"Our primary concern was getting the best value for every dollar spent. The benefits of working with Spancrete are that it is very energy efficient and virtually maintenance-free. It was the best value for our investment dollars in the long-term, and for reliability, quality and value, Spancrete gets very high marks."
Ron Schuman, Project Manager
City of Waukegan, IL Parking Structure
"Using Spancrete precast has been great. It's modular and it's produced in a controlled environment, so you get better quality than on-site construction. Spancrete has a lot of technical expertise, with both designers and engineers in house."
Brian Filkens, Project Manager
Park Terrace Row Houses
Vetter Denk Architects, Milwaukee, WI
"We chose Spancrete because of their commitment to quality and their ability to meet critical deadlines. Spancrete precast met the architectural design needs required by the city (of Waukegan) and they were able to deliver the labor and precast components for construction when needed."
Steve Kletzien, Chief Financial Office
Wisconsin Lift Truck
"We were seeking a high quality look for the outside of our new building that would be synonymous with the high quality standard we have for our products and our business as a whole. We chose Spancrete for its function, aesthetics and reputation."
Nan Gardetto
Baptista’s Bakery
"Sanitation is everything in the food processing business. The Spancrete building is perfect for this environment because it requires no maintenance. We never are concerned about sanitation inspections because the area is always clean with no upkeep."
John P. Gehl, President
Gehl’s Guernsey Farms, Inc.
"We explored several different types of materials for the construction of San Camillo. Total precast stood out for two reasons: 1.) Costs were lower for long term operations and 2.) Speed of erection was much faster, especially when building through winter. This resulted in a very short period of interim financing. It was amazing. We could put up 1 floor every 7 days even in the middle of winter. Spancrete represents a good value and it services the need of both the owner and the residents very well. It’s a product that creates a quiet residence that’s inexpensive to heat and has minimal maintenance cost. It looks as good now as the day it was put up. We receive many compliments on the good looks of the building. The panels are very durable and stand up well to our rough Wisconsin weather."
Gary Jorgensen, Chairman of the Board for Voss-Jorgensen Schueler Co.
General Contractor for San Camillo
"The floor to floor economy resulting from using the 12? Spancrete floor system saved about 13 feet in building height which resulted in a significant savings of material costs. Soundproofing is integral to precast and is less expensive and takes less time to install compared to steel-type construction. All the precast engineering provided by Spancrete makes precast projects much less complicated to work with. We use precast whenever we can."
Jack Shepherd, Architect
The Shepherd Partnership
"Dealing with Spancrete took a lot of pressure off me as the general contractor. By having it completely precast and from one supplier, I could rely on Spancrete to provide total engineering support. With the help of Spancrete’s design and engineering staff, small firms can make a big step up in the size of their developments. By investing time and money with Spancrete, you get a big payback in the end. Next time I’ll get Spancrete involved even earlier in the decision making process."
Richard Ferro, President of N.L.A.
Owner/Buildings of the Verde Condominiums in Chicago , IL
"The balcony design is unique in that they are not connected to the floors; this reduces cold transference and it also gives you a positive step down of several inches, which helps to prevent water and snow from entering the building through the balcony door opening. The Spancrete engineers that worked with us were willing to research and actively pursue our design goals. Finish construction and support systems were phased in as each floor was completed, so the building went up very smoothly and efficiently."
Ron Vari , R. Vari Architects
Architect on Verde Condominiums in Chicago, IL
"This loft-style structure lent itself well to a particular look that precast could give us. Precast can work very well for expansion and renovation applications like this. The rooms look very impressive with their 11’ high ceilings and the purposefully exposed beams and columns."
"The key is that Spancrete is high quality product. The essence of this goes to the people at Spancrete who are committed, believe in their product and do everything that they can to work with us and build a lasting relationship with us. Spancrete has a high level of quality control in the manufacturing process and they pay a lot of attention to details from the very beginning?when the product is out to you, it’s right."
Don Biernacki , Senior Vice President of LR Development Co.
