Noteworthy progress at Woodland Elementary

We are making noteworthy progress at Woodland!  PSD’s Capital Projects and Maintenance teams are working side-by-side with Streamline Construction seven days a week to address the necessary repairs and restore Woodland students and staff back to their classrooms.

During the recent freezing temperatures, a fire sprinkler pipe, over 29 years old, broke the threads within the fitting, saturating the area outside the kitchen. The water dispersed across the gymnasium floor, library, kitchen, and six classroom floors. This required the school to close for three days. While the water spread was not deep and did not exceed the rubber baseboard in many places, our team took precautions to eliminate any moisture within the walls. We removed 30 inches of drywall from the base of all impacted areas, called a flood cut, to ensure complete drying before. Ongoing moisture testing of walls was performed twice a day to monitor the dry out of the spaces prior to initiating repairs.  

Our team deployed a powerful Desiccant Dehumidifier last week thanks to the support of Paul Davis Restoration who tracked down the unit to expedite the drying process. A desiccant dehumidifier uses a desiccant material to remove moisture from the air. The process involves the desiccant material attracting and holding water vapor. A wheel or rotor coated with desiccant rotates through the air stream. As moist air passes over the desiccant-coated surface, the desiccant absorbs water vapor, releasing drier air into the room.

An advantage of desiccant dehumidifiers is their effectiveness in lower temperatures, making them suitable for colder climates like the one we have been experiencing at Woodland. And, thanks to this machine, we have successfully concluded the dehumidification process today.

Streamline will continue to actively coordinate with our insurance adjuster to confirm the absence of moisture as we proceed with the essential repairs.

Rest assured, we are actively addressing the situation and working on swift solutions to minimize disruptions to our students' education. Your support and understanding during this time are greatly appreciated.