FEATURED PROJECT: VILLAGE COOPERATIVE OF VERONA HILLS
Project Overview
Facility: Village Cooperative of Verona Hills
General Contractor: MW Builders
Service: Gypsum Floor Underlayment
The Problem
The Village Cooperative of Verona Hills is a multi-family wood frame project. The building’s floor-ceiling assemblies are required to achieve a one-hour floor/ceiling fire rating per code. The client needed an efficient and cost-effective solution to achieve a one-hour floor/ceiling fire rating.
The Nettles Solution
In order to achieve the required one-hour floor/ceiling fire rating, the team at Nettles used gypsum underlayment, a Plaster of Paris product. The project required us to pour almost 60,000 square feet of ¾ inch, 2500 PSI gypsum on both the second and third floors of the building. Since the first floor was positioned above an underground parking garage, we poured 1-inch gypsum over the existing concrete layer.
The Client
The Village Cooperative of Verona Hills in Kansas City, MO is a community for active adults (62+) who want to own a home near friends and family without dealing with the hassle of traditional home maintenance. Verona Hills joins a growing, nationwide trend of senior co-op communities as members the Baby Boomer generation become senior citizens and the country’s population ages.
Co-op communities are popular among older adults who don’t want to live in a nursing home or assisted living facility, but need a more insulated and financially viable residence. The Village Cooperative of Verona Hills promises that its residents will “reconnect with the people, places and things you love while leaving the constant chores, repairs and maintenance behind!”
Co-op members don’t own any actual real estate–instead, residents possess shares that entitle them to a living space. These shares typically appreciate 1 to 2 percent annually, and the residences can be run according to the wishes of the residents. The co-op members–not a separate company–manage the building and form committees to handle maintenance, accounting, landscaping, investing, meals, and entertainment.
These village co-ops are becoming pretty popular. They’re often in suburbs and reasonably priced, so seniors can stay in their neighborhoods without being in a senior living facility.”
Adam Zink, Nettles Construction
Once construction is complete, the Verona Hills co-op will be located on Wornall Road in Kansas City. It will include 1- and 2-bedroom homes built specifically for active seniors. The homes range in size from 873 to 1,602 square feet within a 3-story building built with underground parking.
MW Builders, a general contractor based in Lenexa, KS oversees construction for most of the local village co-ops, including Verona Hills. They contracted with Nettles to provide the gypsum underlayment portion of the floor-ceiling assemblies for the facility.
Why gypsum underlayment?
There are approximately 125 different ways to achieve the required one-hour fire rating, but the gypsum underlayment mix design we used is the standard for multi-family construction. Why? Because it’s quick, cost-effective, and efficient for large square footages.
The Nettles team finished all three stories in just four mobilizations. The gypsum underlayment can be poured from a distance and requires only a few team members to pour, since the mix ratio of gypsum underlayment, sand, and water remains constant. The team at Nettles can pour up to 15,000 square feet of gypsum underlayment a day and once poured, the floor can support trade traffic in as little as 24 hours.
Because of the speed and ease with which gypsum underlayment can be poured, it is the most efficient material for floor-ceiling assemblies with large square footage. It is also an attractive option for residential buildings, since it doesn’t contain any chemicals or toxic substances that could cause illness (gypsum, in fact, can already be found in many food and dental products). Plus, since gypsum underlayment is a ceramic, it insulates the room by preventing heat from bleeding through the floor.
