There's a New Home in Town
And it’s our 20th!
Kankakee Area Career Center (KACC) Construction Technology has broken ground on a new home, located in Prairie Chase subdivision in Bourbonnais.
While building is a home is nothing new to our program, the technology utilized most definitely is.
As the photographs in the slide show demonstrate, KACC utilized the newest technology in completing the basement of the new home. Of course, it meets all building codes, but now, it not only meets, it exceeds energy codes.
These new walls are insulated to an R-12.5, even without being covered in drywall. Not only that, this new technology allowed the basement to be completed in one day, with the walls ready for drywall whenever the owner to be decides to finish their basement.
If that weren’t enough, the walls are already damp-proofed. Mr. Umphrey and Mr. Enz, our Construction Tech. Instructors stated this type of system will “soon become the norm.” It is a very nice product, provided by Superior Walls, which is fast, energy efficient and meets new energy codes, with no impact to the environment.
Superior Walls has worked with other vocational schools throughout the State. They are a great partner for education. KACC Students were on-hand to help where they were able and watch and learn about this new technology.
Students were asked what they thought of this installation experience. The comments are very similar, which is good since it means they were, in fact, all learning about the process, the materials and about energy conservation. There comments include:
- Brian Rooney, Grant Park HS: I thought it was cool. How they use the crane to put the walls in. It was also cool how they were able to do it so fast and it being ready for drywall.
- Alex Williams, Manteno HS: The precast walls were cool to see, plus we were the second ones in town to do this install. It was quick and the guys were good at what they were doing. The walls went up 10 times faster than we could have poured them.
- Spencer Tuntland, Iroquois West HS: This was a fast install and ready to build upon.
- Blake Lawrence, Momence HS: One thing that impressed me about the basement was how fast and easy the walls went up. Also, the insulation was already installed and gave us more time to focus on the framing.
- Kyle Volek, BeecherHigh School: The walls were a great experience to learn. I had a very fun time learning how to set the walls. It was very interesting to see how the walls get delivered on a truck then set into the basement. Superior walls did a fantastic job. The walls are very energy efficient and they save lots of time in the building process. They set the walls in one day instead of a week of framing forms and pouring concrete. For the future, the walls work great for finishing the basement. You can even run your electric in the wall because they already have spots where your wire can run through and your basement is already studded so you don’t have to do that either. You can just put your drywall right into the wall, which is fully insulated.
- Jimmy Callaway, Peotone HS: The new Superior Wall system is more efficient. The process only takes about 1 day. It does not include pouring a footing or a foundation wall - It is already put together when it shows up on the job. They include a warranty if you follow all of the directions from the booklet given to you and something goes wrong, they rebuild your house.
- Kevin Quigley, Peotone HS: The new basement was cool because it came in pieces. This is a lot faster to get done and no footings need to be down.
- Colten Smith, BBCHS: They were installed very quickly. Seeing them installed by a crane was really cool. The walls are pre-insulated. You can screw drywall right onto the medal struts. The holes through the top of the wall made it very easy to put on the sill plate.
Be sure to keep an eye out for future articles and updates on our 20th KACC Home.