship coming across the ocean. It really was. But eventually it got there. yeah, so just the other day, and obviously a new ship went, custom, you've got the customs headache and they want a further inspection and everything and you've got the stress of that. So it's been quite a stressful hectic time. But at last we got it in just

Janet Engel (37:57.404)
Ha

Mark (38:21.41)
Just yesterday, the day before. Yesterday, yesterday was Monday. So we got it to the warehouse. So they're slowly processing everything within the container and getting it into the warehouse. Our website is going through its final testing at this moment in time. we'll watch this space. Definitely within the next week, our website will be going live and we'll be able to purchase them online.

Janet Engel (38:28.502)
time.

Mark (38:51.203)
So yeah, I'm very excited about all this. It's taken, you know, it's like anything, things take longer than you think. think you're just gonna open the shutters and away you go. this is, again, it's the respect of coming into the United States and we want to do things right and it's slow and steady. But yeah, you know what, it'll be available across the United States as much as we have our

distribution center is in Florida, is available right across the United States. We wanted to take that and start in one area and learn. Again, we're learning about the market and how this is going to work over here and getting things to be. We want things to be perfect for customers. Now we're doing a white glove delivery service to any room in your home, so this isn't Amazon that's going to dump this at your door and run.

Janet Engel (39:23.367)
Okay.

Mark (39:48.874)
This is a quality product and that quality has to run all the way down. And it took a long time to get our three peer distributors, things like that, get all these things in place and find the right people that were going to work with us and grow with us. And our distributors are a key part of that growth and they're set up across the United States.

Janet Engel (40:11.507)
Hmm.

Mark (40:16.421)
so that once we start seeing patterns and we can start then bringing and shipping these into different distribution centers. But at this moment in time, yeah, available across the United States, but we're slightly focusing on Florida and with our distribution center.

Janet Engel (40:28.327)
this.

Janet Engel (40:33.273)
And a potential customer will be able to order the shower tray directly from your website or from a distributor.

Mark (40:40.102)
Absolutely yes. They go online and it's a Shopify website. They'll able to do everything through the website and buy it directly there. Shipping will be included and it will be delivered directly to their home and to any room they wish in the house. We designed a special packaging and this crate that is going to come in and a lot of work went into that to make sure that this

this tray looks exactly the same when it arrives at your home than when it leaves Ballygolly in Northern Ireland. So it's a long distance.

Janet Engel (41:18.609)
Will SenseTech also help the customer find an installer, match them with an installer, or is it like installing another shower tree?

Mark (41:34.228)
We wouldn't be looking, we wouldn't be finding, we're assuming that the customer will have their own contractor already set up. Obviously that's something, is that something that we could start doing down the line? Obviously from myself, whilst the aging in place community if you want, is something that I'm hugely interested in and trying to learn as much as I can about it. There's just so much I've learned so far.

I didn't even realize. But I'm hoping that through time that I can find people within that community that can maybe help us, then help our customers and be able to find synergies and tie the companies together to say, right, okay, we don't physically come out and install this thing, but you know what, here's a fantastic, reputable company. Go through them, go to their website, put in your zip code and you'll be directed towards.

Janet Engel (42:15.623)
Hmm.

Mark (42:32.818)
Again, reputable contractor that can take care of this for you. So that's where I'm looking towards down the line. But baby steps at the moment. The number one thing is we get this 100 % right for the customer. I know the product. That's what's fantastic about this product. I had an installation company and I ran that, whilst it was fantastic, it was a great company and great people.

you're only as good as your last job and everything I said I'm at the mercy of other people doing this job. Whereas what I find fantastic working with a product is I know that product doesn't matter whether it's the first one or the 10 ,000 down the line, it's coming out exactly the same. So it's very easy for me to speak about because I can stand behind this product because it's never going to change. It's a unique product, it's just an outstand.

Janet Engel (43:09.395)
Mm -hmm.

Janet Engel (43:21.649)
Mmm.

Janet Engel (43:30.203)
It doesn't have a day.

