The LE Story

“The Empire State Building has 6500 windows,” says Chris Ripley.

It’s an interesting statistic, and one he is using to help explain his innovative company, Lifetyme Exteriors. “If I know the Empire State Building has 6500 windows, and I know that they don’t recaulk them every three years, I can deduce that there is a caulk that lasts longer than the material I use on my windows at home,” Ripley says, thus explaining the basic principal behind his company’s innovative flagship product.

While operating a painting franchise during his college years, Ripley’s interest in the chemistry of paints and exterior coatings grew at a rapid pace. One day, an epiphany struck. “It was like those 6500 windows,” he says, “because I started realizing that other coatings are available, they’re just not available to most homeowners.” Those alternatives are materials reserved for commercial and industrial markets. Ripley started asking questions, doing research, testing products, and nurturing relationships with company chemists. “I knew the materials to create a good product existed, they were just  not made available to the general public,” Ripley says.

Due to the considerable expense incurred when using industrial materials, industry insiders generally regarded his efforts as antics. Ripley’s quest, however, continued, sparked by the knowledge that price becomes less of a factor if a product or service lasts twenty or more years.

With this in mind, Ripley developed one important question: What if price wasn’t an issue?

If price were no issue, what would you do as a homeowner to protect your largest investment?

The answer was overwhelming. Everyone he talked to said they would use different products to coat the exterior of their home.

Ten years after his initial search started, Ripley has finally developed what he calls Lifetyme Exteriors Smart Color technology, an exterior finish that  will last over twenty years. “It’s been a tooth and nail claw for ten years, but now we have an alternative. People will no longer need to paint every four years. Smart Color is more expensive, but it has great and lasting value,” he says.

Ripley and his partners know that they have some skeptics to convince, and are starting by focusing on customer service. The company has an A rating with the Better Business Bureau, and is offering a lifetime warranty that includes labor and is even transferrable to the subsequent owners. “We’ve tested our product in the lab and it survives intense scrutiny,” Ripley explains.

Now that Lifetyme Exteriors is gaining significant traction, Ripley has his sights on aggressive growth. The company, which started in Boston, has advanced to twenty-eight total states and plans to enter the other twenty-two in the near future.  Ripley is currently training  new dealers to offer Lifetyme Exterior products. “We want to do 300,000 houses a year,” he says.

To do so, Lifetyme has partnered with the largest paint company in America to produce their Smart Color, a special blend of resins, polymers, and high-grade titanium dioxides that have never before been available to the homeowner for residential use. Manufacturers refer to the type of formula as “micro-clad technology,” because the coating creates a weatherproof shield that can be applied to any surface material including stucco, brick, wood, aluminum, vinyl, and cinder block. “It’s a versatile application, which is another one of its many strengths,” says Ripley.

As he finishes explaining Lifetyme Exteriors, Ripley again mentions the Empire State Building. “It’s obviously a great structure. It was the tallest building in the world for forty-one years. And now it’s not.”