Royal Floridian Project

Welcome Back!

The Royal Floridian Resort Grand Re-Opening was held on Friday Night , October 8th.  The evening started with a panel discussion about the keys to success of this complicated restoration project.  Tom Williams of Southwind Management was joined by Alan Haughey  and Greg Bruce from ConTech, Bob Fitzpatrick of United Engineering and Scott Waldroff, the project architect.  Bringing the team together over a year before construction started was agreed to be one of the most important factors for the success of the project.  The team was able to analyze  the cause of deterioration of the building, compare alternative repair methods and materials, and decide on the best course of action. Open communication and trust was cited by all as critical to the speed of the job, allowing decisions to be made during meetings.  That kept the project moving on track.  Board President Dr. Tom Cooper, summed it up best saying “The key to this project was trust.  We trusted Tom Williams, and he trusted this team.  Together, they were able to exceed our owners’ expectations.  The Royal Floridian has been re-born.  The building looks better than when it was first built.”

Ormond Beach Mayor Fred Costello read a proclamation and led the ribbon cutting ceremony with Dr. Cooper doing the honors of ribbon cutting.  Approximately seventy-five Royal Floridian interval owners were on hand to join the celebration.

Two hundred and fifty revelers ate barbecue, drank, and danced through the evening celebrating a job well done and the re-opening of one of Florida’s premier resorts.  Awards were presented to A&W Construction as the best subcontractor, and to Jeff Haughey ConTech’s safety Director for instilling in all of the crew a focus on safety that led to zero lost time accidents on the project. Alexi Bairstow received an award for his dedication to teamwork and his tireless efforts on behalf of the owners of the Royal Floridian.  Greg Bruce, the Project Manager for ConTech was recognized for his commitment to open communication and for managing the thousands of details involved on the project, while keeping the entire team committed to finishing on time and on budget.  Congratulations to all of these dedicated men, superintendents Jon Blanchard and James Harpke, and all those who worked on the project alongside them.

ConTech and all of our construction partners thank the owners of the Royal Floridian for allowing us the privilege to work on your behalf to bring the Royal Floridian to the highest level of durability and sheer beauty.   Enjoy your vacations in style!

Alan Haughey, Owner
alan@contechrestoration.com
www.contechrestoration.com <www.contechrestoration.com%20> 
P. 407-905-8000 C. 407-466-6648 

The Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce presented Spinnaker Resorts with the Construction Investment Award for their $16M investment in the Royal Floridian Resort. The award was given during the Ormond Beach Economic Prosperity Forum held at Halifax Plantation Country Club. Mary Rhodes described the economic impact of the construction at the Royal Floridian Resort and highlighted the project video By ConTech Restoration. Mayor Fred Costello reminisced about his role in kicking off the demolition by shouting, “Gentlemen, start your jackhammers!” Alexis Bairstow, General Manager at the Royal Floridian, accepted the award on behalf of Spinnaker Resorts.

Alex, the first Tropical Storm of the season, quickly spun up from the tropics and although the forecast called for 60 percentage chance of rain all week, it never rained to interfere with progress.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the next Storm on the list, which is Bonnie, also steers clear of “our” Project.

The finishing touches began at the 1^st floor south Units and the promenade deck with the installation of the pavers.  The decorative contrasting jade colored pavers accent the earth-tone field pavers of the massive deck and look great from the balconies above.

The trim tile at the pool was completed and the pool finish is scheduled to begin as soon as the pool decking is completed.  The large semi-circular steps that lead from the promenade deck to the pool deck were reinforced and formed on Friday and will be cast next week.  The handicapped ramp and pool house work continue with shear precision.

The air conditioning subcontractor installed all condenser units at elevated balconies, except for the 4^th floor.  The ac technicians work in unison with the electrician to complete the setup and startup to provide conditioned air to the Units.

The paint sub was back on-site this week working to finish the east elevation after securing more paint.  The Manufacturer of the paint ran into an unexpected snag due to the oil spill in the Gulf when they couldn’t receive necessary materials to facilitate the production of more paint to match what was already applied.  The preparation for painting at the columns and walls at the northern walkways nears completion with grinding concrete, removal of loose paint, and stucco installation.

The framing sub installed the steel framing members at the walkway fire boxes and received approval from the Building Department to install the DensGlass after they passed the framing Inspection.

