Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Polished Floors, Right on Schedule

  • 08/01/14

Students and faculty at the Southridge Elementary School in Casper, Wyoming were a bit shocked when they were informed that their brand new school would not be ready for the August 19 start of the school year. Many construction delays were encountered during the project, including the polished concrete floors in the school that were deemed unacceptable by the architect.

The building was 100-percent complete when the decision was made to completely repolish the entire school. Cove base was in place, walls were painted, carpet was laid and cabinets were set. The building was virtually ready to be occupied when the decision was made. A well-known concrete consulting company was hired to assess the situation. Their 20-page report indicated that the floor did not meet the standards of the specification and should be repolished and dyed to the architect’s specification.

Freddie Gwynn, owner of Polished Concrete of Wyoming sat down with the contracting superintendent of the project and discussed the potential remedy. “It’s not going to be cheap, but it will be right” Freddie told him. A rigid timetable to complete the work was laid out. In order to pull this off, Freddie brought in another highly qualified FGS Permashine Contractor, Shawn Weaver of Concrete Floor Systems based in Denver, Colorado.

Plastic was put into place floor to ceiling in order to minimize dust contamination and damaging the finished painted walls. The edging was perhaps the biggest task to tackle. Crews spent countless hours hand grinding and polishing right up to in place carpeting.

Care was taken to densify to complete rejection to ensure that the dye was properly locked in. Final polishing and further densification brought the entire building up to the specified 1500-grit level. What does the school think? “We are very pleased with our floors and with the two contractors,” exclaims Principal Rick Skatula.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • University of Rochester to Break Ground on New Student Life Center

    The University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., recently began construction on a new Student Life building, according to a news release. The first floor will contain campus-wide gathering, program, and rehearsal space; the second floor will play home to the Greenbaum Center for Jewish Life.

  • Montclair State University Starts Construction on $120M STEM Building

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently broke ground on a new $120-million Interdisciplinary Science Building, according to university news. The university partnered with HoK Architects for the project’s design, and it’s scheduled to open in time for the 2028–29 academic year.

  • Missouri Child Development Center Completes $2.3M Expansion

    The Urban Sprouts Child Development Center in St. Louis, Mo., recently announced the completion of a $2.3-million expansion and adaptive reuse project, according to a news release. The new space includes a retail café, outdoor learning space, and a support office building.

  • Georgia State University Opens New Research Tower

    Georgia State University in Atlanta, Ga., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new, nine-story, 155,000-square-foot Research Tower, according to university news. Amenities include academic classrooms, a large lecture space, teaching labs, faculty research space, and the uppermost floors reserved for future expansion.