by Jim Cram
Porter Building Systems continues to demonstrate the benefits of panelization to enhance a project on site speed as well as to showcase the quality of added scope being applied to the panels in the factory.
1. Southern Maine Medical Center, Biddeford, Maine – This past December presented the construction community with very challenging weather in Maine. Temperatures hovering just above zero and two feet of snow had no impact on the heated 400-foot-long assembly lines at Porter’s factory.
Rigid insulation and air barriers were applied without gloves and windows were carefully flashed and sealed. On site, trailer loads of panels were pre-positioned to avoid road closures due to storms and the panels were installed in just one week. Allowing the building to be sealed up and other subcontractors to stay on schedule.
It was the first panel job for Ouellet Associates, Inc. of Brunswick, Maine. Dean Ouellet, Vice President of Ouellet Associates, Inc. recently commented, “We have not done any panelization prior to this project and I was very apprehensive. However, after reviewing shop drawings and visiting the shop a few times prior to and during fabrication of the panels, it became apparent that building these walls in a controlled environment during the dead of winter was truly the right way to do it.
Despite the fact that we had two storms totalling 25″ and blistering cold temperatures, in the first few days commencing installation, all the panels were installed within the first week prior to Christmas and we happily had the heat system blowing throughout the building prior to the New Year.
I am certain that doing panelization during those cold snowy days saved a month in our schedule. It has been a good learning experience for us and we look forward to the next one…Thank you”
2 – Lakes Region Community College in Laconia, N.H. – Porter also completed a similar project in Laconia, N.H. during another cold snap. Again, it took just one week on site to transform the steel frame to a fully enclosed, insulated building. The team at Porter Building Systems prides itself on maintaining good communication and coordination between the panel fabricator, the structural engineer, architect, and general contractor so that panelization is successfully done.
Keith McBey, Vice President at Bonnette, Page & Stone said after the installation at the Lakes Region Community College , “There are few times in a career when one runs into an entire team that performs as well as yours. From the initial sale through the shops and into installation Porter performed seamlessly”
3 – Hampton Inn in Lewiston, Maine – Winter has a firm grip on the construction site at the new four-story Hampton Inn in Lewiston, Maine, but fortunately much of the exterior work is being done inside the panel shop at Porter Building Systems. This is a LEED certified project being managed by Wright-Ryan Construction of Portland. The wall panels have added scope applied including continuous 2-inch rigid polyiso on the outside of the building; an air barrier and the windows are installed. For the fourth floor the panels are pre-finished with EIFS and include the parapet. Because the walls are complete and are insulated, it is now possible to heat the space from below and allow concrete to be poured in sub-freezing temperatures.
Jim Cram is sales director/pre-construction and LEED Green associate at Porter Building Systems.
