SUMMARY
Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County in Delaware is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that raises money locally and relies solely on local support to create simple, decent and affordable housing for the New Castle County community.
En mars 2015, Habitat for Humanity du comté de New Castle a fait surface sur Walnut Ridge à Wilmington, au Delaware. Walnut Ridge serait composé de neuf unités au total, y compris d'un ensemble de quatre et d'un ensemble de cinq maisons en rangée unifamiliales. Les panneaux de revêtement OSB cotés pour leur résistance au feu FlameBlock® LP® ont été utilisés sur les neuf maisons en rangée en tant que composants conformes au code de l'assemblage mural de séparation U350 résistant au feu pendant 2 heures.
OBJECTIVES
Director of Construction and Real Estate for Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County, Sean Allen, oversees all local builds. LP FlameBlock sheathing had been recommended to him by John Connell, his trusted dealer at Grubb Lumber, who had seen the product successfully used in townhomes in New Jersey.
According to Connell, "Volunteers with no building experience are not able to construct the traditional shaft wall assemblies. Trained framers need to drop in the plywood from a second story, which a volunteer is not equipped to do. I recommended LP FlameBlock because the U350 assembly can be built by laying all the materials on the ground and then standing them up for easy installation."
Because the Habitat for Humanity townhomes are built by volunteers, Allen was intrigued to hear that the U350 assembly was a lighter, simpler solution than the traditional assembly using shaft wall liner (listed as a U375 assembly).
"Our volunteers range from people who have never touched a hammer to semi-professional framers," said Allen. "The typical party wall uses a heavier material. Because we are using volunteers, the party walls were becoming especially cumbersome and posing safety issues."
Allen chose to have LP FlameBlock sheathing installed as a part of the code-compliant U350 assembly in hopes that it would simplify the assembly process for his volunteers. He also wanted to avoid any safety hazards that a traditional shaft assembly wall may pose due to the complexity of the construction.
IMPLEMENTATION
Au total, environ 270 feuilles de revêtement panneau LP FrameBlock ont été utilisés dans les neuf maisons en rangée. Les superviseurs du site ont pu facilement enseigner aux bénévoles comment installer les assemblages 350U en utilisant les revêtement panneau LP FrameBlock.
Because the LP FlameBlock U350 assembly eliminates the heavy, 1-inch thick gypsum and associated hardware that is typically required in an assembly using a shaft wall liner, the volunteers were able to build the assemblies much faster.
« Je dirais que les assemblages ont été bâtis probablement un mois ou deux plus rapidement que les assemblages de revêtements muraux, » a indiqué Allen. « Si ce travail avec des constructeurs de production dans son personnel, je peux voir comment ce produit aurait eu un effet sur le coût d'une construction grâce aux économies en temps et en travail. »
The architect on the job was Gary Seward of Architectural Alliance. He was responsible for developing the construction drawings and getting the LP FlameBlock assembly approved by the city building officials.
“Through the standard details within the manufacturer specifications and corresponding UL information, creating permit drawings and coordinating with the plan reviewer was very simple even though they were unfamiliar with the product,” said Seward.
Although the U350 assembly is not as common in New Castle County, the codes officials saw that is was a UL listed assembly for partition walls and had no problem approving it.
OUTCOME
Les neuf maisons en rangée de Walnut Ridge sont en voie d'être terminés en Avril 2017. Plus de 2 015 heures bénévoles ont été données à ce projet.
“I heard a lot of feedback about the ease of installation from the site supervisors,” said Allen. “Everyone was happy with the results.”
Allen now plans to use LP FlameBlock sheathing in a U350 assembly in another upcoming townhome project for Habitat for Humanity. "I would recommend this product for any townhome build," he says.
Seward was also new to the product but was impressed with its performance.
