Making apartment buildings rain and airtight without scaffolding

Together with Machiels Building Solutions, Celdex, producer of sealing products for airtight construction, ensured that the facades of six apartment blocks in Utrecht are rain and airtight. Assembly took place without the use of scaffolding.

The first quarter of 2022 will see the completion of housing project 'De Kwekerij' in Utrecht. A total of 244 rental homes for starters will be realized in six buildings. The Belgian company Machiels Building Solutions, producer of HSB facade elements, asked Celdex in the fall of 2020 to help think about the rain and air tightness of these homes. "We have been working with Machiels for several years," says Celdex product manager Henny van der Heijden. "Machiels knows that we like to act as a knowledge partner to make homes rain and airtight."

The trip to the drawing board resulted in the development of a customized concept that ensures rain and airtight prefabricated building elements. "Our concept Dichtgarant is now proven. For this, we brought butyl tapes, Pre-Seal LF and EPDM Soft, among others, to Machiels' factory to apply to the facades. From the factory, the prefabricated building elements with sealing products went to Utrecht," Van der Heijden explains.

Building without scaffolding

In Utrecht, the elements were mounted to the six buildings without using scaffolding. A good choice, Van der Heijden believes. "Especially when you look at the result. Scaffolding not only costs a lot of money and space, but can also cause damage to a - in this case - facade of powder-coated metal. By building without scaffolding, you avoid the risk of damage."

Just after the summer vacations, these assembly works started and are expected to continue through the first quarter of 2022. The six apartment complexes will be delivered tower by tower. At the start of the work, a so-called toolbox meeting always follows for points of attention among the assembly crews. "Randomly, we also attend the assembly. These construction recordings with points of interest are digitally recorded and shared with the relevant parties in order to already comply with the new quality assurance rules."  

https://celdex.nl/