A massive student housing renovation at a New England school includes hundreds of window retrofits.
At a college in Cambridge, Mass., a $1 billion project to renovate several dormitories is entering its final phase.
Called “house renewals,” the renovations aim to modernize the buildings, some of them historic, and each of them featuring various types of foundations, framing and wall makeups. Upgrades include electrical, ADA compliance and sealing up building envelopes that had numerous leaks for both air and water, according to one member of the project team.
To retrofit hundreds of windows that were either completely replaced or refurbished, applicators used R-Guard FastFlash as a fluid-applied detailing material.
The installer worked with the general contractor, the design team and PROSOCO during the mock-up phase to finalize the installation strategy for each building’s unique envelope.
Depending on the building and its particular needs, every window that was framed into a masonry opening got FastFlash on the interior. The latest building is mass masonry with adhered stone accents on the exterior. The design calls for spray foam on the walls and FastFlash at the perimeter of the window and door openings.
According to the installer, the window detail work is scheduled to be completed in September 2022; however, it may be a little bit sooner than that. The whole project is on track to wrap up in March 2023.
A big assist is that the waterproofing crew was already familiar with fluid-applied flashing membranes for air barriers. That, and PROSOCO’s Tom Lane, now-retired sales manager covering the New England area, visited the site for an installation demo, mockups and other assistance where the spec differed from the true amount of product needed.
“Tom came out for the mockup to make sure we were doing it right,” the installer said. “Since 2019, Tom helped guide us. He definitely was helpful with the general contractor, the consultant and us. Everyone put their heads together to come up with an agreement on the final installation.”
The installer also said “it was a pretty easy installation. It’s very user-friendly. We also used this product at a sister medical campus.”
There was another benefit of the product that the installer noticed due to an unanticipated design change.
“They modified the window design at some locations after we started installing, so we’ve had to go back and reseal over additional pieces,” he said. “Another nice feature of FastFlash is it ties into itself very well. It made the repairs and tying-in easy. One thing we can’t stress enough is that it’s easy to use. Liquid products like this allow installers to move fast.”
