QUIKRETE® Products Help Bring ‘Vail’s Premier Address’ to Fruition

Words: Brian Harms/Public/News/20101122050000-1.jpg" width="600" height="338" border="0" alt="QUIKRETE® products helped bring ‘Vail’s Premier Address’ to fruition." />
QUIKRETE® products helped bring ‘Vail’s Premier Address’ to fruition.
Since it was incorporated in 1966, Vail has established itself as a premier destination for avid skiers and those building high-end, luxury second homes. When plans were announced in 2005 for the new, mixed-use Solaris Residences development, both local and national media took note.

With an ambitious plan to offer residents “luxury mountain living,” contractor The Weitz Co. and sub-contractor The Gallegos Corp., a specialty masonry contractor, turned to a trusted partner whose products could guarantee the quality needed to help bring “Vail’s Premier Address” to fruition: The QUIKRETE® Companies.

One of the key architectural features of Solaris Residences is its dry, stack stone walls, designed to fit within the stunning natural landscape of Vail. To ensure the stacked stone remained in place for years to come, crews relied on QUIKRETE® Mason Mix Type S mortar — a contractor grade mix that achieves 1,800 psi — and QUIKRETE® Core Fill Masonry Grout.

“Dry stack walls are really an art form, but they need a solid backing to guarantee that they will stand the test of time,” says Brian Harms, QUIKRETE® Regional Sales Manager - Bulk Products. “By using a packaged product such as QUIKRETE® Mason Mix Type S mortar, crews could mix the amount of mortar they needed, thereby eliminating the need for large-scale mixing operations and, ultimately, reducing waste.”

Located in the heart of Vail Village, Solaris Residences features a combination of residential and commercial space. The property’s 77 condominiums range from 900 to 6,500 square feet in size, with the average unit falling in the 2,500-square-foot range. The residential units, which are mostly second homes, start at $1.5 million and rise to more than $15 million.

In addition to the residential units, there are 20 commercial spaces for retail shops and restaurants surrounding a central halfacre common plaza, featuring an ice skating rink.

As part of the project, workers used 7,140 bags of 80-pound QUIKRETE® Core Fill Masonry Grout — Coarse, and 27,552 80-pound bags of QUIKRETE® Mason Mix Type S mortar.

QUIKRETE® Mason Mix Type S is a high-strength, commercial grade, dry pre-blended mixture of sand and cements specially selected for masonry applications. QUIKRETE® Core Fill Masonry Grout is a properly proportioned mixture of portland cement, graded sand and other ingredients designed to provide a flowable grout requiring only the addition of water.

“Since QUIKRETE® Mason Mix Type ‘S’ is pre-blended, it eliminates the need for sand piles and pallets of cement, allowing crews to work in tight areas with a small footprint,” Harms said. “In addition, since the product eliminates the need for jobsite mixing, the pre-blended product saved time, improved productivity and also assured that the mortar was consistent and met the project’s requirements.

“QUIKRETE® Mason Mix Type S and QUIKRETE® Core Fill Masonry Grout are the perfect solutions for a project such as Solaris Residences,” Harms added. “These products are well suited for workers’ needs, allowing crews to mix material in the batches they needed — no matter how large or small — and finish their work as quickly as possible.”
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