The new Atlantic Dodge dealership in St. Augustine, FL was already under construction when an insurability issue surfaced. The project was originally designed to utilize EIFS, but the insurer balked at the use of EIFS on the pre-engineered building.

The Stellar Group, general contractor for the design-build project, sought an alternative cladding system that would solve the problem. Stellar, headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, is one of the nation’s largest design, engineering and construction companies. Stellar had extensive experience with Metl-Span products in cold storage applications but had not used Metl-Span for commercial/industrial jobs.

According to Micah Barth, Stellar’s project manager, “We needed to find a good solution fast. Both full block construction and stucco were simply too expensive. We talked to Sara Truhlar, our Metl-Span sales rep from Southeast Insulators, and she recommended Metl-Span’s Tuff-Wall product. We got samples of the panel and studied all of the information on the system. We were quickly convinced that Tuff-Wall was the way to go.”

Tuff-Wall is an exceptionally attractive stucco-like insulated wall panel that provides the masonry look that many designers and communities desire. The exterior surface of the panel is a hard aggregated fiber-reinforced polymer coating created with the factory-applied Tuff-Cote finish system. Approximately 8,500 sq. ft. of 2” Tuff-Wall panels finished in Light Stone was utilized on the building.

“The product was wonderful,” says Barth. “The owner is happy because the building looks great and he can get reasonably-priced insurance.”