Penta's Blog

Ice dams are problematic in many homes in cold climates. They are typically caused by either inadequate insulation or more frequently, poor air sealing. By recommending ventilation to a homeowner you’re saying that you as a contractor are unable to air seal and/or insulate their attic.
Don’t treat the symptom (ice dams) treat the problem (air leakage).
Oh, and the worst culprit are roofers who recommend Ice and Water Shield. They must dread winter when they get the phone call in February telling them that the nice new roof they installed last summer is leaking?????

In recognition of the growing importance of social media, Penta is now on both Twitter and Facebook. ‘Follow’ us on Twitter and ‘like’ us on Facebook to learn about our projects, the latest industry news, and all sorts of items that might be of interest to you!

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Are you working a job where the customer can’t afford to shut down for more than 24 hours? No matter if its a food processing restaurant or a healthcare setting, polyaspartic coating technology is the way to go.

“The super fast turnaround is key,” said Joe Wedge, Penta’s president. “You can put a coat down and its ready to use in hours, not days.”

According to Bayer MaterialScience, the fast curing feature of polyaspartic coatings can provide significant, money-saving productivity improvements, along with high build, low temperature curing, and abrasion and and corrosion resistance.

“Polyaspartics allow us to go in, prep and place a floor and have it ready for use the next day. Epoxies and Polyurethane technologies just don’t allow for that.”

These systems offer great benefits for industries that can’t afford for their facilities to be shut down such as commercial kitchens, laundries, manufacturing facilities and the like.

Penta Protective Coatings Ltd. was recognized in Februrary 2011 at the Icynene® International Dealer Conference in Phoenix, AZ as a member of the elite Gold Circle, reserved for the top 25 dealers by volume in North America.

“We are very pleased to be recognized for our sales efforts,” said Joe Wedge, Penta’s President. “Icynene has an international network of over 400 dealers and distributors so we are thrilled to be the only Canadian licensed dealer in the Gold Circle.”

Icynene is applied as a liquid that expands to fill all the nooks and crannies in a wall assembly. This perfect fit combined with the air tightness provided by the foam reduces the amount of energy required to heat and cool homes while contributing to a reduction in CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Homeowners can realize savings of between 30 to 50% on heating and cooling costs.

“Spray foam technology provides building owners and contractors with meaninful improvements in the performance, durability and overall ‘greeness’ of their structures,” said Wedge. “We look forward to further growth over the next four years as the solid fundamentals in the Western Canadian economy promise numerous opportunities to continue sales leadership of Icynene products.”

South Pointe Toyota, which is nearing completion near the Deerfoot Trail and Barlow Trail SE, is a brand new type of project for Penta Protective Coatings Ltd.

“We’ve never handled a car dealership before,” said Denny James, Penta’s project manager. “We had up to 10 guys working on this one and had to double up crews to meet the general contractor’s tight schedule of a planned March opening.”

After successfully bidding on the project, Penta handled the fireproofing using a standard density material, while the insulation involved using 2 lb Walltite spray foam. Over 5 semi trailers of Grace MK-6 cementitious fireproofing material will go into this project.

“Lots of people don’t realize how important fireproofing is to a building, or even know that it’s there” states Joe Wedge, Penta’s President. “The purpose of a fireproofing material is to prevent structural steel from deforming in the event of a fire long enough for the occupants to safely exit the structure. When you hear people talk about a 1 hour rating or 2 hour rating it refers to the amount of time a floor or wall assembly has to resist a fire before a structural failure”

A tragic example of the roll of fireproofing in a building is evidenced by the events of 9/11. All the structural steel in the building was protected by sprayed fireproofing. The tragic truth is that it was designed to withstand a typical fire that may happen in an office tower, not an impact from a jet airplane and the resulting fire fueled by thousands of gallons of jet fuel. Even so, the fireproofing likely allowed hundreds if not thousands of people to escape the buildings before they collapsed.

The $15M project includes a showroom to display the full line up of Toyota vehicles as well as a state of the art parts and service facility. The dealership is aimed at the serving the growing south Calgary market.

An interesting design feature involves the glass tower, where cars will be visible from the Deerfoot Trail.

Recent high profile Manitoba projects such as Manitoba Hydro Place Head Office, Eaton’s Powerhouse Development, and the Brandon Research Centre all have something in common. These projects feature advanced fire proofing techniques that make use of intumescent paint, a key service offering from Penta Protective Coatings Ltd.

