BOSTIK has supplied technical advice and subfloor preparation products to facilitate the installation of the flooring at a new school in Oldham, helping to overcome some difficult conditions and ensure the project was completed on schedule.
The purpose-built, four-storey Oasis Academy Leesbrook building is now catering for 1,500 pupils aged 11-16, having opened its doors after a two-year construction period.
Sedgley Flooring Solutions was contracted to install the flooring in the building – approximately 6,500 sqm of vinyl sheeting and 3,500 sqm of carpet tiles – and the contractor turned to Bostik.
When Bostik’s technical team initially visited the site to carry out preliminary tests, it was quickly apparent that certain areas of the subfloor posed a challenge. For example, there was water damage on the upper levels and some parts of the concrete showed signs of rebar shadowing.
Based on this, the Bostik team compiled a report for Sedgley Flooring Solutions that laid out the issues present and advised on how to overcome them to ensure that the floor coverings could be installed to the highest possible standard.
“The subfloor wasn’t in the greatest condition, and this meant we weren’t immediately able to install the flooring,” explains Nick Wray at Sedgley Flooring Solutions. “On top of that, some areas of the subfloor needed building up by up to 20mm in order to create a continuous surface.”
Based on Bostik’s recommendations, Sedgley Flooring Solutions mechanically abraded the subfloors to address the issues with the concrete finish, and then set about applying the preparation products, taking different approaches to the dry ground floor and the wet upper floors.
On the upper floors, before the application of a damp-proof membrane (DPM), the company pre-smoothed the rough-textured and pitted areas using Bostik’s multi-purpose Universal Primer, followed by Screedmaster Ultimate, Bostik’s two-part smoothing compound which offers fantastic workability and flow characteristics. This was necessary to create a flat surface, as trying to DPM rough or pitted floors results in excessive product use due to the product filling in all the voids and hollows, and often leaves concern as to whether there is an even controlled thickness where the subfloor overly consumes the DPM. Insufficient film thickness on a DPM can result in significant flooring failures.
They then left these areas to dry for 24 hours before applying Screedmaster One Coat Membrane, Bostik’s epoxy surface damp-proof membrane (DPM), to control the excess moisture present throughout the upper floors.
Once the upper floors had cured overnight, both those and the ground floor were ready to be primed and smoothed ahead of receiving the floor coverings. This was again done using Universal Primer followed by Screedmaster Ultimate. In the areas that required building up by 20mm, Bostik Screedmaster Epoxy Primer was used before application of the smoothing compound.
Assisted by Bostik’s technical advice and subfloor preparation products, Sedgley Flooring Solutions was able to install the floor coverings on schedule, ready for when teaching was due to begin in the new building.
Says Wray: “This was a tricky installation, but Bostik’s expertise and quality products enabled us to overcome all difficulties and install the flooring exactly how we wanted to. We use Bostik for 90% of the preparation works we undertake - they’re knowledgeable, reliable, and great to deal with.”
