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Level Best
Smoothing and levelling compounds and underlayments are essential for floorlayers: Ardex saysitsArditexlatex levelling compounds, produced for over 40 years, give flooring contractors application and performance benefits to help minimise risks associated with installation. Arditex NA, designed to reduce the need for intensive preparation, and priming, is claimed to save the professional flooring contractor both time and money. The product reportedly has versatility, advanced site tolerance and a reduction in preparation machinery hire,...
read moreMatch The Finish To The Project Requirement
Craig Pawson on wood finishes THE natural beauty of wood is what provides a high-quality feel when it is specified for commercial environments. Hotels, restaurants and shops use it to accentuate their desired impression. Wood flooring is typically seen as a long-term investment, rather than a cheap-fix flooring solution. This makes it important to specify the correct finish that will provide additional protection within high- traffic areas to ensure that the wood remains in its best possible condition, both visually and structurally....
read moreAre You Geared For Brass Monkey Weather?
Martin Cummins on working in winter WINTER presents new challenges for floor fitters. Cold weather, reduced daylight hours, transport difficulties and poor site conditions all impact on subfloor preparation and associated products. The main problems are generally due to products being unable to cure and/or dry out as efficiently because of the cold and damp. This can pose major problems with subfloor preparation, but can also hugely impact on the installation of decorative floorcoverings. The following pointers are based on the...
read moreEasy Ways To Meet Deadlines In Your Stride
Stuart Whiteley on facing up to fast-track flooring solutions THIS month I will tackle the issue of time limitations in flooring preparation, and highlight how best to overcome the pressures of tight deadlines and speed up the subfloor preparation process. Installing a new floorcovering is commonly one of the final stages in any new build or refurbishment project and, as such, is often likely to encounter tight timescales and tough deadline pressures. A new floorcovering is naturally expected to enhance the aesthetics of the...
read moreWorking Together
WE are all familiar with the concept of ‘putting the customer first’, and of course the importance of how taking a customer-led approach is a great way to help maintain a positive reputation for your company. A technical support site visit I made last month really highlighted this to me. I visited a new housing estate with about 200 new homes of mixed size – varying from flats up to detached houses.The problem was that in one of these houses, luxury vinyl tiles had been laid in the corridor, kitchen and downstairs toilet, but had...
read moreEuropean Standard Is Only The Beginning
Jim Coulson on what makes a ‘good’ plywood LAST month I wrote about plywood used for overlayment on old floors. I tried to dispel the myth of so-called WBP. (If you recall, that has, for a long time, been superseded by plywood which has at least the glue bond characteristics of the European Standard EN 314, Class 3 and which is therefore suitable for exterior use, or situations where the plywood may become wetted in service. But as I warned you, there is much more to specifying (and buying) plywood than merely asking for Class 3...
read moreSid’s Tip
IN my role as an independent flooring expert I get consumers telling me that the installer fitted the floor, but never said a word and on completion gave no advice at all. I have compiled a short list of how to avoid complaints: One of the biggest problems for a wood flooring professional (that’s not including Bob the builder) is dealing with customer complaints. Many complaints I see are about moisture-related problems, like gaps between boards, cupping or crowning. Most floorlayers can prevent the complaints, if they take proper...
read moreAppeal To Down-Trodden Installers
FLOORS are there to be walked over, but why do main contractors think this applies to the installer too? It’s true though, take a typical construction; the architect designs it and submits his plan – he gets paid; the bricklayer comes along and builds walls – he gets paid; the roofer arrives, installs the roof – he gets paid and in general, so too do all the other trades. However, when it comes to the flooring installer, being a finishing trade and therefore one of the last on site, by this stage most of the money is gone and so...
read moreSticking Points
Floorlayers have a wide selection of adhesives from which to choose: B A L adhesives and grouts were used in the world-famous Beamish Museum in County Durham, in Davy’s Fried Fish Shop, a new addition to the museum’s Pit Village. The Edwardian shop featured in a BBC2 documentary in April 2012, showing how the takeaway trade developed from Victorian times. The shop floor is tiled with reclaimed Ruabon Quarries tiles and its walls are decorated with striking ceramic tiles, many originally made by Glasgow’s Duncan & Son and...
read moreUFH Can Easily Be Installed In Existing Buildings
Rex Ingram, of Timoleon, says there is a misconception that underfloor heating can only be installed in new buildings: IT IS well known that underfloor heating (UFH) is the most comfortable form of heating, completely unobtrusive making best use of space, safer and more hygienic, and that the right form of UFH is the best way of using renewable energy. However, many think that UFH can only be installed as pipe set into a screed or concrete floor. Consequently, for them, it is impossible to consider UFH in a refurbishment project...
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