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Rebuilding New Orleans One Grand Restaurant at a Time with the Help of NCFI
Spray Foam Insulation
After enduring the ruin of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans may be the only
post-devastation city to consider the opening of a new restaurant a milestone of
resurrection. But, to the Big Easy, the new downtown restaurant Le Foret is a
sign that their unique way of life is continuing. Thanks to forward-thinking
owners, an innovative builder and an expert in insulating buildings in the
excessive moisture of below sea level venues, Le Foret may spell the future of
new New Orleans.
The building, a former 1800s era cigar factory, is located in the Central
Business District at the corner of Camp and Common streets—just three blocks off
the French Quarter— but, despite its highly visible location, it has been empty
since the 1970s. While the restoration and conversion to one of the city’s first
post storm, high-end, “grand” restaurants (which opened in October, 2009) is
called by Brenda Maitland, food, wine, cocktail and travel writer, in Country
Roads magazine, “an extraordinary gift to the city by Le Foret owners, Margaret
and Mike Schexnayder,” the building presented numerous challenges, even to the
experienced insulation expert, Tobias Torjusen, and his company, Foamman
Insulation. “I talked it over with the contractor and we agreed we had to
super-insulate the entire building. We needed to add structural strength, high
R-value, noise abatement, and air and moisture barrier—all in one product.
Floors, ceilings, walls—the entire envelope had to be spray foam insulation.”
One of the challenges for the team was simply the age of the building and it
had, like most city buildings, been battered by the hurricane’s high winds and
water. Torjusen explains, “Bricks and mortar were crumbling, and there were
cracks and crevices to fill to prevent air leakage. The application of spray
foam was really the only choice, since it quickly expands to fill in the gaps
while it conforms to curves and spaces then cures in place. These unique
qualities make this spray foam insulation an exceptional restoration tool.”
“Our challenges mounted,” continues Torjusen. “The three story building has many
of its original doorways, beams and hardware, going back nearly 200 years, and
the owners wanted to preserve as much of that as possible. Also, we were dealing
with three working kitchens—on three different floors. Moreover, as in most of
New Orleans, this structure is on land below sea level; thus, it is important to
keep the building climate controlled, safe and free of moisture.”
But, Torjusen, a Gulfport, MS native, is all too familiar with the challenges of
building in the area, and just as familiar with products that work. “We used
NCFI’s InsulStar® closed-cell spray foam because it’s the best. We have very
high humidity here and up to 70 inches of rain per year, all of which affect the
sustainability of the structures and the insulation within. Closed-cell spray
foam insulation is a moisture barrier that allows you to stop vapor drives which
threaten to cause rot and mildew, which are quite prevalent here in our region.”
Another advantage of the unparalleled, closed-cell insulation is that it also
blocks the infiltration of dust, pollen and other airborne pollutants, creating
a tight seal around the building and providing a healthier living, working, and
dining environment.
One of Torjusen’s favorite parts of the project is the new wine cellar, fully
insulated with InsulStar®, “so it will maintain specific and consistent
temperature and humidity levels,” crows Torjusen.
To further protect the new restaurant, they used NCFI’s Sealite™ open-cell spray
foam insulation between dining rooms, hallways, bathrooms, stairways and
kitchens. Since Sealite™ buffers and abates noise in addition to insulating
Torjusen and his team installed it between all floors so patrons in each dining
room would not hear noises from the dining room above or below. Overall, this
interior insulation provides the patrons and restaurant personnel with a more
comfortable, intimate experience.
When he began working on the project, Torjusen says he was pleasantly surprised
by NCFI’s commitment to him and the project. An NCFI team flew in for the start
of the project to make sure things went smoothly and that the insulation was
being applied correctly. “I haven’t had that happen with any other spray foam
company. We were fully capable of handling things, but when you have someone
from the home office show up to support you, it just makes you feel that much
better,” notes Torjusen.
Nelson Clark, senior vice president of NCFI, says, “We play as larger a role as
our applicators and trade contractors need. We consistently go above and beyond
to prove that commitment. Sending in a technical team is the least we can do for
Tobias, the owners of Le Foret, and our friends in the city of New Orleans.”
When Le Foret opened its doors and began serving exceptional, traditional New
Orleans French cuisine, they did so in a solid and dependable structure. Like
other restaurants that have sprung up in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina,
the Le Foret team had much to celebrate. For starters, they are part of
rebuilding a vibrant city. NCFI is proud to be part of this endeavor.
“NCFI understands that each building that goes up or is rescued from the
forgotten is one more sure step towards a solid future for the people and
families of New Orleans,” claims Clark. “We are extremely pleased our products,
which are often called the ‘future of sustainable building’, are helping shape
the future of the resilient Crescent City.”
Given its tenacity of spirit, it should be no surprise there are more
restaurants in New Orleans now than there were pre-Katrina. Good food is part of
the city’s culture, and many say it is the very foundation of that culture. Tom
Fitzmorris, NOLA native and author of the book, Hungry Town—which describes the
triumphant comeback of New Orleans’s food culture and restaurants in the
aftermath of Katrina—notes in a recent “City Business” article: “Few parts of
New Orleans society did more to comfort people and give them a reason to rebuild
. . . Our culture of great eating and drinking is leading us out of disaster
into a hopeful new world.” Fitzmorris says of Le Foret in his online food blog,
New Orleans Menu, “The restaurant performs at such a high level that it makes me
nostalgic to dine there, even though the menu is very much up to date. It's been
a long time.”
With Tobias Torjusen and NCFI high-performance spray foam insulation, the new
New Orleans may look a lot like the old one, only safer, stronger, and
healthier.
About NCFI
NCFI was organized in 1964 by research chemist, Dr. H. W. Bradley and Barnhardt
Manufacturing Company. NCFI is headquartered in Mt. Airy, NC and manufactures
polyurethane foam chemical systems for spray foam-in-place insulation (SPF),
roofing, marine floatation, packaging, specialty molding, and many other uses.
The company also offers a complete line of flexible foams for furniture seating,
transportation seating, bedding, carpet underlay, and packaging. NCFI has
manufacturing plants in High Point and Hickory, N.C., Dalton, GA., and Salt Lake
City, UT. To learn more about NCFI please visit
www.NCFI.com.
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