Removing Damaged Fiberglass Batts from Baldwin County Alabama Fire Station 1

At the end of February we completed our first commercial/municipal building located at Fort Morgan Fire Rescue Station 1.

The original insulation at this fire station had been installed incorrectly and it had also been damaged by water leaks in multiple areas. The insulation had been installed directly over the drop ceiling on both floors of the fire station and had not been cut away from any ductwork. The fire station decided to get it fixed for good and to have all of the old insulation removed and replaced with new.

While this job was an extraction, it was very different from the normal extractions we normally do. Most removals are done in attics or crawl spaces. These are places we can squeeze into and put a hose right up into the workspace to suck everything out. You can’t do that with a drop ceiling since they can handle very little weight. Another new side of this job was that we were working directly around furnishings and equipment.

Before starting the extraction our crew covered the station in painters plastic and duct tape to protect everything and ensure as little mess as possible. Then we brought in 2 sets of baker scaffolding and attached the hose right to the lip of this scaffolding. We were able to remove the drop tiles one by one and we used cultivators to pull the insulation out of the ceiling and right into the hose.

Our CoolVac 37 with a 12 inch hose was able to suck each batt up within a matter of seconds. This equipment ensured that the job was done in the fastest time possible – saving the fire station thousands in labor costs. Similar jobs of this size take an average of 4 to 5 days. We were able to complete the job in 7 hours. We also removed and replaced about 40 damaged ceiling tiles.

After the extraction our crew vacuumed and cleaned the station and put all furnishings back into their proper places. Our goal was to leave the station just as clean as we had found it.