F BALL and CO’s Stopgap 600 deep section base compound and Styccobond F44 acrylic adhesive were among the company’s products used to deliver what’s described as a suitably resilient flooring installation as part of the creation of a new state-of-the-art education facility for the next generation of healthcare professionals in Worcester.
Floorcoverings were installed over both floors of the newly reconstructed building, including in its 1,000sq m ground-floor atrium, overlooking gallery and upstairs meeting rooms and teaching areas.
Work began by diamond grinding the original concrete screeds to create a perfectly smooth surface. A moisture test also indicated that subfloor relative humidity levels on the ground-floor were too high to install floorcoverings without a moisture management solution in place and risking floor failure, despite the presence of a structural damp-proof course.
F Ball’s Stopgap F78 waterproof surface membrane was therefore applied to suppress residual construction moisture.
Says F Ball: ‘When using Stopgap F78, you don’t need to prime the surface prior to the application of other subfloor preparation products, so flooring contractors could proceed straight to applying F Ball’s Stopgap Red Bag smoothing compound to create a perfectly smooth base for the receipt of new floorcoverings once the waterproof surface membrane had cured.
‘The water-mix, self-smoothing underlayment is suitable for preparing absorbent subfloors in biologically sensitive areas, such as hospitals and designed for areas subject to foot and light wheeled traffic, the likes of which would be expected in the healthcare training centre.
‘After mechanically preparing the particularly rough screed on the upper floor, areas needed raising by more than the maximum application thickness of a smoothing compound.
Contractors therefore applied Stopgap 600 deep section compound in these areas. The product is suitable for applications at thicknesses between 5-50mm prior to being capped with a suitable F Ball smoothing compound.
Beforehand, they primed the subfloor with Stopgap P141, which is specially formulated to promote adhesion between Stopgap smoothing compounds and non-absorbent subfloors.’
The company continues: ‘It’s particularly recommended for use over non-absorbent surfaces ahead of the application of smoothing compounds at thicknesses above 20mm, such as when using Stopgap 600. It dries to create a textured surface for enhanced bond performance to withstand the increased stress that thicker smoothing compounds exert when drying.
‘Flooring contractors then installed Karndean wood-effect, looselay vinyl planks on the ground floor and first floor gallery. Tarkett Granit ‘Safe. T’ and Gerflor Tarasafe Ultra vinyl safety flooring were installed in the upstairs anatomy lab and toilets respectively using F. Ball’s Styccobond F44 acrylic adhesive.’
www.f-ball.co.uk