The southern 4^th floor walkway was cast on Wednesday and now the end of the structural concrete work is right around the corner with only three weeks to go.  Contractor continues to remove and replace the walkways with efficiency of a military operation that accepts no excuses for failure.

A Progress Meeting was held on Wednesday to update Management of the status of the schedule and budget.  Minutes of that Meeting will be published by ConTech.

Management is in high gear performing their duties wherever they are not restricted by construction workers and although it may appear from the outside looking in that there is “no plan”, they are extremely well-organized and motivated.

Another week of sweltering heat goes in the record books with high temperatures in the mid 90’s that tested the stamina of even the toughest construction workers on-site.

The 7^th floor north walkway was cast on Wednesday right on schedule and went off without a hitch.  The 3^rd floor southern walkway was demolished, the concrete disposed of and the reinforcement sand blasted before week’s end.  Spall repairs at the porte-cochere are in-progress with column spall repairs at the walkways at the north end.

The stucco sub has completed the decorative horizontal trim bands at the center section of the west elevation.  The trim added an architectural accent to the existing geometric wall design and really looks great.  Thanks should be forwarded to Mr. Waldroff for the suggestion and design.

The ac sub installed the air conditioning condenser units on all but the 2^nd floor northern balconies this week and is right on schedule.

The rough work for the new pool is complete and awaits the pool deck slab installation before it will be trimmed out and the finish installed.

The balcony railings are now completed from the 2^nd to the 7^th floors and the stair tower at the center of the east elevation will be removed on Monday of next week.

The polyurethane below grade waterproofing was installed at the promenade deck on Friday in preparation for paver installation that is scheduled to commence next week. The block walls for the new planters and ADA ramp from the promenade deck were completed on Friday.  The footing for the semi-circular steps for the pool deck main entrance steps was cast on Friday and the reinforcement and formwork started later in the day.

Site cleanup and removal of unnecessary equipment continues as a daily activity with all of the golf course being visible again.  ConTech should be complimented on their brilliant method to fill all the low areas at the golf course and planter walls with stone to accommodate all the heavy equipment traffic required to accomplish such a large Scope of Work in such a short duration.  Good job guys.

Alexi and his staff are still completing their activities as soon as access is available, which is great news now that the full northern half of the building has been turned over to them until the deck coating installation commences on the walkways.

The mid 90-degree temperatures this week was a topic of discussion among the trades. Ironically, several workers recalled that just a couple of months ago we were all griping about the record breaking cold weather!

The 6^th floor north walkway was cast on schedule and the 7^th floor north walkway demolished before week’s end.  The walkway column repairs have been completed on the 2^nd floor at the north end and will continue from the lower to upper floors until completed.  The overhead spall repairs to the bottom side of the porte-cochere commenced mid-week and several of the areas were in such distress that as soon as workers began, large sections fell to the ground.

The polyurethane deck coating installation on balconies is now complete and the new concrete balconies are waterproofed to deter soluble salts from accessing the reinforcement and they will enjoy a long useful life.  The deck coating Sub should be recognized for going above and beyond by constructing a screen system at the site to sieve out unacceptable aggregate.  The aggregate, manufactured by Unimen from Texas, is incorporated into the deck coating system to achieve a non-skid application.  The aggregate manufacturer is experiencing quality control issues that allowed much larger and sharper aggregate into the product than what would be acceptable.  Fortunately, this discrepancy with the aggregate is a rare occurrence and was corrected by the coating sub.

The stucco sub completed the decorative horizontal trim bands at the center section of the west elevation.  The trim added a touch of visual enhancement to the existing wall and really looks great.  Thanks should be forwarded to Mr. Waldroff for the suggestion and design.  Next week the new steel columns and beams at the north and south elevations will be covered, which then leave only small areas of stucco will work to be performed.

The painting at the east elevation is complete except for the 1^st floor where a paint delivery delayed the application.  The south elevation is painted from the 2^nd to the 7^th and the center section of the west elevation is also top coated from the 2^nd to the 7^th floors.

The ac sub began installing the air conditioning condenser units on Monday at the north balconies and began “starting” the systems to cool the lucky personnel that work inside rather than outside.

The pool shell, including the underground plumbing lines, was completed this week and is ready for the finish application scheduled after the pool deck is in-place.

The balcony railings are installed except at the 2^nd floor over the restaurant, which will get underway next week.

