UC San Diego: Bold Student Housing Project Uses ‘Miles of Trim-Tex’

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When UC San Diego was facing down a student housing shortage, they decided they didn’t just want to build dorms — they wanted to build an entire community. This led to the construction of the UCSD Theatre District Living and Learning Neighborhood, a sweeping project that includes residences, offices, classrooms, restaurants, retail and more.

With thousands of distinct interior spaces dotted throughout this huge project, the contractor handling wall systems for the project — Nevell Group, Inc. — knew it would need lots of trim. Lots and lots and lots of trim, from ordinary to decorative to code compliant.

These drywall crews needed a partner to help handle all those needs and more. Of course, there’s only one manufacturer who could have taken on such a wide variety of complex drywall problems: Trim-Tex.

'We have miles of Trim-Tex' | UC San Diego Case Study | Trim-Tex Testimonial

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The project: 2,000 beds and beyond

Between a growing undergraduate student population and reduced housing supply thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, on-campus student living at UC San Diego was becoming harder and harder to find. The school needed a bold plan to provide its students with at least 2,000 more beds, as well as more classroom spaces and amenities.

The result of these requirements is an ambitious development that encompasses five mixed-use buildings, ranging in height from nine to 21 stories, and a four-level subterranean parking garage. The first of these buildings, which opened in the fall of 2023, would house an entire new undergraduate college, Eighth College. In total, the project spans 988,000 square feet (or nearly 1.5 million square feet including parking) over 8.5 buildable acres. Needless to say, this project would be no small feat for the team tackling this project’s framing and drywall.

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The solutions: ‘The quality and the finish when we're completely done is just top-notch’

For a project of this scale, Nevell Group tapped into Trim-Tex’s robust catalog to solve a broad range of problems, using several different drywall accessories for this job. These include (as pictured below) Architectural Z Shadow Bead as decorative window trim; the wide-legged Shower Bead butting up against other substrates like concrete columns; 093V Expansion for creating flexible control joints; and more.

“We have miles of Trim-Tex and specialty trims that we installed — I'm here running about four to six guys full-time installing trim,” Taping Foreman Mike Mendoza told us. “The quality and the finish when we're completely done is just top-notch compared to, I don't want to say any names, but some of the other vinyl plastic trims that are out there. The wide range of trims that you guys have available is great. I like that. For all kinds of different conditions, different details, all the way from your 9230 [Flat] Deflection Bead to your Z Shadow, to your Oversized L Beads, your Shower Beads — just top-notch ... that seems to be my main word for Trim-Tex: 'top-notch.'"

For large-scale multi-unit structures, one of the biggest time-sucks is often code compliance — fire and acoustical sealants take a high degree precision and care to get the dosages right. And even when you do get it right, these caulks can harden and shrink back, failing inspection either way. When the Nevell Group found out about Trim-Tex’s preformed firestopping solutions, they instantly knew how much time and labor this could save them in their enormous UCSD workload.

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For all their firestopping needs, this crew opted for the compressible foam Hotrod Type-X (pictured above) due to its unbeatable versatility. This project would require firestopping in all kinds of spaces, and Hotrod Type-X is extremely simple to use in even the tightest areas. Just stuff it in the gap and you’re good to go — the pre-attached intumescent tape will expand to 30 times its size if exposed to extreme heat, choking off the spread of smoke and fire.

For areas that code requirements called for soundproofing but not firestopping, Nevell Group was able to use the same process by selecting our Smoke & Sound Stop (pictured below). This is essentially the same easy-to-use compressible foam accessory as Hotrod Type-X, just without the intumescent tape, for simple sound abatement at the head of wall.

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Flat Deflection Bead was installed after these foam accessories for a perfect, crack-free finish for the long haul, as it’s designed to allow up to ½” of deflection for the lifetime of the structure. By combining these two items, you’re attaining all the innovation of Trim-Tex’s trailblazing line of firestopping solutions alongside the time-tested, flawless finish of best-in-class vinyl beads.

“So, this 9230 [Flat] Deflection Bead that we’re using — in the old days, we used to have to caulk the head of the wall,” Mendoza says. “It would shrink, leaving it up to the owners of the project to turn it down because it shrunk so much, so we'd have to go back and give them a whole ’nother round. Now we get significant savings on that.”

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Thank you to Mike Mendoza and the whole Nevell Group, Inc., team for inviting us to see their work in action at UC San Diego. The UCSD Theatre District Living and Learning Neighborhood, after facing some delays due to supply chain issues and weather, is now opening its remaining four buildings in phases throughout early 2024.

Crews on this project may have used quite a few Trim-Tex beads and accessories, but these are just scratching the surface. Hit the button below to request a free digital catalog to get a peek at everything we’ve got to solve your drywall problems, no matter how big or complex the project is.

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