Empire State of Excellence

SPRAY FOAM MAGAZINE – Working on a prominent and historic building is both a privilege and an honor. For one contracting company, that opportunity arose after months of communication, clerical prerequisites, and site visits. The Spray Foam Magazine team caught up with the Upstate Spray Foam Insulation crew to find out how they tackled a particular project and why they considered such a building a symbolic reflection of who they are as a company.

Co-owned by Billy Gibson and Jesse Christian, Upstate Spray Foam Insulation specializes in all types of insulation for homes and businesses. Varying from crawlspaces to multi-year projects, Upstate can be seen traveling to all parts of New York State. They even contract and travel into Northern Pennsylvania and the Western New England areas.

Upstate makes sure they keep up with today’s latest innovations in the building industry for both residential and commercial markets and are an accredited contractor with the Building Performance Institute (BPI) who set strict guidelines for insulating residential homes. They are also accredited with the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA), Insulation Contractors Association of America (ICAA), and Air Barrier Association of America (ABAA). Being associated and accredited by those organizations helps Upstate maintain their high level of quality workmanship in addition to keeping up to date with the latest news and products.

They have accomplished some noteworthy projects in the last year, some of which include: 

The multi-building barrack renovations at West Point Military Academy - previously featured in Spray Foam Magazine’s Spring 2023 Issue

Total renovations of Academic buildings across the state at Cornell University, Hamilton College, and SUNY Albany

Fully insulated the new Genesee County Jail in Batavia, NY

“It is a group effort between our field crews and our office team that has given us the foundation to grow into a top insulation contractor in the greater Upstate NY area. We perform work on the smallest of homes and crawl spaces in the State, to large prominent buildings such as the New York State Capitol. Both types of jobs are handled with a level of importance that you don’t typically see in construction. With one of our core values being integrity, it’s following that, that makes every job as important as the next – and continues to allow us to excel in the industry. Without the cohesive and complimentary team we have, and always doing the right thing for the consumer, none of this would be possible,” confirms co-owner Billy Gibson.

Upstate’s experienced team of estimators and project managers identify, scope, bid, execute, and manage projects from the time they receive the drawings to the time the work is completed. The New York State Capitol building project began back in the beginning of 2022 when one of Upstate’s estimators, Zach Bonanza, bid the project. After months of preliminary planning, the Upstate crew finally mobilized and completed the work in October of 2023.

Grandly atop Albany’s State Street hill, the New York State Capitol has served as the seat of government for New York since the 1880s. The building is famous for its Million Dollar Staircase and the Senate Chamber. It is also recognized as being the most beautiful state capitol in the country. When construction was immobilized in 1899, the building costs totaled $25 million. Today, there are free tours of this breathtaking building where visitors can hear about its history, listen to ghost stories, and look at unfinished carvings as well as tour the Empire State Plaza, Executive Mansion, and Plaza Art Collection.

The New York State Capitol is an ornately carved stone building that was constructed by hand between 1867 and 1899. With the input of five different architects the building has many diverse styles of architecture. On the morning of March 29, 1911, a fire broke out destroying an extensive portion of the building including the library’s books and documents and the New York State Museum. Joseph Gavit, the “Superintendent of the Stacks” whose 50-year career at the State Library started in 1896, staunchly believed the fire was started by careless smoking during a boozy party held in a room near the Assembly chamber, according to state librarians Paul Mercer and Vicki Weiss, co-authors of “The New York State Capitol and The Great Fire of 1911.” However, officially it was claimed that faulty wiring was the cause of the fire.

It took a year to rebuild the New York State Capitol building and repair the damaged sections. Much of the blackened sandstone was cleaned up but the building had to wait until 2006, after the go ahead for a $2.4 million restoration project, to have the famous Great Western Staircase restored to its former glory. Unfortunately, there was one fatality due to the fire, the 78-year-old night watchman Samuel Abbott. Rumor has it that Abbott haunts the Capitol’s fourth floor, where his body was found. Some say Abbott’s spirit still makes his nightly rounds.  

Following months of discussions with the general contractor of VMJR Construction, it was decided that Upstate’s work for the capitol would be part of the renovation of the center courtyard corridor. The Upstate crew of three pulled their completely self-contained spray foam box truck right in front of the building where they then ran approximately 200 ft of hose to the work area. Their biggest concern was maintaining a clean workspace in the functioning lobby they had to run the hoses through, ensuring the hoses were not obstructing anything. The crew also had to mask the openings of the windows that were not yet installed and prepare the space for foam. The truck and hose run had to be monitored around the clock by on-site security to ensure there was no unauthorized access to the building or issues with bystanders walking by the truck.

As part of the center courtyard renovation, the Upstate crew were tasked with insulating the corridor that traverses the area. Putting on their industry standard PPE and half mask respirators, they were ready to start this project. They used a combo system of closed-cell foam and intumescent coating to provide the best R-value per inch and added fire protection. The crew applied four inches of Huntsman’s HFO High Lift closed-cell foam in the walls and six inches into the roofline slopes as part of the renovation. The foam creates a vapor barrier on the walls that predominantly face the outdoors. They then applied No-Burn Plus ThB intumescent fire protective coating to satisfy the states stringent code requirements.

The Upstate crew worked at night around the New York State Capitol’s staff daytime schedule to get the job completed across a two day span with minimal interruptions to their daily processes. The client was very impressed with the work and the fact the company worked around their staff’s needs. Upstate Spray Foam Insulation are honored to have their name tied to a project like this that is held in such high esteem. “The state motto in New York State is “Excelsior” which means “ever upward,” in Latin. We feel working on projects like this are a symbolic reflection of our own company’s journey ‘ever upward’ in the world of spray foam insulation,” states the Upstate team.

Working the night shift and unaware of the ghost story of the night watchman, Samuel Abbot’s demise during The Great Fire in 1911, the Upstate insulators didn’t notice any paranormal activity during their evening shifts. However, they did remark on a deep reverence that can be felt when standing inside the building’s amazing architecture. Every corner of intricately shaped marble and every courtyard office window alludes to the generations of builders, governors, politicians, and state personnel that have previously established this building’s history and purpose. Becoming one more group of individuals to add their names to the building’s ongoing story gives you a subtle swelling of pride when walking the halls that were being constructed well over 100 years ago.

By upholding their core values of detail, determination, and integrity they continue to prove to themselves, their customers, and to the contractors they work with across the state, that they can rise to any occasion and tackle any job. Spending nearly three decades establishing themselves as one of the most trusted and reputable insulation firms in NY, these remarkable opportunities to work on the most notable projects in the Empire State continue to demonstrate their willingness and desire to tackle all spray foam challenges that come their way.

Reflecting on Upstate’s work on the New York State Capitol building Bonanza states, “We are just as excited about helping a local resident save on the cost of a heat pump installation or insulation improvements, as we are for working with the great team of contractors on the State Capitol.” On a commercial level, the Upstate team communicates as much as they can with the contractors, architects, and building owners to ensure they are all satisfied with the approach and outcome of the work. On a residential level, they walk their clients through the entire process by explaining to them the benefits they could stand to gain, the improvements they feel they could make, and some of the potential programs and avenues for savings that might be available to them. The entire team at Upstate takes great pride in their commitment to quality and service on all levels.

Alongside superior materials and quality equipment, a contractor’s principles are what sets them apart from their competition, and that really reflects great workmanship. Well done to Upstate Spray Foam Insulation for supplying a service that delivers quality while staying true to your values.  

For use by SprayFoamMagazine.com & Spray Foam Magazine