The glass sub continues to install the door hardware and adjust the closers for optimum performance.

The final preparation to commence paver installation at the 1^st floor promenade deck and at the southern patios was in-progress.  The pool deck steps and ADA ramp from the promenade deck was laid out, formed and will be cast next week.

Maintenance and Management continue to perform their duties right on the heels of the construction.  As quickly as the respective areas are released, they move in with motivated personnel to complete furnishings and perform final cleanup activities.

Workers returned to work on Tuesday full of motivation to get back at it after a much appreciated three day rest for Memorial Day Holiday.  The short workweeks progress was also affected by heavy rains and gusty winds on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.

The 6^th floor north walkway was demolished and sandblasted during the week and steel placement commenced late on Friday in preparation for casting next Wednesday.  The 2^nd floor columns at the north walkway were also excavated and cast this week after inspection of demolition and reinforcement cleaning by Engineer.

The deck coating installation was completed at the north balconies except for the 2^nd floor over the restaurant where extracurricular preparation was required because of the roof flashing installation.

The stucco sub has completed their original Scope of Work for the west elevation walls and is near completion of the decorative horizontal trim bands that were added for aesthetical purposes.  The final stucco activities that remain are to “wrap-in” the steel columns and beams at the north and south elevations.

The painting at the east elevation is complete except for several areas where other work is in-progress, such as at the 2^nd floor north balconies and at the 1^st floor south patios.   The south elevation painting from the 2^nd to 7^th floors commenced this week with the primer being finished on Friday.  The elevation could have been completed except for the daily rains minimizing progress.

The plumbing, ac and electrical sub contractors are now in the “trim” mode but are occasionally called out to address a newly uncovered hidden condition.

The “rough” pool shell was completed this week and the plumbing was in-progress after the pavers and on-grade slab was removed by ConTech.

The balcony rails are installed from approximately the center of the building northward, except for the 2^nd floor over the restaurant, and really look great.

The original Scope of Work for window wall installation was completed last week and the workers installed the closers and are adjusted the settings at the south Units this week.

In between the rains, the 1^st floor promenade deck at the southern patios was extended, two sets of steps cast and an American Disabilities Act compliant ramp installed to accommodate impaired occupants.

Maintenance and Management lost some valuable time when the 2^nd floor column work commenced because they were shut down during the excavation and sandblasting activities.

Hand rail installation commenced this week on the northern balconies.  The choice of the Bahama style railing was money well spent as it is an eye appealing distinctive feature, much classier than the standard rail typically installed.

Walkway replacement activities continues to flow smoothly with the 5^th floor north walkway being cast on Thursday, leaving two floors to go on the North side.  The Contractor elected to perform half the building walkways at a time due to space, staging and parking issues.

Balcony deck coatings were completed from the 7^th floor down to the 4^th floor on the north and the installation was near perfect.  The 2^nd and 3^rd floor deck coatings will be completed first of next week and hand rail installation will immediately follow.

The stucco installation at the east elevation is complete and the 4^th through 7^th floor west facing walls have been stripped and re-stuccoed with control joints installed at strategic locations to control anticipated cracking.

The painting at the east elevation is nearing completion with just the 1^st and 2^nd floors at the south end to go.  The south elevation painting is scheduled to commence next week and then only the new steel beams and columns will have to be enclosed to complete that elevation.

The plumbing, AC and electrical sub contractors should be applauded due to their experience and ability to react to hidden conditions and adversity with great professionalism and remain on schedule.

The pool shell was inspected by Engineer and the Building Official on Thursday and the gunite concrete shot to cast the pool on Friday.  The new serpentine shape of the west side of the pool looks really sharp from the upper balconies looking down at it.

All of the east elevation glazing is complete and the windows at the 2^nd and 3^rd floor west elevation were installed on Wednesday.  The glass sub continues to install hardware and should finish up in the next several weeks.

Maintenance and Management should also be recognized because their “finishing touches” are quite an undertaking that generally isn’t fully appreciated.  The Contractors can make the exterior of the building look marvelous but if the units are not fresh and clean the guests overall stay is adversely affected.