Mark (43:32.193)
It doesn't have a bad day, exactly. So that was my first instance in finding our three PL distributors, bringing them together, a website agency that could help us create a great website that's going to be easy to work for the customers. And again, whilst Aging in Place is a niche, it's just one niche. And it's very important for the great product for Aging in Place.

I believe anti -slip and safety in the shower is for absolutely everybody. mean, these things should be mandatory, no matter what. If you're installing these things, there is anti -slip and people are aware, also aware of what they're buying and the maintenance that comes with it. I'm sure there's a lot of products put in there and it's, there it is, thanks very much and away we go. And the customer doesn't really know very much about the product. I don't know that there's huge amounts of

Janet Engel (44:07.003)
It's for everyone.

Mark (44:32.228)
conversations about levels of safety that the customer would actually understand what they're buying.

Janet Engel (44:38.545)
I think people aren't aware exactly like you said that when they're buying a shower tray there is a difference between the quality and the non -slip factor that goes into that product and they're just unaware they may just assume that a shower tray is non -slip but I can give you an example when my son was a newborn and I have this little bathtub for him and

Mark (44:51.674)
Bye.

Janet Engel (45:08.135)
That bathtub, it had such a slippery surface on it that even him, and he was less than six months old, when a couple of times he slipped on his back and after two or three times of that happening, he became terrified. And when I would approach him over the bathtub, he would start crying and not want to get in it because he remembered.

Mark (45:28.122)
Wow.

Mark (45:35.114)
-huh.

Janet Engel (45:36.903)
that he had slipped several times. And eventually I had to get rid of that little bathtub and just buy him something else because he was absolutely terrified.

Mark (45:48.043)
No, it's important to know what you're going to be standing on and what level of safety it's going to get you. I wrote an article for a magazine not that long ago and it was about non -slip, slip resistant and anti -slip. What do those words mean? Everybody assumes they all mean the same thing. That if I buy this, I'm not going to slip. That's not quite the case.

Janet Engel (45:53.831)
Mm

Janet Engel (46:11.431)
this.

Mark (46:17.677)
And as I say, there's different levels. When we talk about the German barefoot ramp test, there's different levels. There's an A, a B, or a C class. And then there's sense deck. But there's an A, B, or a C. But when someone's selling that A class website, think it's something that is at 12 degrees, something like that is the slope on an A class. It's still being sold as an anti -slip, a non -slip, or whatever. It's being sold like that.

Janet Engel (46:29.681)
Dead.

Janet Engel (46:45.713)
What does that really mean?

Mark (46:47.094)
But what does that really mean to the customer? so again, that's part of my job, feel, to not just educate people about SenseTech, but just anti -slip in general, just so they understand what they're buying and the maintenance that perhaps is involved in it. And just keeping people safe, as you say, from young kids, families. There's lots more multi -generational families now, so that this product has to be.

Janet Engel (47:12.979)
you

Mark (47:15.249)
has to be good for everyone and it's we have

Janet Engel (47:17.467)
It's universal design and it's also transcendent design because it's for everyone. It is also for people with very specific mobility impairments. For example, someone with Parkinson's or someone with diabetes that has neuropathy. So that makes it transcendent because it's for the healthy person and it's for the person

who has a type of disability.

Mark (47:52.755)
Absolutely. There's actually a review we received in the UK from a customer who had Parkinson's disease and how this has just changed her life of using this. But it also didn't just change her life, it changed her husband's life because he was always sick of all the gadgets and things that she had in the shower and these mats and all this stuff to try and not slip in the shower. so he's over the moon because

she is now so confident standing on the surface and it's got rid of these mats that that gather dirt and again, the problem with the dirt is it then starts becoming the opposite of why you bought the thing in the first place and it builds up so quickly and I don't think people realise that, yeah.

Janet Engel (48:43.291)
Yeah, just after two or three uses. And especially if you live in a temperate climate, you know, like Florida or Georgia, Louisiana, and you have the humidity factor. as an occupational therapist going into people's homes, I would see patients laying towels on their shower trays because their shower tray was so slippery that they were

Mark (48:49.256)
Absolutely.

