A range of market-leading floor preparation products from F. Ball have been used in the refurbishment of Cliffs Pavilion, a theatre located in Southend-on-Sea. Flooring contractors had the task to restore the theatre’s 700m2 main auditorium floor and used Stopgap P131 general purpose primer, Stopgap 500 Micro, a rapid drying finishing compound and Stopgap 700 Superflex, a fibre-reinforced, fast-drying smoothing underlayment, to prepare the area before new floor coverings were installed.
Having once been used as a dance hall, the auditorium had an existing wooden sprung floor situated on top of a concrete subfloor. Required to endure the footfall of over 1,600 people, the wooden sprung floor was no longer fit for purpose, unable to withstand the heavy traffic and the demands placed upon it. The existing wood floor covering was consequently removed and the area was refurbished from scratch.
Once the original flooring had been removed a moisture measurement test was carried out as a precaution, which indicated that the subfloor was sufficiently dry to proceed with the installation. The joisting was then repaired and reinforced where necessary. Following this, a 25mm plywood subfloor was installed and primed using Stopgap P131, a primer designed to promote adhesion to smoothing underlayments and prevent uncontrolled rapid drying.
Stopgap 500 Micro was then used to skim the plywood joints and the subfloor was prepared with Stopgap 700 Superflex to create a flat, smooth surface free from undulations. Once dried, Karndean Van Gogh wood floorcoverings were installed.
Eddie Young, managing director of Young’s Flooring, commented: “F. Ball products are always my go-to selection, simply because they do exactly what they say they will. I know I can always rely on them to get the job done and this time was no different. In fact, because the products are so effective and fast drying, we managed to finish earlier than expected. When you’re working on a tight schedule, that extra time makes all the difference.”
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