With fair weather for the week, all fenestrations above the 2^nd floor were installed at the east elevation.  The glass Sub also worked on the weekend to install glass at the south elevation, which was completed.  Water resistance testing of installed fenestrations was performed by an independent party at Unit 201.  The testing followed the stringent specifications of ASTM E-1105 and associated AAMA criteria.  No water penetrated the two openings tested at the specified pressure of 12 pounds per square foot that equates to approximately 74 mile per hour wind driven rain with sustained winds.

The roof over the restaurant dining room and arcade was adjusted in elevation to meet the balcony surface and is ready for a qualified roofing sub to install the flashing to accomplish a watertight installation.

The block mason completed all masonry walls on Friday and is scheduled to finish the grouting next Monday.

The 3rd floor southern balconies were stuccoed this week and the sand finish that was chosen looks really great.  The stucco sub will move to the south elevation early next week and attempt to complete that elevation by week’s end.

The Air Conditioning and Electrical Contractors remain on schedule for both the rough and trim activities.

Contractor continues to remove unnecessary equipment and hard wall barriers from the site to gain more space.

Contractor is gearing up for the walkway repairs and replacement scheduled to commence the week of April 19^th.

The 2^nd floor balconies over the restaurant and game room were cast Monday, April 5^th as scheduled.  This pour completed the horizontal concrete repairs at the east elevation of the structure.  The column spalls have also been completed which leaves only the bottom side of the roof at the 7^th floor to complete all concrete repairs on the east elevation.

The block mason was scheduled to have all their walls completed by Friday, which was accomplished, but grouting reinforced cells has yet to be completed.

Stucco finish was applied at the Mock up Unit, which is Unit 201.  The sand finished ceilings and walls looks really sharp and is a major improvement over the original finish.  Engineer scheduled water resistance testing of the EFCO 810 Series products installed at 201 for Thursday, April 15^th.  Contractor will complete the painting and sealant work prior to the testing.

The glass Sub completed the window wall installation up to the 5^th floor at the northern half of the building.  They finished on Thursday and had to wait until Friday’s delivery of product to recommence installation.

The stucco installation at the south elevation will commence the week of April 19^th after Contractor completes reinforcing and grouting the cmu cells adjacent to the window openings.  Workers began tuck pointing, repairing spalls and sections of masonry walls with poor mortar joints exposed by the stripping effort on Tuesday and had reached the 5^th floor by Friday.”

The interiors are now beginning to reach completion at the northern end with drywall being finished and air handlers being installed.  The Association will commence tile installation where tiles were removed.  The existing floor tiles cannot be matched.

The activities late in the week included staging all post shores, shoring frames and hard wall barriers for pick up by the vendor except for what will be required for the walkway replacement.  Contractor will also begin removal of the gravel placed at planters for equipment access next week.

Contractor continues to schedule and discuss all options in preparation for walkway replacement scheduled to commence the week of April 19^th.

A small but well-deserved topping out celebration was held on Friday, after casting the 7^th floor North balconies to recognize the workers for their hard work in maintaining the schedule for removing and replacing the balconies.  The final run of balconies was cast Thursday from 9am to 4pm despite continued pump troubles.  The 1^st floor NW column was completely replaced due to severe corrosion and was enlarged with additional reinforcement.  It was cast Thursday from the same ready mix trucks.

The reinforcement was installed at the 2^nd floor balconies over the restaurant and game rooms and is scheduled to be cast Monday, April 5^th.  Upon completion of this run of balconies all balconies will have been replaced.  The remaining structural repairs at the eastside include the column spall repairs at the 1^st, 6^th and 7^th floors and the bottom of the roof slab.

The block mason finally caught up to the balcony replacement crew and will complete the last two floors at the southern end next week after the shoring is stripped on the 5^th and 6^th floors.

Workers began stucco removal as scheduled on Monday at the south elevation.  The removal exposed some unfavorable conditions in the original construction such as applying expanded metal lath over the slab edges, installation of concrete blocks that were broken, gapes in the masonry and missing the web at the window returns.  Significant slab edge spalls were uncovered that had not been anticipated and had been concealed by lathing over the joints.

The glass Sub completed the window wall installation at the 3^rd and 4^th floors from the middle of the building northward.  The new white frames and tinted glass look really sharp and the finished product can now be visualized.

The stucco installation at the east elevation will commence next week and should go quickly since the glass encompasses most of the wall surfaces on that elevation.

Contractor will begin preparation for walkway replacement scheduled to commence the week of April 19^th.