Comments Off on Modular Vanities: Practical Design Solutions with Solid Surface
Designing restroom spaces that are both attractive and durable is a challenge. Properly designed public restroom facilities can enhance the experience for those who use and maintain their appearance. Restrooms in public spaces must meet the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). Studies have shown that proper design and planning reduces both queuing issues and facility vandalism.
Traditional plastic
laminate vanity countertops and drop-in china sink bowls provide an opportunity
for moisture to destroy a particle board substrate. This creates an optimal environment
for bacterial growth. We have all
witnessed restroom countertops with laminate surfaces that have swelled from
exposure to water.
To address this common problem, ASST developed a
wall hung solid surface vanity system. The 30” wide modular units utilize a
sturdy aluminum and polyethylene support structure with a removable solid
surface front panel. The front panel is removable allowing for easy access to
plumbing. The Modular Vanitysystem™ is available in 30” wide increments and includes a solid surface
top, backsplashes, side panels and your choice of an integral mounted
sink. The system is available in all
solid surface sheet products. Without
wood that can rot and grow mold, the system is perfectly designed to handle
rigorous public restroom environments.
Get
a solid surface vanity counter solution that will last for your next project.
Call
us today for a project specific price quote 717-630-1251
x312
For specification
information downloads please visit www.asst.com
There are millworkers and countertop fabricators struggling to prosper in almost every city. Most fabricators can make a top to exact field measurements without issue and it is easy to find casework that will measure up to your project. There are many choices for Division 6 & Division 12 Millwork, Casework, Solid Surface and Quartz fabricators. Finding a vendor or subcontractor is not a difficult task. Finding a millwork, casework, solid surfaces and quartz partner that can take your project Beyond the Surface Level is another story.
What if you are designing or building a large health system
and you need a partner that can handle the solid surfaces, quartz, millwork and
casework. Some of the solid surfaces are unique and thermoformed and some of
the solid surfaces are flat tops. The thermoformed surfaces are patterned and
you need to know what the seams will look like. You need 575 of them. The
millwork and casework have different requirements depending on the department
and quartz is going in all of the executive offices. For this type of project, you need a partner
with years of experience and the capacity to handle this volume of work. Do
you know who you will call on to assist with your high-profile project?
At ASST (ə-ˈsist) we have been fabricating and installing Division 6/Division 12 Millwork, Casework, Solid Surfaces and Quartz for 22 years. We have successfully completed a large portfolio of health systems, schools and public space projects and we have received numerous awards for innovation and craftmanship. We know that if there is particulate in a solid surface it may not bend well; how tight a radius bend can be with some solid surface materials and we know that certain colors of solid surface material do not seam well. Many laboratories, pharmacies and critical care operations are now requiring organic-free material in their furnishings and we are now offering our Welnest Furnishings which have no organic material (www.welnest.com).
ASST
is uniquely positioned to fulfill all aspects of your project. Whatever you
need, ASST can build it to the exact specifications, in a safe manner and to
the finest quality standards you expect. We look forward to Going Beyond
for your exciting project! Contact us today at 717-630-1251 or visit our
website at www.asst.com.
Comments Off on Cradle Baby Bathing Bowl® – Delivering a Happy Baby
Newborns are in a “primary curve” C-shaped fetal position upon birth and for the first few months of life, they do not yet have the muscles to support their head. Research has shown that keeping an infant’s spine straight is not a sound physiological position and in addition to stressing the baby’s spine, it can also negatively influence the development of the baby’s hip joints (Dr. Evelin Kirkilionis, University of Freiburg).
Straightening the baby’s spine immediately after birth is not healthy. Giving birth is stressful for the mother and healthcare providers have made advancements in reducing this stress for mothers. If you do a web search for reducing the stress of child birth you will find most results are geared toward reducing the stress for mothers.
At ASST, we know that reducing the stress of birth for the child is important to every parent and the desire for every parent is to have a happy, healthy baby. We worked with the labor and delivery team at St. Joseph Medical Center in Baltimore to develop our Cradle Baby Bathing Bowl®. Our Cradle Baby Bathing Bowl® is ergonomically designed to support the newborn and reduce the risk of Healthcare Acquired Infection. From Africa to Australia, our Cradle Baby Bathing Bowl® is part of new life around the world.
Whatever your solid surface needs, ASST can build it to the exact specifications, in a safe manner and to the finest quality
standards you expect. Contact us now online or call us at 717-630-1251.
Comments Off on Solid Surfaces – The Solid Choice For Healthcare
Healthcare Acquired Infections are also known as nosocomial (nōzōˈkōmēəl) infections. The awareness of Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAI) is at an all-time high and prevention or reduction of HAI is crucial to caring for the patient. HAI costs are incurred by the patient and the healthcare provider. Patient costs of HAI include increased length of stay and even death. Healthcare provider costs of HAI are withheld provider compensation and higher insurance rates.
