Challenge
When the Hampton Inn wanted to update their hotel standards, the Pittsburgh hotel needed a facelift. Apple Reit, the building’s owner, hired an outside engineering firm to lay out a Facade Improvement Plan in order to get the hotel up to speed on Hampton Inn’s suggested changes.
In order to get exterior of the building up to the new Hampton Inn standard the facade would require a series of Improvements and repairs. The color scheme and pattern of the facade needed a change, while the joint sealants were to be removed and replaced in all locations. Stair towers, along with elevator shaft exterior and penthouse walls, all were recommended to be have the existing EIFS veneer fully removed and a new system installed. New signage and lighting were all part of the overall plan.
The biggest catch, however, was completing an entire 6month projected repair during one of the busiest times of the year for the Hampton Inn — the thick of the University of Pittsburgh football season, when the Hampton Inn would be at full capacity. Valcourt understood how important it was for the guest experience to not suffer due to the ongoing construction. We worked closely with the Hotel staff to devise and execute a plan, so our work would minimally impact the hotel guest during their stay. We are proud of the fact that the hotel guest satisfaction surveys were not impacted due to our work.
Solution
When Apple Reit put the Hampton Inn project out to bid, Valcourt was one of three potential bidders. But while out on the site, examining the property, Valcourt’s vast wealth of knowledge and savvy understanding about what needed to be accomplished for the Hampton Inn allowed them to get an edge on their competitors.
“While we were out on the project we were able to identify some areas in the engineer specification that could be value engineered out and save the client a considerable amount of money,” Stan Wellinsky said. “The original bid for the project was a little over a million dollars. Through conversations with the owner, and seeing what was going on at the building, we were able to make suggestions and provide them an alternate solution that was about half of what all of the other bids were coming in on.”
A large portion of the reduced cost came from Valcourt’s ability to complete an estimated 6-month project in just three months’ time. As a result, the Hampton Inn didn’t need to allocate housing for out-of-town workers as initially planned, therefore getting those rooms back on the market for valued customers.
Keeping with the theme of cost saving, as a result of the reduced construction schedule Valcourt was able to lower the cost of the expensive scaffolding and overhead bridging that was needed to protect drive lanes and pedestrian walkways during the project.
With the cost managed, Valcourt was able to efficiently repair and target the Hampton Inn’s areas of need. After thorough investigation it was determined that a re-anchoring and then refinishing process would be implemented instead of the full EIFS removal on all of the stair towers, elevator and penthouse walls. We added a new texture finished coast on the surface, effectively concealing the new anchor placements. On top of that coat, and elastomeric coating was applied to ensure that these areas were properly protected from water infiltration. This was a change to the original scope that also was able to reduce the overall cost of the project for our client, while still providing them a long-lasting repair.
Additionally, all of the joint sealants were removed and replaced on the walls, and a waterproof elastomeric coating was installed on the entire building.
Despite more than enough repairing and restoring to worry about, Valcourt completed the Hampton Inn project at half the cost to Apple Reit, in less than half of the time, all while avoiding a disturbance of the guests during the hotel’s most populated time.
As Wellinsky said, “There were multiple layers of benefits to the client by going with our approach.”
Work Performed
- Full Facade Sealant Replacement
- Facade Waterproof Coating
- EIFS Repairs of Stair Towers, Penthouse, and Elevator Walls
