After water damage, Harwood gym will be replaced
Oct. 17, 2022 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
Efforts to dry out beneath the Harwood Union school gym floor were stopped and the school district's insurance has agreed to cover the cost of replacing the floor. Photo courtesy Ray Daigle
The gymnasium floor at Harwood Union High School will be completely replaced after it sustained significant water damage from a fire sprinkler break several weeks ago.
That’s the word from Superintendent Mike Leichliter who said last week that the school district’s insurance carrier, Vermont School Board Insurance Trust, will pay for the floor replacement.
A price quote for the work puts the cost at $209,000 or $19 per square foot for the 11,000 square-foot gym floor.
Efforts to dry out residual moisture from under the floorboards following the giant leak of more than 1,000 gallons of water in the sprinkler system lines did not work as hoped, Leichliter said. Equipment brought in by emergency restoration contractor GW Savage was removed a little over a week ago. “It was decided that their efforts were not effective on this type of floor with the water damage we experienced,” Leichliter said.
Now school officials are working with a flooring contractor Danaher Floor Restoration Inc. from Clarendon, Vermont, on a schedule for demolition of the damaged floor, construction to replace it and finish it. The final step will be installation of new bleachers which already was in the works prior to the Sept. 22 mishap where a wayward ball in a gym class struck and broke a sprinkler head in the gymnasium ceiling touching off the leak.
The project schedule will depend on availability of materials and workers, Leichliter said, with the best-case scenario being completion by the end of December.
“There are multiple steps including asbestos testing of the existing gym floor and underlayment material, removal of the old gym floor, testing of the concrete subfloor for moisture, installation of the new floor, and installation of the new bleachers which were ordered prior to the floor being damaged,” he explained.
The extent of the under-floor preparation won’t be entirely known until the old floor is removed. The cost estimate from Danaher outlines additional steps and their costs should they be needed such as installing an additional moisture barrier.
In the meantime, physical education classes for high school and middle school students have been meeting outside, school officials said.
Director of Maintenance and Operations Ray Daigle was to see that the most affected area of the gym would be marked off so that classes could be allowed to use the remainder of the area temporarily until demolition work begins.
The water leak flooded just a portion of the floor surface and greater damage occurred when water leaked under the floorboards and was absorbed by the material beneath the floor.
“Fortunately, the PE teachers have experience with alternative arrangements as a result of COVID. In addition to alternative activities, we have the upstairs gym area that can be used as well,” Leichliter said.
The floor replacement project also will have a big impact on the upcoming winter basketball season. Currently volleyball is the only fall sport using the gym and the team has shifted to using the gym at Crossett Brook Middle School.
Athletic Director Chris Langevin is working on making arrangements for the winter schedule for practices and games involving eight school teams -- four teams each from the high school and middle school for girls and boys varsity and junior varsity high school squads and girls/boys seventh- and eight-grade teams.
Langevin said he is working with other athletic directors on scheduling as many away scrimmages and games as possible for the early part of the season. Other options for practice spaces are needed as well.
The winter sports season begins Nov. 28 with tryouts, Langevin said, with the first games starting up around Dec. 10. More information will be shared once alternate scheduling arrangements are made, he said.