GILBERT, Ariz. (KPHO/KTVK) — Allison and Ryan Doverspike love living in Arizona. What they don’t love are all the scorpions found throughout their Gilbert neighborhood. A few years ago, their son Grayson was stung by a scorpion, then rushed to the emergency room. “I look at my child, and he’s convulsing, and he’s got saliva and stuff coming out of his mouth,” said Allison. “He looks like he’s having a seizure.”
Thankfully, Grayson made a full recovery, but since then, the family has been searching for ways to keep the dangerous pests away from the kids. “It’s like this is the devil bug,” said Ryan. “We need to figure out how do we keep these out of our house?”
Two Gilbert dads think they’ve found the answer. Aaron and Tony Gonzales have created a unique scorpion defense system called Slick Barrier. It’s a coating that creates a slick surface that scorpions can’t get traction on when applied to wood, stucco, or brick. “It’s basically just a paint coating,” said Tony. “It goes on the foundation of your home, and it dries like glass, which is what we want. If you have scorpions and other insects, like spiders or roaches, they can’t get their claws into that coating, so they can’t climb up.”
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The Gonzales’ are pitching their product as an affordable alternative to pesticides and other pest control products. They gave a quick demonstration with a brick painted with Slick Barrier and a tank full of scorpions. None of the scorpions climbed up the brick. “I saw one of them in one of our bathtubs and sinks, and they didn’t climb out,” said Aaron. “I just thought to myself, if I could create that same surface around my house, at least I could keep them out.”
They’re so confident in what they’ve created they’ll be looking for investors when they appear on the show Shark Tank, which airs this Friday. The Doverspikes were among the first customers and are pleased with the results so far. “I do know before we had the product on, we found scorpions in the house,” said Allison. “I think it’s been very successful for us.”
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Slick Barrier is being sold in kits online for $100. In addition, a Shark Tank discount of 50% is now being offered. For more details visit slickbarrier.com.
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