Intumescent paint is a spray on product that expands in the presence of fire. The chemically bound water in intumescent swells to absorb heat – increasing in volume and decreasing in density – making it an ideal material for fireproofing applications. It is generally categorized as a passive fire protection measure because it is used to compartmentalize a fire and decrease the chance of loss of life and/or property.

Beyond the obvious life safety requirement there are several important advantages to using intumescent paint.

For one thing, it is a lot more durable. So long as it is applied evenly, it can be a very effective fireproofing technique. For members of the design community, it is a lot better to look at aesthetically and architecturally.

However, the impact on the project budget can be substantial. Intumescent paint can be 5-10 times more expensive than other fireproofing products.

Another concern is that intumescent paint is being sold by companies with little to no experience in properly applying the product, thereby creating a false sense of security. Penta is an authorized installer of industry leading A/D Fire Protection Systems and Grace Fire Protection products.

A lot of companies are popping up that can’t install these product properly. We are big on testing to make sure it works properly. Quality assurance and safety is important to us.

Penta Protective Coatings Ltd. recently became a key service provider for the major expansion program underway at Edmonton International Airport (EIA).

EIA is undergoing a $1.1 billion expansion critical to the airport’s ongoing success as a hub for northwestern Canada. The airport – the fifth busiest in Canada – serves more than six million passengers who fly to destinations in Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. The Edmonton Regional Airports Authority anticipates that by 2013, the airport will see nine million passengers per year.

To accommodate this growth, the airports authority has embarked upon a three-phase, five-year redevelopment plan with PCL Construction Limited (PCL) that upon completion in 2012, will result in a LEED ® Certified facility and improve the overall passenger experience.

Airside redevelopment includes new aircraft bridges, as well as a new apron for aircraft parking. Groundside, there will be a new NAV Canada control tower complex with expanded restaurants, retail and office space, an integrated baggage room to allow baggage drop-off at designated locations across the terminal, new parking facilities, and an expanded south passenger terminal building.

Penta is fireproofing the structural steel in the south passenger terminal building using a spray on material that gives it a rating expressed in terms of time to prevent catastrophic collapse. The expansion totals 446,000 square feet and will include 167,000 square feet of renovations to key facilities in the existing terminal building.

We completed a rigorous pre-qualification process with PCL last year. We have been doing this type of work for 10 years and fireproofing is one of our key service offerings. Because our work shone through, we were asked to bid for the project.

The bid involved a significant amount of pre-planning to come in at a competitive price.

While this was a relatively small portion of the overall project, it is huge for us and we are pleased to be a part of it.

Denny James, Penta’s project manager, noted that there are six crews on site who are meeting the project schedule. They started in early May and anticipate completion in late summer or early fall.

“Although the project is logistically complex I have a great workforce and I look forward to exceeding expectations.”

Penta Protective Coatings Ltd. is the only spray foam insulation company in Manitoba to achieve The Certificate of Recognition (COR™), a nationally recognized occupational health and safety accreditation program.

I place tremendous importance on a safe workplace. I’m very pleased that our safety practices and training means we have met the highest national standard of safety recognition.

The certification means Penta is part of an elite – and rare – group of companies in the Manitoba construction sector. There are currently only 248 (of a possible 7,200) with COR™.

COR™provides industry employers with a system to reduce incidents, accidents and injuries as well as their associated human and financial costs. It also verifies a company’s comprehensive commitment to safety. It is endorsed by participating members of the Canadian Federation of Construction Safety Associations (CFCSA). In order to become COR™ Certified, Wedge led the company through the completion of four training modules and a company safety manual, the implementation of a company safety program, an audit approximately six months after the implementation of the safety program, an audit by the Construction Safety Association of Manitoba (CSAM), and a final independent audit. Once certified, the company faces an internal audit every year with an external audit every three years.

Penta achieved a 95% score on their external audit, all the more impressive when you take into account that in order to pass a minimum score of 80% is required. Tara Zukewich of Construction Safety commented that this was outstanding and that Penta should be very proud of their accomplishment.

We had to get our heads wrapped around the documentation and make sure we were maintaining accurate records. We also had to get buy in from our field staff which meant working with them to develop safe work practices.

COR™ Certified is frequently used as a pre-qualification and/or condition of contract by public and private project owners across Canada. Although Wedge is pleased that being COR™ Certified will open up doors as far as bidding opportunities, it ultimately comes back to the importance of having a safe workplace.

It’s all about due diligence. Say what you are going to do and do it.

Here are some more pictures of the project we recently completed at Assiniboine College in Brandon, MB. We applied a spray foam air barrier to the exterior of the East Building and couldn’t be happier with the outcome.