Watford Colosseum

F. Ball takes a leading role in Watford Colosseum refurbishment


High performance smoothing underlayments and adhesives from F. Ball and Co. Ltd., have played a key role in the restoration of 1,700sqm of flooring at the Watford Colosseum, Hertfordshire. The use of F. Ball products helped create a durable and aesthetically pleasing floor finish in several areas including the bar, dressing rooms, and auditorium.  The live music and entertainment venue underwent a large £5.5 million restoration, and recently re-opened in all its former glory, boasting a new restaurant, cafe and several bars.

To begin the renovations, cork flooring was removed from the theatre’s corridors, and the subfloor was suitably prepared. To protect the new floorcoverings, Stopgap high performance waterproof surface membrane was then applied to areas throughout the building where relative humidity measurements showed there was excess moisture.

In the bar area, where subfloor conditions were particularly poor, slump resistant Stopgap 400 Repair was used to ‘patch repair’ holes in the concrete and sand/cement screed subfloor to make the surface good.

Fast setting, Stopgap Green Bag 128 smoothing underlayment was then applied to all areas to create a smooth surface on which to apply new floorcoverings. Importantly, Stopgap Green Bag 128 is suitable for heavy-duty applications and will accommodate the regular, high volume of theatre-going patrons.

Two F. Ball adhesives were then used to install 1,300sqm of bespoke carpet in the bar, corridor and auditorium areas. High tack Styccobond F40 was used to secure the underlay to the floor and the UK’s most recognised flooring adhesive, Styccobond F3, was used to adhere the carpet to the underlay. In the backstage and dressing room areas, linoleum flooring was installed with Styccobond F54, a synthetic rubber emulsion with a high level of initial grab.

Su Lawrence, Watford Colosseum project manager for Hillingdon Flooring comments: “We regularly use F. Ball products because of their reassuring quality guarantee. We also find their on-site support and technical service team very helpful.”