Developer & Contractor Cinema Lofts , Chicago, IL
"The number one reason we chose Spancrete was how quickly it could go up. From the time Children’s Hospital decided they needed a parking structure, to the time they wanted it finished, Spancrete helped us get the structure up fast. We could do the construction in winter, and this saved us about two months of construction time and cost."
Jonathan Parker, Project Architect
Children’s Hospital Parking Deck
"We had a large structure that we had to fit into a residential area. We cast brick into the precast, which was more cost effective than laying it in. It was not your typical precast job, Spancrete did a great job on special, difficult precast form work."
Dana Widstrom, Project Designer
Physicians Plus Medical Group Parking Facility Project
"Spancrete definitely goes up quick. It is excellent to work with."
Carl Schuh
Schuh Construction Inc.
"We've done quite a few school projects, and we find that precast panels provide good benefits particularly for two-story buildings, due to the size of the panels and the speed with which they can be erected," he says. Speed was important for this project and for most school construction, he notes, because considerable interior work must be completed, and it has to be finished on time for the new school year. "Administrators wanted to have the building completed by June so they could get it outfitted and ready for use by the fall."
Jeff Kellner
Miller Wagner Coenen McMahon Inc.
"Our key goal was to duplicate the architecture and look of the 1970s building, which consisted of a steel-framed building with masonry walls," explains Dale Hagen, chief civil engineer and project manager for Consolidated Papers, the hotel's owner. "We decided to use a precast structure with hollowcore flooring and a masonry façade to provide us with the aesthetic match we desired, while also meeting our need for erection speed."
"Precast allowed us to be enclosed very early, which let the masons begin laying the face brick earlier, too. We would not have been able to do it as quickly if we had used a conventional masonry structure with the precast flooring."
Dale Hagen, Chief Civil Engineer and Project Manager
Consolidated Papers
"Because there are so many unknowns involved with masonry construction related to weather and other contingencies that have to be allowed, using precast allowed us to cut those out of the schedule and budget. Precast also saved the need for extensive scaffolding on the site, which would have hindered other trades and slowed progress."
Pete Kuehl, Senior Program Architect
Oscar J. Boldt Construction Company
"The Spancrete hollowcore system provides us with the shortest avenue to meeting our continuing expansion needs. Using these panels dramatically shortens our construction window. We can do all of our foundation and flatwork while Spancrete produces the wall panels. When we are ready to erect them, all we need to do is direct them to ship the finished product. We can put them up in a hurry, in a week or two, rather than over several weeks or even months."
"Usually, we just add on to our existing buildings. We virtually build a second building next to an existing facility, very often 100,000 square feet at a time."
"Our business requires a great deal of movement of materials with such vehicles as fork lift trucks. The Spancrete stands up well to this wear and tear, and continues to perform and look good. Other systems would show their age much more quickly. We have many different choices of exterior finishes, and this allows us to match our new buildings to existing structures," he says. "We mostly use an exposed aggregate finish. To match some of the buildings we bought when we expanded at those locations, we use a smooth finish."
Joseph Muehlbach, Corporate Manager
Quad Graphics
"Another good reason for using the Spancrete system is its cost. No other system could be installed at the cost of a standard insulated panel and provide the durability required in a printing plant," he says. "When future expansions are anticipated, lower-quality insulation is used, which still meets the building-envelope requirements. This provides additional cost savings to Quad."
"It is not unusual for existing panels to be replaced with new panels containing openings for large doors and other penetrations. We also can cut openings into existing walls and install doors or windows, and we frequently do."
"The beauty of this system is that the existing walls form fire-rated interior partitions without modification. The necessary fire endurance already exists in the Spancrete sandwich panels."
"We are always in contact with the different plant managers at Quad's facilities, as well as with Spancrete. In this way, we always know where Quad is headed and can coordinate with Spancrete's scheduling. As Quad acquires more work and need more space, we can react to their needs almost immediately. With the very flexible Spancrete precast system, we can anticipate Quad's requirements and be ready to move quickly when they are ready to expand."
