Canterbury
Park
(Retirement and independent living complex)
LOCATION
Longview, Wash.
PRODUCT
LEVELROCK Brand FLoor Underlayment 2500
PROJECT
OWNER
Emmett Koelsch Construction
GENERAL
CONTRACTOR
Emmett Koelsch Construction
LEVELROCK
APPLICATOR
DNH Construction, Inc. |
"I've talked to a lot of applicators, and they say the LEVELROCK
Brand underlayment is the easiest to work with."
 Doyle
Hubbard
Owner
DNH Construction Inc.
|
|
 |
LEVELROCK Brand Underlayment Reduces Construction Time
on $9
Million Retirement Complex
 |
| DNH Construction crew
mixes LEVELROCK Brand underlayment in Longview, Wash. |
Imagine pouring
60,000 sq. ft. of gypsum underlayment in only four days.
That's
exactly what DNH Construction, Inc., was able to accomplish, using USG's
LEVELROCK Brand Floor Underlayment 2500 during construction of Canterbury Park,
a new $9 million retirement and assisted living complex in Longview, Wash.
Depending upon job layout, anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 sq. ft. of
LEVELROCK underlayment can be installed per day, and because it sets in just a
few hours, other trades can get back in the area within a matter of hours.
"It was amazing," said John Giese, job superintendant, Emmet Koelsch
Construction, the general contractor and owner of Canterbury Park. "Within a
couple of hours you could go back and walk on the gypsum floor."
The
speed of the LEVELROCK underlayment installation enabled Koelsch Construction
to realize significant cost savings in comparison to the time it would have
taken lightweight cement crews to do the work.
And, unlike
lightweight portland cement, LEVELROCK underlayment expands as it sets,
reducing cracks and filling sound channels for superior acoustical performance.
 |
| Approximately 60,000 sq.
ft. of gypsum underlayment was poured at Canterbury Park. |
High Strength
The LEVELROCK Brand product line has significantly raised the bar for
poured gypsum flooring performance. The USG product offers a minimum
compressive strength of 2500 psi. That's 40 to 50 percent higher than the
typical strength of competing entry level poured gypsum cements (which usually
range from 1200 to 1500 psi).
The Canterbury Park architect was so
impressed with the strength of the 1 1/2-inch LEVELROCK underlayment pour that
he plans to specify shallower pours in the future.
"Architects don't
have to go as thick as they do with our competitors," said Doyle Hubbard, owner
of DNH Construction Inc., "We have a stronger product."
Quality
Control
USG has also implemented tight quality-control measures by
certifying applicators, providing field guidance on pours and obtaining test
samples from each project.
 |
| Architect Loren Burk
(left), site superintendent John Giese and DNH Construction estimator Bill
Roper inspect the quality of the LEVELROCK underlayment. |
DNH Construction's
front-end loaders have been fitted with specially calibrated sand buckets, and
the materials pumps are equipped with a digital water meter to help regulate
mixing. The pumps can quickly and perfectly mix water, sand and 100 80-pound
bags of LEVELROCK underlayment every hour.
The DNH screeder, a key
player on the application team, uses a float with a depth gauge to keep the
pour constant room by room. Hubbard also orders regular slump tests to keep
tabs on the quality of the mixture.
Only 90 minutes after pouring the
building's second floor, Giese stood on the LEVELROCK underlayment in
amazement. The surface was hard and smooth. "We usually see cracking when we
use other brands," said Giese. "But with this product we haven't been able to
find any cracks."
These kinds of comments don't surprise Hubbard.
"The response has been good from general contractors," he said. "I've talked to
a lot of applicators and they say that LEVELROCK underlayment is the easiest to
work with and holds up the best." |
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