How can healthcare providers reduce the risk of HAI? One of the primary methods of reducing HAI, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is environmental cleaning. How can you clean a laminated top with a chip exposing the particle board core? The answer is that you can’t. In most healthcare environments, once a PLAM countertop has been chipped, it will have to be replaced to ensure that the healthcare provider is reducing the risk of HAI and will pass a healthcare inspection.
What if your method of infection control cleaning damages your furnishings? Ethanol, bleach and strong detergents will deteriorate Plastic Laminate (PLAM) exposing the particle wood substrate beneath. This provides a medium for bacteria to grow and another check mark for the health inspector. When PVC edge banding peals, the exposed wood substrate is a prime location for bacterial growth as well.
Solid Surfaces are resistant to chemicals, restistant to bacteria and will not delaminate. This makes solid surfaces desirable for healthcare environments and HAI can be reduced by replacing PLAM with solid surfaces. Every health system should make the replacement of laminate surfaces with solid surfaces part of their Infection Control Plan.
At ASST, we have been fabricating healthcare solid surfaces for 22 years. We have a solid surface
fabrication facility in McSherrystown, PA and a quartz fabrication facility in Corry, PA. Whatever
your needs, ASST can build it to the exact specifications, in a safe manner and to the finest quality
standards you expect. Contact us now online or call us at 717-630-1251.
Healthcare professionals learned long ago that being cold will not give you a cold and today we know traditional casework is harboring bacteria. The most important part of healthcare casework is helping people heal. Why are we still using the same casework that is making people sick?
One of the cross-cutting issues of acute healthcare is the cost of preventing Healthcare Acquired Infection (HAI) and the cost of furnishings that are specified. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 1 in 31 patients will become sick due to of a HAI. While casework is one of the largest investments that a healthcare facility makes when it comes to healthcare furnishing, it is also a likely place for HAI.
Traditional casework is fabricated using wood particle substrates laminated and trimmed with plastic or PVC. There are many places traditional casework can harbor infectious diseases. The most common places on or in healthcare casework for bacteria to grow and spread are handles, peeling laminate or the seam of edge banding. Why are health systems still using casework that peels apart, ensuring that bacterial will be spread?
Solid surface is the future of healthcare casework. Changes in the design of acute healthcare casework will help prevent disease and even promote healing. Eliminating laminate, banded edges and minimizing seams removes the environment for bacterial growth and transmission. Because the lifespan of casework is substantially extended with solid surfaces, the overall cost of solid surface casework is lower than traditional laminate casework.
At ASST, we have been fabricating solid surfaces for 21 years and we know that the future of casework is solid surface. Whatever you need, ASST can build it to the exact specifications, in a safe manner and to the finest quality standards you expect. We look forward to Going Beyond for your exciting project! Contact us now online or call us at 717-630-1251.
Comments Off on Quartz Surfaces – Keystones to Commercial Surface Success
ASST is proud to announce that we are offering commercial Quartz surfaces to our customers. We now have a facility in Corry Pennsylvania where we will be fabricating commercial Quartz exclusively at this facility. We are bringing our 21 years of solid surface experience to the Quartz industry.
Having a reliable partner for commercial surfaces is critical to the success of large projects. Coordinating the trade work between the millwork, casework and surface manufacturers adds another level of difficulty to any project.
At ASST we have the capability to relieve the stress of managing surface, millwork and casework fabrication and installation. By adding Quartz surfaces to our line of services, we have become the nation’s premier fabricator of commercial surface products. Steve Stoddard is heading up our Quartz division. Steve has an award winning resume of commercial surface experience and is the keystone of our Quartz foundation. ASST is your full package fabricator for Division 6 and Division 12 Healthcare, Education, Corporate/Public Space and Retail surfaces.
ASST is uniquely positioned to fulfill all aspects of your project. Whatever you need, ASST can build it to the exact specifications, in a safe manner and to the finest quality standards you expect. We look forward to Going Beyond for your exciting project! Contact us now online or call us at 717-630-1251.
Comments Off on Thermoforming Solid Surface – It’s OK To Get Bent Out Of Shape
How do you design and shape solid surface projects? The technique of thermoforming is used to mold and shape different solid surface materials. This allows flat sheets of synthetic solid surface material to be transformed into almost any shape. By using heat and pressure the synthetic material is shaped into different three dimensional, rounded designs. The material is heated until it is pliable, placed over a mold and vacuum formed by removing the air between the material and a high temperature silicon membrane. Once the material has cooled it is trimmed to exact specifications using our 5 axis CNC.