Michael J. Horne, P.E., Senior Project Manager and Associate
Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates
"It was really pretty much off-the-shelf material. Speed of construction was key reason for using Spancrete precast. In a structure such as this, built on speculation, cost is an important consideration. Precast helped bring down the cost."
David Rausch, Principal
Ratio Architects Inc.
"By using repetitive Spancrete precast concrete exterior wall panels, we could enclose the facility faster than using masonry or stone products. This allowed the contractor to work in a heated space and start the interior finishes sooner. Precast Spancrete wall panels also provided a durable material that will withstand time and elements. This building will have many additions over the years and is expected to last many years into the future."
Joe Haines, Senior Principal
DLR Group
"We are very pleased to extend this letter of recommendation to your company. Spancrete completed the fabrication and erection of our Waldron Garage Parking Facility exemplarily. It was a pleasure working with Spancrete, and particularly with the management team assigned to the Waldron Project. We look forward to working together again in the future."
John Fullington, Project Manager
Rodrigo Perez, Project Engineer
TBMK
"On recent projects we’ve been able to put together comprehensive designs with everyone’s input. We’ve ended up with a product that the owners are extremely happy with at an economical price that has met the owner’s requirements and schedule. Spancrete has a strong engineering department here locally that provides us with continual support. We’ve always had excellent response from them following through on their commitment."
John Hale, VP
Oscar Boldt Construction Co.
"We can plan almost to the day when we are going to start the erection of Spancrete panels. If it is a safety issue due to the weather we will stop for the day and wait for better weather but this is rare and we don’t even plan on that in our schedule with Spancrete erections. With the tilt-up construction that we used in the past you could see condensation spots all over the walls. There was a continuous problem with the use of them. Block is now used as an interior wall but at the time we put the block up it was a major thermal problem. The Spancrete we use it is working very well for us. The efficiency is good. We spend in excess of $300,000 a month in this facility just on natural gas, and a little less than half of the cost goes to heating the building. We are very aware of thermal efficiency and Spancrete works well for us. Over the years it has just gotten better with each project."
Mike Krzykowkski, Facilities Manager
Quad Graphics
"One of the projects we worked on was a manufacturing facility and way the building fit together enabled us to use interior Spancrete walls which we feel were more economical than masonry because they were 36 feet high. We felt that Spancrete wall panels were an easier material to paint and finish so they could end up with a clean environment. Some problems the owner had with their process produced an explosion and a fire, but with the Spancrete wall panels all of the fire was contained in a very small area in the building and within 3 months the facility was up and running again. Something that we care a lot about is super insulating values and we are able to get well insulated walls with Spancrete and we can heat our building for less than 10 cents a square foot."
Robert M. Kueney, Architect
"Spancrete offers great flexibility and not only are we using it as a vertical panel, but we are using it as a horizontal panel. We are dividing the plant with Spancrete and its worked marvelously well. Its just simple to move and very inexpensive from a construction standpoint in terms of the labor costs involved on site after the panels have arrived and the insulation characteristics are superb. The other alternative in our initial process of building was to build 6 feet up with block and then to use steel metal. With what’s going on inside an active manufacturing plant today like forklift activity and the stresses and strains of overhead conveyor systems we just felt that the combination with what we needed the building for, its sturdiness and the longevity of Spancrete was just the perfect answer for what we needed. The building looks attractive. We’ve got one of the finest looking plants in this area and here we’ve been 32 years in the process. It makes us very proud growing with Spancrete."
Mike Ariens, COB
Ariens, Gravely Division
"We feel the quality of the product is superior to individually laid block units where you are subject to individual quality and capabilities that day. With Spancrete you get uniform product and it goes up fast. We need a team effort in order to put projects together and we do call on Spancrete a lot to help us early on with design questions, design problems and budget estimates. Spancrete has been just super in giving service and getting us answers. The jobs that we’ve done with Spancrete just seem to run on autopilot. Very little hassle is involved which makes our job much easier."
