Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/785220
FEBRUA RY 2017 | 17 Restoration Products & Services Duffy, VP, engineering, for Icynene, points out, testing homes for air-tightness is rising in the U.S., because air leakage can account for up to 40 percent of a build- ing's energy loss, and because air leaks can seriously degrade insulation performance; making foam appli- cation all the more important. Whether or not this practice ever becomes common in Canada is unclear, but spray foam, until recently, had its drawbacks, chiefly, the amount of time it would to remove spray vapours before building occupants could go back inside. But thanks to Icynene's development lab, new lighter density and medium density foams have higher R-values for a given thickness, cause less waste in spraying, provide an R-24 insulation value in cavities versus insulating sheathing, and – thanks to reduced VOC emissions – enable occupants to re-enter a treated building much sooner (tests indicate in as little as two hours) without the need for protective gear. "The foams are generating excitement within the restoration industry and are ideal for retrofits. Their introduction into the market is timely, consider- ing building code requirements are constantly being ratcheted up," says Duffy. BNE Contractors Inc. has for the past quarter cen- tury established itself as one of the best providers in the polished concrete, coatings and concrete surface preparation industry. Besides being a design trend with proven legs, polished concrete is especially valuable to restoration or upgrade projects because studies have proven it's the most slip-resistant flooring available. Chris Henderson, president of BNE Contractors Inc., says business is so brisk that "We're targeting growth on the magnitude of 15 percent, minimum, and 2016 was a year of record sales for us, with a lot of retailers undergoing store renovations." For example, Sears Canada recently announced an extensive rebranding, one facet of which will require the removal of their vinyl flooring in approximately 60 stores across Canada. "We're polishing the concrete underneath, and you can imagine we're finding all sorts of stuff under the 30-year-old vinyl: tile, flooring on top of flooring, old conduits that have to be removed and in-filled – you name it," says Henderson, adding that the work in each store is performed sequentially to minimize shopper inconvenience. Quick turnarounds are crucial to the Sears proj- ect: "It's not uncommon for us to redo an entire floor in nine weeks, while the store continues to operate," says Henderson. With a backlog of other work and new projects in the pipeline, Henderson anticipates a huge 2017 for BNE, and he also expects a growth in the retail sector with their new engineered polished floor toppings as an alternative to conventional tile systems. "We're the Canadian partner and preferred installer for Ardex, which manufactures an extremely durable self-levelling topping that creates a new floor only half an inch thick," he says. "Simply put, you shot blast or grind the old floor, prime it, and then pour the topping – and 24 hours later it can be polished. It's a wonderfully versatile material." As a crucial part of floor restoration, underlayments are used for fire resistance, sound control, floor level- ling and resurfacing. Maxxon Corporation provides a full line of gypsum and cementitious underlayments. Maxxon gypsum underlayments and sound control mats are VOC emission-free, making them safe for all interior environments. As proof, these products carry Greenguard Gold certification and may help to contrib- ute toward points for LEED project certification. From the original Gyp-Crete floor underlayment, the Maxxon line has expanded to include five gypsum underlayments, two self-levelling underlayments, one low-density fill and 10 sound control mats. This diver- sity meets the different needs of residential, com- mercial and industrial projects: for example, the five underlayments have been designed for projects with radiant floor heating systems, wood subfloors, con- crete slabs or precast planks in renovations, and more. Arriscraft's popular thin cladding products are con- tinuing to grow in sales, concurrent to the explosion in the past few years of the demand from designers for thin brick, thin manufactured stone and thin natural Spray foam insulation from Icynene Inc. is ideal for retrofits. Build modern. Discover our range of modern full-bed and thin stone for your contemporary designs. arriscraft.com |