Ohio Spray Foam Contractor Helps Create Warm Solution to Cold Problem

Ice may be cold & hard, but spray foam at a private ice hockey rink in Dayton, OH helped to create a warm solution to a cold problem.

The 200’ x 100’ Zamboni-equipped ice hockey rink was enclosed in a large post frame building, and after 6-years, it was time to make some improvements.

Ice rinks present several unique challenges for designers, all stemming from the fact that the floor of the rink is maintained at below-freezing temperatures while the remainder of the building is kept much warmer. The cold floor was maintained at a temperature of 26° F, and that created a vapor drive through the lower portion of the exterior walls.  The existing white blown-in fiberglass began to take on various shades of gray as mold began to discolor the lower 48” of the wall. SPF to the rescue.

The interior wall covering was removed to a height of 65”. Moldy fiberglass was removed and the plywood was allowed to dry.  After consulting with Gerry Wagoner from WRI Applications LLC, it was decided that the lower 65” of the perimeter wall should be filled with closed-cell spray foam (a depth of almost 9”). The owner, general contractor and a design consultant all agreed. The only problem was – the job had to be completed in 72-hours.  The owner of the hockey rink was going to host a professional Canadian hockey team on his property the following week – to practice skate. The project had to happen fast, and be professional.

WRI Applications LLC quickly ordered the material (7000 lbs. of Gaco-Western 173 closed cell spray foam) and moved two spray rigs onto the job site. One rig was a Glascraft MH rig, capable of 45 lbs. per minute at 3000 psi. The other rig was a Glascraft Guardian, capable of 20 lbs a minute at 1600 psi. Big difference.  The large machine (MH) used a Probler P2 gun with an 03 roofing tip. This allowed WRI Applications to spray maximum foam output and still control the material quality. The Guardian machine used a P2 gun with an 01 chamber for detail work. Why was detail necessary? The foam surface had to be shaved perfectly flat at the owner’s request. Normally, this would be overkill, but the contractor was going to install a one inch foil faced foam board right over the spray foam and they needed the spray foam to provide a solid surface behind the foam board. This required a lot of pneumatic shaving/planning, and a properly controlled foam application minimizes the amount of shaving.

“I could say that the job went off without a hitch, but most of us know that challenges usually arise,” says Wagoner. “There was a temporary electrical issue on the MH heated hose and that set us back six hours, a loss that was regained by working around the clock and hiring two more temporary employees. The owner, after seeing the foam applied and loving it, ordered the general contractor to remove the interior wall-covering on the entire south end wall and we sprayed 2” of foam on that wall too.”

The job was sprayed, shaved flat, extra area sprayed, and the whole site cleaned up in record time. The owner is happy, the General Contractor was impressed with WRI’s professionalism, and the Edmonton Oilers had a great time skating the following week. SPF to the rescue again!