Scheels All Sports Gets Protection Year ‘Round

Words: Dan Kamys

Case Study: Air Barriers

A silicone, liquid-applied air barrier keeps Scheels cold-weather construction moving forward.

[caption id="attachment_9684" align="alignnone" width="645"]DefendAir 200 is a viable option for cold-weather construction projects. DefendAir 200 is a viable option for cold-weather construction projects.[/caption] When it opens this summer, the new 220,000-square-foot Scheels All Sports Super Store in Overland Park, Kan. – the 26th in a chain of Scheels stores across 11 states – will house the largest selection of sports-related merchandise in Kansas.

The challenge

To protect the new Scheels store from the cold winters and hot, often humid, summers of eastern Kansas, the building architect, R.L. Engebretson, specified a liquid-applied air barrier. Liquid-applied air barriers are flexible, breathable, seamless and easy to apply, providing a viable choice for building owners and applicators alike. Unfortunately, most liquid-applied air barriers cannot be applied at low temperatures. This is a limitation that can bring winter construction projects to a halt. Air barrier subcontractor ARID Resources was faced with this situation when temperatures at the Overland Park construction site threatened to dip below the specified air barrier’s application temperature limit.

The solution

Brian Gibson of ARID Resources learned from Bob Prchal at MGS Distributing about a 100 percent silicone, liquid-applied air and water barrier – Dow Corning DefendAir 200 – that could be applied at temperatures as low as 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Impressed by the product’s capabilities, Gibson worked with Prchal and Scott Brunken, project manager for general contractor Sampson Construction Co., to propose a change to the original air barrier specification. Jeff Engebretson, who is responsible for quality control at R.L. Engebretson, immediately recognized the benefits of Dow Corning DefendAir 200 for Scheels projects across the country and was happy to revise the specification.

High vapor-permeability, low-temperature application

“I’ve spent more than 60 hours researching air barriers,” Engebretson says. “Dow Corning DefendAir 200 has one of the highest perm rates out there, combined with the lowest application temperature. That makes it an excellent choice for our cold-weather construction projects.”

Ease of installation

[caption id="attachment_9685" align="alignright" width="325"]Liquid-applied air barriers can be flexible, breathable and seamless to apply. Liquid-applied air barriers can be flexible, breathable and seamless to apply.[/caption] The contractors, especially, appreciated how easy the air barrier was to apply and how simple it was to detail. “The simplicity of the details is phenomenal,” Prchal says. “Nearly all of the detail work, including sealing the joints in the GlasRoc Sheathing and around the building openings, was accomplished using just two sealants – Dow Corning 791 Silicone Weatherproofing Sealant and Dow Corning 758 Silicone Weather Barrier Sealant.” According to Gibson, Dow Corning DefendAir 200 “is easier to apply in Midwest winters than any other product we’ve seen. And the Dow Corning distributor was on site on a regular basis to help us with field adhesion testing and wet-film testing, and to answer any questions we had about the product.”

The result

A total of 65,000 square feet of Dow Corning DefendAir 200 was applied to the GlasRoc Sheathing and concrete block substrates on the Overland Park Scheels store. Construction continued to move forward during the winter months. And Dow Corning DefendAir 200 is now approved for use on all future Scheels stores.
For more information, visit BuildaBetterBarrier.com. 
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