HVAC Tag

28 Apr Two-story classroom building shapes up at Swope

Students and staff at Swope Middle School are anticipating the completion of their brand new classroom building, as the site crews make notable progress witnessed by the Swope community.

“We are approaching new milestones that will help prepare us to welcome students and staff into their revamped learning space upon project completion,” said Casey Gunther, Operations Manager for United Construction. “We appreciate everyone’s patience and enthusiasm as we shape up the expansions and renovations at the school.”

In the new two-story classroom area, the on-site construction team is in the process of installing the new roof. Upon roof completion, the building will be dried-in. Crews have “one-sided” the drywall in several sections on the first floor and will continue this work on the second floor after roofing work is complete. After the building is dried-in, the team will be able to use a crane to install the new mechanical equipment onto the roof towards the end of this month. Additionally, all the metal stud framing is complete. Crews will continue to work on the rough-in of the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, and this process should be complete in the coming weeks.

Concurrent to the performance of the physical work on-site, United Construction is holding pre-installation meetings with key subcontractors to plan work on the existing classroom building. Their goal is to commence work that can be done before Washoe County School District releases for the summer, as well as the work that will need to be performed during summer break.

United Construction will continue to update neighbors with current construction information.

Photos by Ryland Sweigard

29 Mar Springtime Construction at Swope

As the season of spring officially begins, site crews continue to take advantage of the good weather by making great headway at Swope Middle School.

“It is exciting to see the swift progress happening at the school, and we only have greater milestones in store as we embrace spring,” said Casey Gunther, Operations Manager for United Construction. “Our site crews are continuing with framing, retrofitting, HVAC installation, and many other finishes within the new classroom building, which is getting closer and closer to completion.”

During the Washoe County School District spring break, crews worked in both the new two-story classroom building and the existing school at the same time. In the new building, the team continued with rough-in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing. They are substantially complete with the metal stud framing on the first floor, and the next focus will be the soffits and ceilings. On the second floor, the team insulated the exterior walls and began metal stud framing there as well.

Within the existing school, site crews are finishing the retrofit of the HVAC system. They cut a large hole in the gable at the front of the building to install new equipment in the attic. Additionally, they are insulating specific areas of the ceiling to increase the R-value, which is a figure that measures how well insulation resists conductive heat flow.

In the north courtyard, the team has installed the new sewer line that connects the new two-story classroom building to an existing sewer line. On the northwest side, crews also began the installation of piping for the new chiller.

United Construction will continue to update neighbors with current construction information.

Photos by Ryland Sweigard

31 Jan New Year, New Swope

As we kick off 2022, we are going full steam ahead with our renovations and expansions to Swope Middle School.

“We are anticipating great progress at Swope continuing to shape up throughout 2022,” said Casey Gunther, Operations Manager for United Construction. “We’d like to thank all our partners, as well as the surrounding neighborhood, for coming along on this journey with us and celebrating the milestones thus far.”

In regards to the new two-story classroom building (pictured above), structural steel erection has started. As a reminder, the building will be the new home for a resource center, math and science classrooms, technology lab, new teachers’ lounge and workspace, social science and language classrooms, a group room for various activities and a hub space.

Site crews have begun HVAC demo and replacement in the attic space within the existing school. Mechanical, plumbing and electrical upgrades are also progressing well within the current school grounds. This work will continue through the end of summer.

The remodeled and expanded kitchen is almost complete, and crews are gearing up for the facilities being ready to use by staff in the coming months.

Crew members are prepared for further winter weather in case more snow is forecasted throughout the season. Safety continues to be a top priority for United Construction and subcontractors.

Drone photo by Ryland Sweigard