Performance and Innovation

  LEVELROCK Brand^® Floor underlayment, made by United States Gypsum Company, is a fast-applying cementitious underlayment that delivers exceptional strength, sound control and fire resistance. Owing to these performance benefits, LEVELROCK^® poured cementitious underlayment is becoming the leading choice for both residential and commercial construction projects. Lightweight concrete applicators coast to coast are switching over.

   “LEVELROCK is easier to work with and more flexible than concrete, plus we avoid being a victim of the ready-mix company,” said Clarke. “We control the mix. We control the pour. It comes out smooth – and once you finish pouring, you can leave.”

  Although builders, general contractors and architects are typically slow to change to new materials, poured cementitious underlayments provide a better way to meet their needs. LEVELROCK Brand Floor Underlayment, for example, delivers compressive strengths ranging from 2,500 psi to 8000 psi – the highest strength ratings in the industry. That means USG provides a full line of products to meet the requirements of each job and provides solutions to prevent flaking, dusting, chipping and cracking. The product also eliminates the hollow sound characteristic of most residential flooring construction. Poured over ¾-inch plywood, LEVELROCK floor underlayment creates sub-floors with greater density and stability.

  “LEVELROCK underlayment provides a kind of ‘monumental’ feeling to the floors,” said Clarke. “And that’s what we’re selling to our builders – the sizzle, not the steak.”

  Clarke has 750 active clients in his company database. His goal is to reach all of them with news of LEVELROCK underlayment’s amazing performance, which makes marketing and promotion a top priority. Thus far, the effort at converting clientele – through sales calls and targeted mailings – appears to be working. Slowly but surely, home builders and other customers are buying into the advantages of poured cementitious underlayment.. Clarke’s post-project telephone surveys show that 90 to 95 of his customers are completely satisfied with their projects.

   
 Still, Clarke believes his company’s innovation has much to do with those good scores. Some of his employees, for example, have designed pour rigs for company trucks. PFC crews dubbed one rig, built in 2001, the “Level Rocker.” It’s a mixer fitted on a flatbed truck that handles 2,000- to 10,000-foot pours. “Bam Bam,” built last year, is PFC’s smaller rig, designed so two people can pour 100- to 2,000-foot jobs.

  “I know it’s rather unorthodox, but these rigs work,” said Clarke. “We couldn’t find what we wanted on the market. So, we engineered them ourselves.”

With “Level Rocker” and “Bam Bam,” PFC Contracting can gear up for just about any size project. The company, for example, recently handled an 8,000-foot pour at a fire-damaged apartment complex using LEVELROCK 2500 underlayment. While that was underway, another crew leveled a 255-foot residential interior space using LEVELROCK 3500 underlayment. After that, PFC crews poured 2,200 feet of LEVELROCK 2500 underlayment over plywood on the second floor of a high-end home to achieve sound control and floor leveling for the builder.

 “Not all of our clients are interested in low, low prices,” said Clarke. “They want different psi levels. They want different applications. They have different needs.”

Small-Company Success

 PFC’s switchover from lightweight to LEVELROCK underlayment is working. According to Clarke, the company, with just over $2 million in annual revenues, enjoys gross profit margins of 40 to 45 percent. PFC has a profit sharing plan and promotes from within, enabling the firm to enjoy stability in the labor market.

 Still, competition demands that the 22-employee company be more than just a nice place to work. Three competitive applicators besides PFC operate in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, and all want their share. To carve out a niche, PFC focuses on small, specialty work.

 “Three firms are scouring the market for the 15 or so multifamily clients that are out there,” he said. “We’re just the opposite. We did 822 jobs in 2003.”

  Yes, small companies can compete effectively in the specialty cementitious underlayment market. And using the right product can help trim costs and simplify operations. But in PFC Contracting’s case, the right product does more – it also helps forge a quality image.

  “More than just cost issues, I feel that we’re converting into more of a sterling company,” said Clarke. “We’re becoming a company of choice, and that means the world to me.”

For additional information, contact the Industrial Products Division of United States Gypsum Company at P.O. Box 806278, Chicago, IL 60680-4124, call (800) 487-4431 or visit the division’s Web site at www.gypsumsolutions.com.

  The Industrial Products Division of United States Gypsum Company is a leading producer and marketer of a wide range of industrial products used in manufacturing, tooling, plastics, coatings, construction, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, food processing, statuary, ceramics, road repair and other applications.

  United States Gypsum Company is a subsidiary of USG Corporation, a Fortune 500 company with business units that are market leaders in their key product groups: gypsum wallboard, joint compound and related gypsum products; cement board; gypsum fiber panels; ceiling panels and grid; and building products distribution. For additional information, visit the USG Web site at www.usg.com.