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General Construction Foundation
Citywide Printing
Des Plaines, Illinois,
USA
The print shop and equipment is located in a business district not far from the Des Plaines River designated as a flood zone. The bottom 4 feet of exterior walls was treated with one-half inch of Xypex Megamix II on the outside. Dioxide color was added to the Megamix to match the existing brick. In 2013, the flood water rose to 27" high but no water came through the building in the Xypex-treated areas.
Project Sheet
Project Sheet
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Citywide printing is a full service print shop in Des Plaines, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago that specializes in commercial printing projects. The print shop and equipment is located in a business district not far from the Des Plaines River designated as a flood zone. With almost a million dollars of equipment inside the concrete building, Jim Hess, owner of Citywide Printing, looked to a local contractor for a waterproofing solution. Hess recalls, “I bought the building three years ago. I knew it was in the floodplain, but not all that close to the river, and would need to carry FEMA flood insurance. I had heard about Xypex waterproofing from an architect who had specified it for tunnels. It sounded like a perfect solution for my print shop. I contacted Safeguard Basement Waterproofing to get more details.” Tim Denman from Safeguard brought the local Xypex representative, Sandy Bradford-Dice, to the building site to evaluate the waterproofing options. The Citywide Printing building is a 4,600 square foot brick building.
Denman and Bradford-Dice recommended treating the bottom 4 feet of exterior walls with one-half inch of Xypex Megamix II on the outside. Xypex Megamix II is a thick repair mortar ideal for patching and resurfacing concrete. It can be sprayed on or trowel applied. Denman’s team mixed the Xypex Megamix II, which was purchased at RKD Construction Supplies, on site and added a dioxide color to match the existing brick. Then they sprayed it on and troweled it to create a light sand finish. The owner also had flood doors installed throughout. Just one year later the value of Hess’s decision to waterproof was validated. On April 18, 2013, more than 5 inches of rain fell in just 24 hours on already saturated areas in the region. Several days later, the Des Plaines River crested at 10.92 inches, six feet over flood stage. The overflow spread throughout the area including into the commercial business district where Citywide Printing is located. The water in the Citywide Printing area rose to 27 inches high on one side, completely surrounding the buildings.
“I would have lost everything if not for the waterproofing,” says Hess. “As bad as the flooding was outside, no water came through my building in the Xypex-treated areas.”
Denman and Bradford-Dice recommended treating the bottom 4 feet of exterior walls with one-half inch of Xypex Megamix II on the outside. Xypex Megamix II is a thick repair mortar ideal for patching and resurfacing concrete. It can be sprayed on or trowel applied. Denman’s team mixed the Xypex Megamix II, which was purchased at RKD Construction Supplies, on site and added a dioxide color to match the existing brick. Then they sprayed it on and troweled it to create a light sand finish. The owner also had flood doors installed throughout. Just one year later the value of Hess’s decision to waterproof was validated. On April 18, 2013, more than 5 inches of rain fell in just 24 hours on already saturated areas in the region. Several days later, the Des Plaines River crested at 10.92 inches, six feet over flood stage. The overflow spread throughout the area including into the commercial business district where Citywide Printing is located. The water in the Citywide Printing area rose to 27 inches high on one side, completely surrounding the buildings.
“I would have lost everything if not for the waterproofing,” says Hess. “As bad as the flooding was outside, no water came through my building in the Xypex-treated areas.”