Mark (48:55.743)
Yes, I'd like that.

Janet Engel (49:11.549)
putting a towel to make it non -slip, which, you know, that's a terrible idea.

Mark (49:16.635)
Yeah, again I'm learning stuff as well and looking, no again, digging into things. I'm learning about people, you their special shoes and everything they wear when they're going in. like, my, I'm like, my goodness, this is what, there's no need for this. There's stuff out there and I just don't think people know. And obviously they definitely don't know about Sensex and so I've got to this in front of people and help them understand that.

Janet Engel (49:26.449)
Yes, people wear shoes. Yes.

Mark (49:46.684)
There is great stuff out there that can, again, the reviews stand up for themselves. It's the best kind of publicity or whatever you want that we can give as previous users. And obviously I need to build them up in the US as people start having these in their home and start using them. But yeah, it's...

We need to make people safer and get rid of the mats and towels and shoes. It's a lot simpler than that. There's good products.

Janet Engel (50:25.875)
And it's all, it's a bunch of work because now all of this stuff has to be washed. It has to be picked up. It has to be dried. And it's unnecessary. And it also detracts from the beauty of your bathroom.

Mark (50:32.316)
Yeah.

Mark (50:36.113)
Yeah.

Mark (50:40.121)
Absolutely. Being in a shower, a shower should be, it's one of the few times you're on your own, it should be a great experience. To start the day or end the day, everybody likes water running over them. Warm water, it's a great feeling, it's a great experience. Obviously since I've started this, I imagine what people go through.

and thinking about, and if I'm standing here and I'm thinking about imagine just being petrified that you're going to slip all the time, how this just ruins this experience, then people start avoiding the experience and then that comes with a whole load of problems I think. This should be a highlight of people's day and going in the shower, it should be a good experience and there shouldn't be stress there.

Janet Engel (51:16.52)
Yeah.

Janet Engel (51:32.064)
Or it shouldn't be an activity that, you know, threatens your life.

Mark (51:37.784)
Absolutely, that's the thing. If you fall, if you fall, no, this is not a little bruise on your knee. This is life -threatening stuff. And again, all know, know, older people, once you fall, that tends to be, you're not going upwards. It's a downward spiral from there. People start, you know, just becoming worse. And so we've got to keep people on their feet and not slipping. And since...

SenseStack is a great product for that.

Janet Engel (52:08.765)
And I'll end the conversation with saying that most falls result in either a head injury or a hip fracture. So very, very dangerous. Fall prevention is key for helping people age in place and continue to have quality of life. Mari, thank you so much for educating us. We learned about all these different tests that

Mark (52:29.071)
So luck now.

Thanks so much for having me.

Janet Engel (52:37.059)
Test the dynamic coefficient of friction that we don't have in the US like the German barefoot Ram test that was great But thank you so much for sharing all this great information and we look forward to your website being live You can send that to me and I'll include it show notes

Mark (52:53.963)
Absolutely. will. Yeah, it should be within the next few days to a week once we've done our testing. There's going to be a lot of information, a lot of what we spoke about today that people can take their time and read about. There's a CPD course on their all about anti -slip that you can look at. There's tons of information out there that's going to be on the site.

I'm excited for people to, if nothing else, understand what Auntie Slip's all about.

Janet Engel (53:27.857)
And how can someone get in touch with you?

Mark (53:31.171)
You'll find me on LinkedIn, you'll find me on social media but you can email me mark at sensdeck -usa .com. yeah, LinkedIn tends to be the place I hang out most often.

Janet Engel (53:46.099)
Well, we'll include all those links in the show notes.

Mark (53:50.017)
Yeah, absolutely, that would be great. And if anybody's got any questions, please do reach out. I'm only a phone call, we can do a Zoom, can do email, whatever suits anyone. And I'm more than happy to share whatever I can with you. Definitely.

Janet Engel (54:03.549)
Thank you, Mark. It was a pleasure speaking with you.

Mark (54:06.509)
Thanks for having me, I really appreciate it.