Every month, we look back at our favourite projects that have made the most of F. Ball’s products. This month, we pay a visit to Macclesfield, Cheshire, where contractors from RG Flooring used new Styccobond F49 Hybrid PS adhesive to create a stunning finish with state-of-the-art LVT.
Flooring was installed in an area of approximately 30m² in total, including the kitchen, living area and utility room. The area is heavily glazed, meaning that the floor is subject to direct sunlight and significant temperature variations throughout the year. These conditions can cause floorcoverings to expand and contract over time, leading to problems such as ‘tenting’ and ‘gapping’.
The new hybrid, water-based temperature tolerant Styccobond F49 Hybrid PS adhesive was used alongside a range of other products to install luxury vinyl floorcoverings in the new residential build. Styccobond F49 Hybrid PS combines high temperature tolerance, high bond strength and pressure sensitive properties to bond vinyl tiles and sheets in areas subject to temperature fluctuations as low as -20°C and up to +60°C, such as conservatories or heavily glazed areas.
It is also suitable for use over normal underfloor heating systems and offers strong initial tack, as well as a long open time of up to four hours.
Preparing the subfloor
The site had been constructed nine months earlier so, upon arrival, contractors from RG Flooring found a porous concrete subfloor, which had been left to dry out naturally. Before floorcoverings could be installed, RG Flooring needed to smooth and level the floor to ensure that the finished floor was smooth and blemish free.
Once the area had been cleared, a moisture measurement test was first carried out to ensure that the concrete was sufficiently dry to proceed. The test indicated that the relative humidity (RH) levels of the concrete subfloor were 70%, within the tolerance of 75%, so no waterproof surface membrane was required.
The concrete subfloor was then primed with Stopgap P131 general-purpose primer, which is designed to promote the adhesion of smoothing underlayments and to stop them drying out too rapidly. Shrinkage cracks had appeared in the concrete subfloor during the drying process, so contractors applied Stopgap 400 Repair, a fast setting compound used to repair internal floors prior to the application of smoothing underlayment.
A luxury finish
Stopgap 400 Repair has a drying time of 10-15 minutes and is walk-on hard in under 30 minutes, meaning that contractors had only a short wait before applying Stopgap 300 HD smoothing underlayment. Once the Stopgap 300 HD had set and dried, contractors returned to mark the perimeter border on the floor ahead of the installation of luxury vinyl floorcoverings using the Styccobond F49 Hybrid PS adhesive.
Rob Gleave, owner of RG Flooring, commented: “I’ve been in the flooring industry for over 30 years, and F. Ball products have always been my preferred choice. I’m really impressed by the new Styccobond F49 Hybrid PS adhesive, too; it is unusual for high temperature adhesives to have such a long open window to lay, which makes it great for both smaller and larger spaces. When using a new product it’s great to have technical support, and as always, F. Ball have been happy to help.”
If you have a project that you think would make a great Project of the Month, please drop us a quick note by using the contact link in the menu bar at the top of the page.