Not all surfaces can be molded and turned into three dimensional shapes but most synthetic solid surfaces can. This process cannot be used on other solid surface materials like quartz and granite. Companies that choose synthetic solid surfaces have a broader range of artistic ability when it comes to solid surface projects. Thermoforming is a tricky trade and creating the right balance of heat and bend is crucial to this process. The different chemical makeup of synthetic solid surfaces requires different temperatures. There are also limitations of the bend radius with different materials. No one enjoys telling a customer that the project has to be redesigned because the material specified cannot be formed into the desired shape.
ASST has thermoformed most synthetic solid surfaces and we know the requirements for each. With the high level of technology in our fabrication facility, there are no limitations to the design of synthetic solid surfaces. ASST can bend synthetic surfaces any which way to bring your 2D project plans into to the 3D world.
Let ASST bend over backwards for you on your next project. Whatever you need, ASST can build it to your exact specifications, in a safe manner, and to the finest quality standards you expect. Contact us now online or call us at 717-630-1251.
Comments Off on Solid Surface Collaboration – Nursing The Seeds of Innovation
We’ve all made the statement “There has to be a better way”. The typical progression of questions asked by most solid surface fabricators are “How do we bring our solid surfaces to Market? How can we break into the larger solid surface projects? What are the limitations of what we can do with solid surfaces? How can we become more efficient in our fabrication processes?”
The cost of trial and error in solid surface fabrication can be expensive. Will a new $500,000.00 5axis CNC make your shop more efficient? Will minimizing ‘flip’ in your fabrication process improve your thermoforming capabilities? Probably not but a 5Axis can help you with your thermoforming and minimizing “flip” will help production line efficiency.
Collaboration ~ The work and activity of a number of persons who individually contribute toward the efficiency of the whole.
At ASST we are hosting the ISFA Solid Surface Industry Roundtable on August 13th-15th. The discussions will include How to Get the Work (two parts), Helping the Design Process Through Education, Shop Layout and Processes, AWI Specifications/QC Standards. We will also be doing a tour of the ASST fabrication facility, dinners and a unique Ghost Tour in Gettysburg.
Comments Off on Building Blocks – Modular Millwork For Commercial Construction
Reading Hospital
When it comes to priorities in construction projects, budget and schedule are always at the top of the list. With the current demand for skilled construction workers, the topics of modular construction and prefabrication are becoming more relevant. Building repetitive assemblies for a structure at an off-site location and delivering them to the project site are entering more and more conversations as companies look to increase efficiency.
Timelines for construction projects are being compressed to seemingly impossible constraints. What is the best way to reduce the amount of time fabricating and installing? If the overall floor plan doesn’t allow for solid surface modular units, are there parts of your facility that could be constructed off-site to remove variables?
Buildings like hospitals, educational facilities, hotels and residence halls can provide consistent room layouts that lend themselves to a modular approach. Repetition is the best way to become better and more efficient at something. Solid surfaces are perfect for construction assembly line processes. By doing this, we can reduce waste, construction timelines and overall cost. A prefabrication strategy allows for the practice of lean concepts while delivering a successful project. Project team members should strategize to determine if similar services could be stacked and consider areas that lend themselves to repetition.
It’s never too soon to think about modular fabrication options and ASST has done this on various projects. Discussions should start when the project is in the beginning stages so they’re incorporated into the design approach.
If you need adaptability into your next millwork project, let ASST help you. Whatever you need, ASST can build it to the exact specifications, in a safe manner and to the finest quality standards you expect. Contact us now online or call us at 717-630-1251.
Comments Off on Solid Surface Backlighting – Let Your Project Be the Guiding Light
Like a light house guiding a ship to shore, shouldn’t your backlighted solid surface project stand out from the rest? The interplay between light and solid surfaces can be intriguing to those with a creative eye for architectural design. There are so many ways to explore translucency in your designs. Different levels and styles add definition and drama. There are a variety of options using light and the unique thermoformable properties of solid surface. The right type of lighting will elicit attention, illuminate details, and add dimension to the project.
A real challenge is how lighting is implemented. The distance behind a solid surface panel is critical to prevent hotspots and shadow lines. Requesting a mockup from the fabricator is required in most cases to ensure the correct distance between the lighting and the surfaces. LED lighting is the best choice for most backlighted applications because it reduces maintenance and power consumption.
At ASST we fabricate the most breathtaking and eye-catching designs of Corian®, 3Form®, Krion®, LG HiMacs®, Avonite®, Wilsonart®, as well as other solid surface materials. Our creations come in different textures, colors, transparencies, and backlighting will make them stand out even more. ASST has the depth of knowledge and experience to address the technical challenges. Our team has a unique perspective having worked on many backlighted projects. We can share past relevant project experiences and case studies.
Be sure to call us for your next backlighted solid surface project! Whatever you need, ASST can build it to the exact specifications, in a safe manner and to the finest quality standards you expect. Contact us now online or call us at 717-630-1251.
