TEC® Products Help Create New Showcase Building for WeatherTech®
WeatherTech® Company, the famous maker of auto floor mats and other accessories has seen extraordinary growth in demand for its made-in-America products. To accommodate its success, WeatherTech had to expand its Bolingbrook, Illinois corporate campus, annexing existing buildings and adding new construction. Its latest expansion to create a state-of-the-art Marketing, Sales and Services center combined an older building with a new addition for over 35,000 square feet of new space. The renovation of the older structure presented some unique challenges, especially when it came to floor preparation. Luckily, WeatherTech has had a long business relationship with PCI FlorTech, its trusted flooring dealer for much of its expanded campus.
The new WeatherTech building is the home of department offices, of course, but also the company’s own video production studios, employee kitchen and exercise area – including a climbing wall. To achieve the many needs within the building, the existing footprint required significant changes. The older building was stripped back to the outside four walls, which left quite a variety of existing floor surfaces that needed significant repairs. PCI FlorTech Vice President Tom Sheridan notes “once we saw the state of the concrete floors, we knew the surface preparation was going to be very challenging. We immediately called in H.B. Fuller Construction Products, the manufacturer of high-quality floor prep products to help us choose the best system.”
After consultation with Ron Loffredo, Technical Services Manager at H.B. Fuller Construction Products, PCI FlorTech chose the TEC® brand product line to address the two key issues for the floor preparation: mitigate moisture issues and then level the varying elevations of the patchwork floor. To start the project, the first floor’s surfaces were prepared with LiquiDam™ Penetrating Moisture Vapor Barrier on the existing structure’s floors and LiquiDam EZ™ Moisture Vapor Barrier on the new construction concrete. Innovative LiquiDam EZ allowed PCI FlorTech to eliminate applying primer in most of the new areas.
Next, PCI FlorTech had to prepare to patch and then level the older existing floors with TEC® Multipurpose Primer followed by TEC® Feather Edge Skim Coat and new TEC® Level Set® 300 Self-Leveling Underlayment. Pete Majeski, Supervisor at PCI FlorTech, says that “TEC® Feather Edge and TEC® Level Set® 300 did an incredible job to overcome one of the worst subfloor situations we’ve ever seen. In addition, we had significant surface cracks from deflection of the new lightweight concrete on the second floor, and the TEC® Multipurpose Primer, combined with TEC® Feather Edge took care of it.”
TEC® Level Set® 300 is high-performance self-leveling underlayment that creates a flat, extremely smooth and durable surface for new flooring – in this case Centaur recycled rubber. The TEC self-leveling product is walkable in just 2-3 hours which took some time pressure out of the tight flooring schedule.
Newly introduced TEC®TrowelFast™ Flooring Adhesive was used to adhere the rubber flooring in the high traffic areas of the building. This user-friendly innovation saves installation time compared to traditional urethane wet set adhesives. Its unique formulation dries quickly, has a long open time, and provides excellent resistance to moisture.
When asked about WeatherTech’s response to its newest building, PCI FlorTech’s Sheridan explains “the new Marketing building is a showcase for WeatherTech – for both visitors and employees. With a beautiful atrium and the many amenities, Mr. MacNeil, CEO of WeatherTech, is very proud of this project. In turn, PCI FlorTech is grateful to have the decades-long relationships with both WeatherTech and H.B. Fuller Construction Products that helped make this project a success.”
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In Memoriam: Mike O’Connell President of PCI FlorTech passed away too soon in August, 2017. He was an outstanding partner to his employees, his vendors including H.B. Fuller Construction Products and his many customers, especially WeatherTech where he enjoyed more than a decade-long relationship. Lauded by the flooring industry and Starnet Worldwide Commercial Flooring Partnership where his company has been a member since 2005, Mike understood the value of integrity, honesty and friendship in business. He is missed by all.
