It’s time for a summer expansion update and possibly our last update on construction activities! In case you’ve missed our previous Spring update, we hit some major milestones as Phase 2 began:

• • Phase 2 foundation pour
• • Exterior and interior metal framing
• • Roof, staircase, and mezzanine installation
• • Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough-in
• • A/C and fire sprinkler placement

Despite a slight delay in construction activities due to COVID-19, Phase 2 is in its final stages and we can see the substantial completion date in our sights.

 

 

Mid-March we saw the completion of the exterior metal framing, just in time for insulated metal panels that were lifted and placed into position. Each wall of Phase 2 had approximately 60 of these metal panels installed, which match the exterior paint of the Phase 1 tilt walls.

 

 

Just as we were making some major headway, the stay-at-home address came from Washington State Governor Inslee, temporarily shutting down both Tool Gauge and Washington Patriot Construction for two weeks.

Mid-April marked the first day of construction after the shutdown lifted and Washington Patriot immediately went to work with the help of Sound Glass installing windows, Alliance Steel installing our new metal canopy, and doors throughout the building.

 

 

If you’ve been keeping an eye on our time-lapse video from WorkZone Cam, you might have noticed the majority of exterior work has been completed. Construction activities for the remainder of April focused on the interior of the building, as Washington Patriot installed permanent power and drywall.

An infiltration trench to help collect rain water from adjacent surfaces was built in early May, where our new parking would soon be.

Throughout May, construction activities included installation of light fixtures, security cameras, and restroom tile. Long Painting came in and started giving the new walls a fresh coat of paint after all drywall was taped and textured. The last week in May, our second plastics parking lot was paved along with a smooth coat of asphalt on South Adams St.

 

 

We’re at the tail end of construction activities as we near the substantial completion date of June 26^th. Over the next couple of weeks, Washington Patriot will finalize interior paint, and restroom tiling, irrigation and new landscape, and floor installation. 

Tool Gauge employees will be able to move into Phase 2 beginning of July as we have new furniture delivered and the installation of Canteen Avenue C Micro Market. We’re also looking forward to our new paint equipment being delivered and installed in the upcoming months.

 

 

Once Phase 2 is complete, the new area with house an industry-leading paint line, new QA lab, training area/lunch room, employee lockers, offices and a customer lobby. All together, the Tool Gauge expansion project will include:

• • 80,000 sq ft in our plastics division
• • Expansion of our plastics press size range
• • Broadened secondary operations to improve flow and ergonomic assembly
• • Installation of industry-leading vertical paint system
• • New research and development center
• • Implementation of multiple collaborative robots (cobots)
• • 2,000 sq ft allocated for CNC machines and equipment within our metals division

Keep track of all the construction activities on our social media channels (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) and through our live Workzone Camera.