It’s not often that precast concrete or an NPCA member company are mentioned on a national television show, but it’s even rarer to have the host of the show spend time visiting a precast plant to learn about how the products are manufactured and what benefits precast products bring to a job site.
Such was the case with NPCA member Weaver Precast in Ephrata, Pa., which was recently featured on an episode of This Old House.
Weaver manufactures Superior Walls’ Xi Plus foundation walls and was selected to produce them for a house in Jamestown, R.I. The homeowners were aiming to build a net-zero energy home. The crew building the house had previous experience with Xi Plus walls and knew not only the quality they provide, but that they fit that goal perfectly.
Photo courtesy of Myers Photography
This Old House host Kevin O’Connor receives a tour of the Weaver Precast plant from Director of Operations Doug Pfautz.
The wall panels are manufactured with concrete paired with rigid foam insulation and metal studs to provide R-values that meet or exceed energy conservation values from both the IECC and IRC. The panels used in the project achieved the NGBS Green Certified Product designation as well.
For a nearly six-minute segment of the show, This Old House television host Kevin O’Connor toured the Weaver plant to see how the panels were made. He watched as forms were built, the insulation added, the concrete batched and poured and the final walls were prepped for delivery. Throughout the segment, Weaver’s director of operations, Doug Pfautz, was able to share the many advantages of precast such as customizations; quality-controlled environments for mixing, pouring and curing; and fast installation times.
Photo courtesy of Myers Photography
Members of the This Old House production crew saw Superior Walls’ Xi Plus foundation walls be produced at Weaver Precast in Ephrata, Pa.
“We’re exceptionally pleased that This Old House host Kevin O’Connor was able to visit our facilities to see how our precast concrete panels are manufactured,” said Jim Costello, president of Superior Walls. “His tour of the plant included in the episode showed fans of the program the manufacturing process for our panels.”
Since the panels were manufactured to specification off-site, the foundation was set in just one day and eliminated any on-site soil contamination.
You can view the episode here, but a PBS login is required to view the entire episode.
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