Then-And-Now: Elementary school jewel
When the existing St. Timothy Catholic Elementary School school in North York, Ont., built in 1954 was to have an addition and renovation to upgrade it to modern standards, Kneider Architects proposed a new school on the same site with full amenities for an additional cost of only 15% above the original renovation proposal.
According to architect George Kneider, “the biggest challenge was to convince the school board that using porcelain tile was less expensive than using vinyl tile.”
“They asked, ’How do you figure that — doesn’t it cost a lot more to buy it?’ I said that’s true but not a lot more, but more — more than double the price. But when you look at the cost to maintain, it’s cheaper to get the porcelain tile.”
On this $8 million building project, tile installers cut each tile on all four sides so the joints were the same — instead of wide and narrow joints, sometimes in circles or partial circles. “The workmanship was outstanding,” Kneider says.
All the corridors and all the public areas such as washrooms are all done in porcelain tile.
Kneider points out that over a 20-year period at the school, at least twice a year it would be necessary to strip, wash, clean and wax the vinyl tile floors. “That means maintenance would have to take all the desks, chairs and everything, put them out in the corridor or wherever. They do this in the off-time when the kids are out of school. Then, because it’s union, pay time-and-half because its during holiday time.”
The cost is three or four times for vinyl when you add it up over a 20-year period, Kneider explains. “Not only that but the porcelain tiles end up being a much more wearable surface than the vinyl tile does.”
Kneider Architects looked at lifecycle costing for the St. Timothy’s project. “If we look at a 20-year period with carpet, we’d replace the carpet four times because of the wear and tear,” says Kneider. “But in the porcelain tile, it will be there forever. The vinyl tile will be as well but the maintenance costs are horrendous — it will be over $1 million over the 20 years.”
The school administration is very happy with the porcelain tile results. It knows the maintenance guy can now just take a damp mop to do the floor and he doesn’t have to move anything around to get the job done.