Ellisdale’s light gauge metal framing approach helps its clients achieve strong savings on projects.
Published in Best Construction Practices
By Alan Dorich, Senior Editor at Knighthouse Publishing
December 2019
Not many companies can say they have a new approach that has the potential to change their industry, but Ellisdale Construction can. The Leesburg, Va.-based contractor has brought benefits to its clients’ projects through its use of light gauge metal construction.
“It’s a game changer in some difficult markets,” President Kevin Ash states. “We’re executing with developers and architects on new ways to build high rises with less labor and less cost.”
Ellisdale, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, initially specialized in wood frame work for multifamily and restoration projects. With its footprint in the Washington, D.C., area, the firm was able to keep busy with affordable housing jobs through the Great Recession.
“We became very proficient at occupied rehab/affordable housing,“ Ash recalls, adding that Ellisdale worked schedules from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. so tenants did not have to be completely displaced from their homes.
Over time, the company turned to light gauge metal framing, which allowed it to compete with contractors using cast-in-place concrete for high-rise buildings. Today, “Concrete construction has become so expensive that there are quite a few projects that are stalled right now,” he says.
But Ellisdale’s use of light gauge metal has given some of these projects new life. “Developers are bringing us in to explore and execute our light gauge metal product type, which is pushing us up into a new strata of clients and work,” Ash says.