Contractor stows heavy welding tanks and uses Viega press technology
Located between Central Park and Times Square, the Sheraton New York Hotel offers luxurious accommodations with a rich history, and now this famous hotel has a new drinking water system thanks to Viega Profipress (US standard).
Infinity Mechanical of New Hyde Park, New York, installed all the piping in all the hotel’s units from the fifth to the 20th floors and from the 33rd to 50th floors, for a total of approximately 1,300 individual units.
"It was Viega Profipress for everything," Infinity Mechanical President Joe Alagna said, "including new piping for the units and the mains also – thousands of fittings."
Love at first sight
Infinity Mechanical has been in business for more than 15 years, and the Sheraton New York Hotel renovation was their first experience with Profipress. Most of the fittings Infinity installed for the hotel project ranged from ½" to ¾" but the mains’ piping ranged from 1 ½" to 2".
"Everything went smooth," Alagna said. "The fittings were nice and heavy. We didn’t have one leak where we pressed it correctly. I was pretty impressed."
New York has strict standards concerning welding and torches in structures. Installers who connect pipe with traditional methods are allowed to bring their welding tanks inside during work hours, but when they’ve finished for the day, the tanks must be removed from the premises. Not only did Profipress save Infinity time in making connections but also because they didn’t have to bother with hauling welding tanks in and out of the hotel every day.
Since completing the Sheraton project, Alagna and Infinity Mechanical have been trying to encourage Profipress in every installation where they are using copper. "You save a lot of time on labour, and you don’t have to worry about tanks in the building and fires," Alagna said. "It’s a good product."