After assessing the options, Peshel determined that ResinDek® engineered wood flooring panels from Cornerstone Specialty Wood Products, LLC® (resindek.com) were both lighter and less expensive than concrete.

With no room to expand its 940,000-square-foot Tamarac, Florida headquarters horizontally, City Furniture's (cityfurniture.com) Managing Director of Facilities Ian Peshel was tasked with figuring out how to create additional space for both employee training and inventory storage. Working with Billy Lindler Jr., President of United Steel Storage Inc. (USSI) (ussipartners.com), the pair decided to build two new mezzanines in separate areas of the 750,000-square-foot main warehouse.

Although Peshel initially considered concrete construction for both mezzanines, he discovered that a concrete slab floor required costly foundations, footings, and support. "That's when USSI recommended ResinDek as an alternative," he said.

After assessing the options, Peshel determined that ResinDek® engineered wood flooring panels from Cornerstone Specialty Wood Products, LLC® (resindek.com) were both lighter and less expensive than concrete. For both mezzanines City Furniture selected ResinDek LD with the Gray Diamond Seal® 2 finish, a cost-effective engineered composite wood flooring that supports dynamic and static pallet jack loads up to 2,000 pounds.

"One of the real benefits of ResinDek on the cost side was not only was it cheaper than using concrete, but it also greatly reduced the weight and the structural load that the columns would have to carry. That reduced the size of the columns and the size of the footings, which was a substantial cost savings," he said.

This enabled City Furniture to construct a 4,000-square-foot training center over an existing employee lounge area while maintaining an open, airy feel underneath. It also allowed Peshel to create a three-story mezzanine in an area with a 45-foot clearance — gaining 15,000 square feet for clearance furniture storage.

"If we had used concrete, we would have had to use such large columns and footings to support the structure that we wouldn't have been able to use any of the space at grade level; with ResinDek flooring we are able to use the space under the mezzanine because we could reduce the number of columns and use smaller footers," he said. "We literally would not have been able to build anything even similar in size or in return on investment than we could with the lighter weight ResinDek panels."

Expected (and Unexpected) Benefits

Peshel was further pleased that ResinDek had been independently evaluated and approved for use in Types I-V construction and as part of a fire-resistance rated assembly by the by IAPMO Uniform Evaluation Services (United States ER Number 467 and Canada ER Number UEL 5027). Additionally, ResinDek flooring system is UL Classified as a fire rated assembly under UL Design Number L701 and UL File Number R39265.

The UL rating was critical for City Furniture's training mezzanine, which supported the conventional construction of three occupied, enclosed spaces. Because this new area houses both classrooms and the company's Learning and Development Department, the local authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) required a fire rated assembly.

According to Peshel, "To get a fire rating on a non-concrete product — a wood product nonetheless — is pretty rare without massive amounts of fire insulation; this only required a minimal amount fire-retardant spray foam. That was another big win for us choosing the ResinDek."

Further, he was surprised to discover ResinDek's ability to withstand torrential rain. The panels were accidentally soaked by a thunderstorm before contractors could seal an opening in the ceiling. With more than half of the flooring submerged, Peshel feared it would have to be replaced. Cornerstone's National Sales Manager Keith Shipman arrived the next day to inspect the damage, cutting open the panel directly underneath the opening.

"There was zero deformation. [Keith] also ran some humidity and moisture checks on the bottom of the panel and noted that there was a negligible difference between the recorded level and the humidity specification range at the manufacturing facility where the panels are produced," he continued. "No swelling. No additional moisture detected. It was quite remarkable."

Finally, ResinDek flooring cut overall installation time, reported Peshel: "Using ResinDek greatly sped up installation because we didn't have to pour concrete then wait for it to cure for 7 to 14 days. I don't know of any other wood flooring that would perform nearly as well as ResinDek."

For more information, visit www.resindek.com.

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ABOUT CORNERSTONE SPECIALTY WOOD PRODUCTS, LLC
For more than 20 years, Cornerstone Specialty Wood Products, LLC (www.resindek.com) has been in the forefront of research and development in the field of engineered wood floor panels for the material handling industry. In 1994, Greg Doppler, company founder and president, invented the ResinDek panel, which has become the premier mezzanine flooring panel product sold worldwide today.


ABOUT CITY FURNITURE
Initially established in the 1970s as Waterbed City, Tamarac, Florida-headquartered City Furniture (www.cityfurniture.com) is on a mission to change the way people live with beautiful home furnishings at incredible value. The retailer has nearly 20 showrooms across Florida, as well as an expansive e-commerce site, that offer customers every type of style at affordable prices.