An Addition Fit for an Iconic Chicago Skyscraper

Flooring Resources Corporation spent several hours prepping for the installation of flooring in a fitness room located on the 70th floor of Chicago, Illinois’, Aon Center. Photo: Nathan Kirkman.

,The Aon Center is a modern skyscraper, adding to the iconic Chicago, Illinois, skyline located just east of the Chicago Loop. Today as the city’s third tallest building, the center serves as the headquarters and hub for several businesses.

Drastically different heights in two adjoining floor finishes also had to be managed. Photo: Nathan Kirkman.

When it came time to update the fitness room for a large corporation located on the 70th floor of the skyscraper, Flooring Resources Corporation was met with the challenges of a previous poor underlayment installation.

Once the rubber flooring was down and equipment was brought in, gaps started to appear in the floor because of the poor underlayment installation. In addition, Flooring Resources also had to manage drastically different heights in two adjoining floor finishes. As a result, the flooring contractor had to start over by taking up tiles and prepping to reinstall.

The final solutions to these challenges will make future refurbishments easier and much less expensive. Photo: Nathan Kirkman.

“Our prep alone for the rubber flooring was 60 hours,” said George Spanske, president and COO, Flooring Resources. “The original plans called for a reducer at the transition for rubber tile to LVT, but given the extreme height difference, we decided to bring up the LVT. This adjustment required an additional 30 hours for LVT prep and underlayment. Since the height difference was significant, we used 50 sheets of underlayment to match the height of the LVT to the rubber flooring for a flush installation.” These solutions will make future refurbishments easier and much less expensive for the customer, says Spanske.

CONTENTS