University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Dorm Floors Get Upgraded
When the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) decided to renovate 1970s-era Moore Hall-Bartlett Hall complex, the goal was clear, to create spaces in the two dormitories that would meet the needs of students now and into the future. The renovation included a complete overhaul on the seven residential floors in each dorm. In addition to dorm rooms, UAF’s architects took on the challenge of designing gender-neutral bathrooms, complete with separate shower stalls, toilet stalls, and two ADA-compliant stalls per floor. The intent was to have the communal restrooms accommodate every student on every floor.
The UAF’s General Contractor GHEMM Company selected for the renovation brought in Commercial Contractors Inc. (CCI) through a competitive bid process to carry out the extensive flooring and tile work in the Moore-Bartlett complex. The dorms’ enormous flooring project totaled 135,000 square feet of carpet and LVT, and 49,000 square feet of tile. The scope of the work and the timeline was ambitious, and the existing building presented a number of challenges. CCI brought its wealth of renovation experience to ensure that the new flooring and bathroom tile met both the university’s and CCI’s high standards.
Coordinating the Carpet and LVT Installation
To minimize closure time for the dorms, UAF set an aggressive renovation timeline, giving CCI just ten weeks to complete new carpet and LVT installations–with the added pressure of other trades coming in quick succession behind them. Fortunately the floors were left in excellent condition after the previous VCT’s asbestos glue had been thoroughly abated. This was a welcome relief for CCI Owner and Vice President Justin O’Farrell, as it translated to minimal floor prep before installing the new durable hallway carpet tiles and dorm room LVT.
CCI selected Flexera® High Tack Premium Universal Adhesive to meet the demanding schedule without compromising performance. This ultra-aggressive PSA provided up to 12 hours of working time, industry-leading moisture tolerance and the ability to handle immediate foot traffic when installed using the PSA method. With exceptional shear strength, peel strength and tack, Flexera High Tack ensured the flooring installation would withstand heavy use by college students. Thanks to Flexera’s reliability and efficiency, CCI successfully installed 20 dorm rooms each day, allowing other trades to continue work in the rooms right away.
Leveling Bathroom Floors Presents a Challenge
From the start, the bathroom renovation encountered challenges. The dorm’s original mud bed substrate contained asbestos, which had to be abated before work could proceed. Once the abatement was complete, the resulting surface varied in depth from 0.5” to 4.5”, complicating the leveling process. This led CCI’s O’Farrell to seek technical assistance from his tile installation materials supplier TEC®, in order to find the most cost efficient and technically effective way to level the floor.
TEC Digital Technical Manager Chris Kain helped determine that TEC® Level Set® 400 HF Self-Leveling Underlayment was best for the challenge. Level Set 400 HF would easily address the widely varying surface depths and is ready for tile in just 2-3 hours. Kain explained that “Level Set 400 HF is formulated for fast-track applications. It offers high flow distance and is pourable or pumpable – all of which saves labor and time.” In the deeper areas, Kain and O’Farrell developed a plan to apply a layer of pea gravel that would be raked into the Level Set 400 HF to support cost efficiency while ensuring the floor would be properly leveled. To assist with this process, Kain traveled to Fairbanks to guide the team through the first few floors.
Adding to the complexity of the difficult leveling task, CCI’s installers did not have prior experience with Level Set 400 HF. Kain’s instruction helped accelerate their learning curve. To save critical time on the first pours, Kain had the workers pour .5 inches low and then come back and pour neat later. The CCI teams became proficient quickly and were able to move to one application after just a few floors of working with the product.
CCI’s O’Farrell commented, “We really appreciated that TEC sent Chris Kain up to Fairbanks to be onsite. UAF’s schedule was compressed and he helped fast-forward my team’s confidence with Level Set 400 HF through his hands-on instruction. Chris’s technical expertise helped us throughout this project and saved us valuable hours.”
Extreme Temperatures Necessitate Extensive Tile Protection
Once the floors were leveled, CCI applied TEC® Hydraflex™ Waterproofing Crack Isolation Membrane, an ANSI 118.12-rated membrane. O’Farrell covered both the floors and cement board walls to protect against moisture and cracks. The Fairbanks high desert air stays extremely dry. In addition, the extreme winter snow and cold – as low as 60 degrees below zero – necessitates continuous high levels of heat to keep buildings warm. The Hydraflex membrane added an essential layer of protection against water damage and the possibility of cracks from extreme temperatures. A valuable benefit of Hydraflex is that it dries in as little as one hour, so CCI was able to move quickly to installing the tile.
Innovations Allow for Same Day Mortar and Grout Installation
UAF designers chose 12”x24” and 2”x2” beige tiles for the floor, and white and fawn colored 4”x16” subway style tiles of varying lengths on the walls. For installation, O’Farrell chose TEC® Ultimate 6 Plus Polymer Modified Mortar due to its ease-of-use, non-sag and non-slump properties, and versatility for both floor and wall applications. O’Farrell appreciates the product’s time saving advantages such as the reduced need for back buttering, extended open time and suitability for most tile sizes and types. For the UAF project, another advantage of Ultimate 6 Plus was that it is approved for installing metal profiles for finishing and edge protection, which were used extensively in the bathrooms. Installing with Ultimate 6 Plus mortar enables tile grouting to be completed in just six hours. CCI was able to stay on schedule by installing mortar and grout on the same day when needed.
TEC® Power Grout® Ultimate Performance Grout was selected for the high-traffic environment of the dorm restrooms. Power Grout is stain proof* and creates grout joints that are strong, color consistent, free from efflorescence, and resistant to shrinking and cracking. One of the most challenging aspects of the UAF project was grouting the walls between the showers. The mechanical and heating systems within these walls increased the wall temperature by 30 degrees over the already warm ambient air.
To ensure that the heat would not interfere with grout curing, O’Farrell implemented a meticulous grouting process. Only 10 square feet of shower wall was grouted at a time. Employing a highly absorbent white tile for the shower wall, CCI installers misted the tile to raise the tile’s moisture level before grouting. As a result, the 90+ degree wall temperature did not pull water from the grout, so the grout cured properly. The team immediately cleaned excess grout from the tile due to the high heat. The final step was to protect the installation by filling all expansion joints with flexible, long-lasting and water-resistant TEC Accucolor 100® 100% Silicone Sealant.
Efficient Flooring Installation Keeps Renovation On-Schedule
The swift renovation of the UAF Moore-Bartlett dorm flooring and bathrooms was a significant achievement, made possible by the collaborative efforts of the general contractor, CCI and TEC. By addressing the technical challenges head-on and utilizing versatile TEC products, the team completed the project within the tight timeline. TEC’s technical expertise and hands-on support played a crucial role in helping the CCI team adapt quickly and deliver lasting carpet, LVT and tile installations that met both CCI and UAF’s high expectations. The renovated dorm floors now serve as a modern, functional space that will meet the diverse needs of UAF students for years to come.
* Power Grout is stain proof to most common water based stains when cleaned immediately. The prolonged exposure of any stain will increase the likelihood of permanent staining or discoloration of grout surface.
