News
Firm Footing For School Sporting Success
Naomi Cole, segment executive at Tarkett, explores the options for sports flooring in schools: SOON the UK will welcome over 10,000 elite sportsmen and women from 200 countries for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. As well as delivering a world class sporting event, the government has set out plans for using the Games to inspire young people through sport. So it’s essential for schools to offer suitable facilities with playing surfaces that help to reduce risk of injury and enhance performance. The introduction of...
read moreCarpets Make Sound Sense For Schools
The choice of floorcovering can make a dramatic difference in the acoustics of classrooms, says Heckmondwike marketing manager Abby Chandler: THE acoustic performance of classrooms is often cited as a major influence on the learning process. Research shows that when classroom noise levels are above 35 decibels, students can struggle to understand speech even if the speaker is only a few yards away. A classroom full of children or adults all talking can generate this noise level, especially if there is hard flooring which cause sounds...
read moreWhy Carpet Tiles Are Right Choice For Schools
Karen Burman, Gradus product manager for floorcoverings, considers how contractors can provide fit for purpose flooring for schools with increasingly tight budgets: A TOTAL of 178 school rebuilds and refurbishments were completed between 2005 and 2010 under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. It was axed in July 2010. With subsequent reductions to education budgets, school spending is at an all-time low. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that UK public spending on education will fall by 3.5% a year in real...
read moreSchool Flooring : Getting Down To Basics
James Lightly, education specialist at Altro, explains the challenge of supplying flooring for schools: FLOORING in schools has to work hard. As well as taking a pounding it has to be multi-functional. We all remember school halls of our childhood that had to accommodate assembly, school dinners, PE, drama performances and much more. Things are less simple today. Increasingly, school buildings are community resources. Use outside school hours means flooring exposed to increased levels of wear and tear, with reduced time for cleaning...
read moreClass Floors
The education sector makes a number of demands on flooring: Branagan Flooring ,a member of the CFA, is helping the University of Manchester to reduce waste and cut costs with a portfolio of six carpets and six carpet tiles for high and medium traffic areas. Sourced from a UK supplier, these are all 100% recycleable with some recycled content. The initiative is to be expanded to cover vinyl flooring. Branagan Flooring is contracted to provide and maintain floorcoverings for lecture theatres, classrooms, offices and corridors after...
read moreThink Before Ordering An Acoustic Product
Mike Sellars, the communications officer at CMS Danskin attempts to unravel the complexities of acoustic flooring: THE eradication or, at least, the control of unwanted sound – noise to you and me – should be relatively straightforward. Yet the marketplace is saturated with soundproofing products and ‘acoustic solutions’. Nowhere is this more so than in the flooring market, where acoustic underscreeds, underlays, overlays, cradles and battens, etc. all vie for your attention. Faced with so much choice, it’s easy to opt for...
read moreSound Options
Acoustic flooring and underlay are key to flooring installations: All About Everything says it offers ‘fantastic’ options in acoustic contract underlay to provide respite from the sound of footsteps on flooring together with durability and protection underfoot. Tredaire Technics 5 multi-use underlay is claimed to be equally effective under carpet or laminate, offering noise suppression (acoustic reduction) up to 28dB. With a 5mm thickness, it is designed for heavy contract use and suitability for use with underfloor heating...
read moreBasic Advice When Installing Resin & Cementious Floors
Steve Price, building product manager at Mapei, looks at the essential considerations when installing resin and cementitious flooring: IN recent years, the popularity of cementitious and resin flooring has risen massively due to the products’ strength and versatility. Often utilised for industrial flooring, the main benefit of cementitious and resin flooring systems is that they can be locked both mechanically and chemically into the substrate, thus becoming an integral part of the structure and providing a long lasting, hard...
read moreCleaning Regimes For Smooth Operators
Mark Bresnihan, md of Industrial Cleaning Equipment, outlines what to consider when cleaning industrial sites: WHETHER you run a factory, distribution centre or warehouse, making sure you have the right cleaning regimes and equipment is crucial for the smooth running of your business. Key requirements for cleaning profitability and effectiveness are speed, reliability, high productivity and energy efficiency, whilst minimising health & safety risks. Cleaning equipment needs to be increasingly versatile to improve the cleaning...
read moreYou Can Be Safe With Industrial Flooring
Chris Dobbie, northern regional manager at Flowcrete UK, discusses how industrial flooring can help create a safer environment: SLIPS and trips are the most common cause of accidents in the workplace, says the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Over 10,000 workers were seriously injured after a slip or trip last year. The main causes, says HSE, include cleaning, environment, footwear, people, contamination, obstacles and, of course, flooring. Looking at flooring, anti-slip surfaces are commonly seen as the major factor in...
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