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FEBRUA RY 2018 | 13 Restoration Products & Services Cole adds that the Calgary flood several years ago saw widespread use of closed cell polyurethane foam in the rebuilding of basements, and more recently the wildfires that swept Fort McMurray and in 2017 destroyed 900,000 hectares of land and property in B.C. resulted in the foam being applied to new con- struction. "As unfortunate as these events were, they drew attention to the many benefits of foam over con- ventional insulation." It's unsurprising then that Icynene, whose open cell and closed cell spray foam insulates and air seals in one step, is currently enjoying double digit growth, according to Paul Duffy, the company's VP engineering. "We've worked diligently to reduce VOC compound emissions, and as a result installers can now re-enter a work area in as little as one hour after application to tear down the tarps, and residents can move back in within two hours – which is enormous in terms of time savings," he says. Icynene's influence in the construction/res- toration sectors is about to become a lot bigger. In October it announced a merger with Lapolla Industries, Inc. that will position both companies for long-term sustained growth and make Icynene- Lapolla the largest spray foam provider in the world. "And we continue to improve our performance with products such as Icynene ProSeal LE," says Duffy. "This foam helps achieve R-31 in minutes, and an initial pass results in a five-inch thickness, without the heat and steam issues that previously required installers to spray in 50-millimetre layers, thus again saving a lot of time." Strengthening is the focus of Fibrwrap Construction's restoration work, whose projects include many notable transportation and water- front jobs. For example, after the City of Edmonton decided to widen Quesnell Bridge from a four lane to a six lane highway, consulting engineers concluded that the existing girders were insufficient in flexural and shear capacities and did not meet loading condi- tions. The solution was provided by the Tyfo SCH-41 system, which was installed longitudinally along the bottom side of the girders to increase their flexural capacity, and installed transversely along the sides to increase their overall shear capacity. Fibrwrap has also used unidirectional Tyfo SCH- 41 fabric to strengthen concrete floor slabs in the Hotel Georgia in Vancouver: this supplemented the required flexural enhancement designed by Glotman Simpson Consulting Engineers and resulted in vast time savings, reduced remedial costs, and reduced shut down time. Pressurized cleaning is a key element in cosmetic restoration, and Edward Humphries, project man- ager for Colonial Building Restoration, points out that his firm (which is respected as Canada's restoration and preservation expert) made extensive use of the Rotec Vortex cleaning system in 2017. Rotec Vortex cleaning system by Colonial Building Restoration. ProSeal LE closed cell polyurethane foam from Icynene Inc. Euclid Admixture.indd 1 2016-12-20 12:54

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