Dayton Superior offers a complete assortment of underlayment and subfloor preparation supplies.

By K.J. Quinn
In the competitive building industry, quality performance from people, products and systems are the keys to maintaining a successful business. Kansas City, Kan.-based Dayton Superior, a long-time supplier of concrete and masonry construction products, is taking a similar approach in expanding its distribution of underlayments and subfloor preparation supplies to the flooring industry.

“We pride ourselves on our product and service quality and our unique selection through the integration of our fields of expertise and distinct brand identities,” said Robert Fastow, national program manager, flooring. “We support our products through a highly sophisticated, worldwide distribution network with strategically placed factory service centers and manufacturing locations.” Dayton Superior’s construction products are sold through distributors of construction supplies across North America.

Dayton Superior recently signed an agreement with Orcon to serve as the exclusive selling agent for its underlayments and subfloor preparation products. The move enables the company to expand its distribution network within the industry while making its flooring products more accessible to its target customer: the installer.

Bob Rennie, sales manager/North America for Orcon, observed that the addition of the Dayton Superior underlayments line fits in with Orcon’s strategy of adding and selling complimentary flooring products. “We are very impressed with the quality of the Dayton Superior personnel, their products and their ability to service our customers.”

Flooring supplies

Dayton Superior manufactures many different types of flooring supplies. The two products that best fit into the industry are underlayments—which include patches and self levelers—and toppings used as wearable surfaces for both indoors and out. “We use their self levelers on numerous projects,” said Terry Langhorne, purchasing manager, Weast Construction, a contractor in Virginia Beach, Va. “They fill in all cracks and bind the whole floor together.” These products have been used to help build schools, hospitals, sports arenas, office buildings, distribution centers, retail and industrial centers as well as strengthen highways, bridges, airports, power plants and water treatment facilities.

The product mix includes EconoLevel, a polymer modified, cementitious self-leveling underlayment designed for interior use. “Econo-Level offers a compressive strength of 4,500 psi and can be installed up to 5 inches thick,” Fastow explained. “Floor covering can be installed in about 14 hours.”

LeveLayer, a premium Portland cement-based self-leveling underlayment, gains high compressive strength, is pourable or pumpable, and provides quick turnaround time for the rest of the installation. “It’s extremely hard and has a long open time, which means it doesn’t take you a long time to work with it,” noted Scott Heylock, president of Level-Tech Systems, an Akron, Ohio-based construction company specializing in floor underlayments. “We’ve used it on renovation projects that have bad concrete that we’re resurfacing, and we also use quite a bit as the final topping in pre-cast concrete.”

Dayton’s self-leveling toppings include Level Topping, designed for indoor use, and Level Topping EXT, developed for exterior and interior applications. A polymer-modified, trowelable underlayment called Sure Finish skim coats up to 30 square feet per pound, with no priming or additives required, enabling flooring installation within 30 minutes. Sure Patch is a patch requiring no priming and can be installed in about an hour.

Rounding out the Dayton Superior line are two primers for self levelling: LeveLayer Primer (J-42) is a concentrated formula that dries blue, so contractors know they have properly primed. Level-Prime is a ready-to-use formula that dries red to ensure the contractor has not missed any spots.

The company also manufactures other concrete surface treatments such as cures, hardeners, sealers, coatings and epoxies. Plus, it maintains a decorative concrete program that includes stamping and texturing systems, integral colors, acid-etch stains, resurfacing and decorative flooring systems. “Dayton’s flooring products have been thoroughly tested, proved and improved under 40-plus years of the toughest construction conditions possible,” Orcon’s Rennie said.

Meeting customer needs

Indeed, Dayton Superior’s broad product line combined with its knowledgeable staff, efficient distribution channels and extensive market experience results in integrated solutions that complete projects competitively and on time, Fastow said. The company places a major emphasis on making sure the architect, engineer, contractor and end user each understand a product, its applications and limitations to help ensure a successful installation.

“The majority of underlayment-related claims can be directly attributed to improper surface preparation,” Fastow pointed out. “Through education, Dayton Superior believes problems and the claims that are associated with them can be dramatically reduced.”

According to Fastow, Dayton Superior has invested significantly in continuing education at all levels by partnering with installers and distributors. “By forming strategic alliances, such as the alliance Dayton Superior has with Orcon, the company continues to look for ways to offer superior solutions for all customers.”

Additionally, Dayton Superior reports it employs an experienced technical services team that offers advice and solutions over the phone or, in some cases, even on site. “Our technical services team also holds training and demonstration classes for contractors and distributors throughout the year,” Fastow explained. “They will also bring their show on the road, if so requested.”

The company participates in ongoing training for architects and other customers through the Construction Specification Institute and numerous other industry associations.

Indeed, the bottom line is that flooring is just one of many construction product categories which Dayton Superior specializes in serving. “We have over 1,600 employees who are looking for new and better solutions for problems the construction industry is faced with every day,” Fastow said. “We continually invest in new products and place great emphasis on research and development.”