The Glenwood Regional Medical Center in West Monroe, La., strives to maintain a first-class medical facility, both in terms of patient case and overall appearance. But in this tough economy, the health care facility faced a serious dilemma. They were stuck between budget constraints and a need remodel hallways where the walls were suffering from years of abuse.

Glenwood is an older facility, with plaster walls that, over the years, had been weakened by cracks, gouges and tears from rolling beds and service carts. In some high traffic areas, the same portions of the wall surface had been patched four and five times.

Cyndi Green, owner of Cyndi Green Wallcovering in Monroe, La., was called in as a consultant.

Green was awarded the contract to remove years of accumulated vinyl wall covering. In a budget sensitive decision, the hospital then decided to paint the walls rather than apply a new layer of vinyl.

“I told them the patches would look worse and the paint would not hold up to cleaning as well as vinyl. They would be left with cold lifeless walls. Also the prep necessary to get a good paint coat surface would be even more expensive.” Green says.

PAINTABLE AND TEXTURED

The committee would not consider new wall covering until Green suggested paintable Texturglas from Roos International. Texturglas has been effectively used in both commercial and residential applications in both new construction projects as well as major renovations. The combination of glass textile textures, together with paint and the proper adhesive provides a high performance, functional and attractive wall covering that actually works to reinforce weak walls and eliminate surfaces irregularities. Texturglas paintable wall covering is designed to take the abuse in high traffic areas. It smoothes over existing cracks and reinforces vulnerable wall surfaces and carries a 30-plus year life cycle.

“The hospital reluctantly agreed to let me install Texturglas in a small test area. After it dried I painted it with their chosen color. I got a call the next day saying they loved it, and that they had tested the durability by crashing a hospital bed into it. It took three hits to tear it, but they got one of their biggest guys to ram it and he finally put a hole in the wall. They asked me if I would show them how to do an invisible patch on the damaged area. They explained that if I could successfully patch it, they would be sold,” Green says.

In a matter of days, Green’s crew began installing more than 1,485 square yards of Texturglas. It was a slow process aggravated by the need to remove layers and layers of old vinyl over already-weakened walls.

“We found extremely damaged plaster that left holes deep enough to show the mesh wire of the plaster. These areas were at floor level and had no wall to attach the base to, so we used 12 inch tall strips of a rolled plaster to bridge these areas. This allowed us to skim the area smooth and stabilize it enough to receive the Texturglas so that the base would have a solid foundation. To repair smaller cracks we used wall and ceiling patch product,” says Green.

Large health care facilities operate around the clock, seven days a week, so there was no way to block off any sections during the remodeling process. Green’s crew responded by working on one side of a hall at a time. To keep things moving on schedule the crews had three halls in various stages of completion at any given time. One hall was in removal while another was drying from installation and another ready for paint. This system, although not perfect for production, worked out well to have no down time while allowing the hospital traffic to flow freely throughout the halls.

ECO-FRIENDLY COVERINGS

Response to the finished job was overwhelmingly positive, from both patients and hospital personnel.

“Texturglas has been one of the best investments as for as wall covering goes. This product has held up very well,” Kenneth Howell, the hospital’s maintenance operations manager says.

Texturglas from Roos International is an ideal wall covering in a healthcare environment. It meets or exceeds the international Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Class 1 standards, which means it’s safe around babies and small children. Texturglas is also easy to install and maintain.

For projects seeking to conform to a green standard, such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Rating System of the international Green Globes initiative, Texturglas is an ideal choice. It is also available in two specialty formulations, Novelio Mold-X and Novelio Clean Air.

The Mold-X product is specially formulated with a biocidal agent to prevent the formation and growth of mold and mildew as long as the fabric is attached to the wall surface.

As the name implies, Clean Air contains an agent that serves as an aldehyde scavenger, chemically trapping and eliminating formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and other similar compounds. Clean Air was extensively tested in accordance with ISO standards and has conclusively created a cleaner and healthier environment when compared with an identical scenario using a conventional wall covering.

 For more information about Texturglas, visit www.roosintl.com.