Floor preparation products from F. Ball and Co Ltd. have been used to create a perfect floor finish at The Willows Children, Young People and Families Unit at the Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. By using a combination of Stopgap 1200 Pro, Stopgap 600 Base and Stopgap 700 Superflex smoothing underlayments, along with specialist F. Ball flooring adhesives, contractors were able to refurbish the 2000m2 area and install 1200m2 of vinyl floorcoverings in record time, leaving a perfectly smooth, aesthetically appealing floor, ready for the opening of the ward.
Contractors from A&H Floor Covering Specialists were called in to install new floorcoverings throughout the building. On arriving at the site, contractors found that the existing wooden subfloors had been overboarded with exterior quality-flooring grade plywood, but the surface was not smooth enough for the installation of the specified vinyl floorcoverings.
To create a surface smooth enough to receive the new floorcoverings, contractors applied a single coat of Stopgap P131 Primer, before installing Stopgap 700 Superflex smoothing underlayment directly onto the primed surface. Stopgap 700 Superflex is a fibre-reinforced smoothing underlayment specifically designed for use over ‘flexible’ substrates, such as steel and plywood, prior to the installation of new floorcoverings. It is able to accommodate for subfloor movement while creating a perfectly smooth surface, and can be ready to receive floorcoverings in just three hours.
Contractors also needed to prepare existing concrete subfloors before installing the new vinyl floorcoverings. To do this, A&H Floor Covering Specialists first prepared the concrete surfaces with Stopgap P131 Primer to prevent the smoothing underlayment from drying too rapidly. Contractors then installed Stopgap 1200 Pro smoothing underlayment.
Stopgap 1200 Pro is a fast setting, high performance, minimal preparation smoothing underlayment, designed for use over a wide range of subfloor types. It is also suitable for use in clinical and biologically sensitive areas such as hospitals. As the contractors working at the hospital needed to create a smooth, even surface in rapid time, Stopgap 1200 Pro was the obvious choice of smoothing underlayment.
Certain sections of the building contained deep channels that needed to be filled before the new floorcoverings could be installed. To quickly fill in the channels, contractors primed with Stopgap P131 and installed 50mm of Stopgap 600 Base deep section compound, before capping it with Stopgap 1200 Pro. Stopgap 600 Base is a fast-drying, protein free deep section compound, designed for use where floor levels need to be built up quickly and economically. It can be applied in thicknesses of 5-50mm in a single application, and is suitable for either hand or pump application.
Finally, to install the new vinyl floorcoverings throughout the Centre, A&H Floor Covering Specialists contractors used Styccobond F46 pressure sensitive acrylic adhesive. Styccobond F46 has been specifically designed to reduce the incidence of trowel serrations shadowing through thin vinyl floorcoverings, and was used to adhere the vast majority of the new floorcoverings.
Commenting on the use of F. Ball products during the hospital refurbishment, Roy Henderson, Managing Director of A&H Floor Covering Specialists, said: “We use F. Ball products very regularly. Their adhesives bond well; you just don’t get any failures, which makes them really good value for money. It’s the same with the smoothing underlayments. We also get plenty of support from their reps; they do a lot of testing for us and they’re very helpful. You get a great service to go with the products.”
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