Cut up Lucozade bottles on a piece of carpet in builder Charlie Ayers kitchen led to a cavity spacer product that he says allows stone walls to be built more quickly and cheaply than by traditional methods.
After three years and £25,000, Charlie now has an Agrement Certificate for his SureCav and, having been turned down for the Dragons Den TV programme five times, has secured backing to enable him to manufacture the product.
"It does work," he tells NSS. "I have built hundreds of houses with it."He says the advantage of the product is that it eliminates the difficulties of creating cavity walls using timber shuttering or backing blocks.
SureCav is a patented moulded high density polyethylene panel with spacer protrusions. It maintains a constant cavity against a timber frame or traditional blockwork for fast, high quality build, says Charlie.
Benefits include up to 5% extra internal floor space for the same external dimensions, ease of handling and storing and moisture impermeability. It is even made from recycled plastic to improve its green credentials.
It is manufactured by Spatz Arlon in Redditch and is supplied in 1200 x 450mm sheets that are joined together in use by joint strips.
"The good thing going for it," says Charlie Ayers, "is that people who have bought it have come back for more.""