78 EDUCATION A Valuable Lesson Stephen Boulton, Technical Service Manager, F. Ball and Co. Ltd.
THE INVESTMENT IN SCHOOL BUILDINGS IS CURRENTLY AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN RECENT YEARS OWING LARGELY TO BUILDING SCHOOLS FOR THE FUTURE (BSF) AND THE PRIMARY CAPITAL PROGRAMME (PCP). TO ENSURE THE LONGEVITY OF THE NEW OR REFURBISHED BUILDINGS AND TO ENSURE COST EFFICIENCY, KEY ELEMENTS SUCH AS THE FLOORING SHOULD BE PLANNED CAREFULLY AND PREPARED EFFECTIVELY.
Stephen Boulton, Technical Service Manager at F. Ball and Co. Ltd., discusses the essential requirements for flooring preparation in an educational environment.
I
ntroduced by the Government to rebuild and remodel primary and secondary schools in England, the BSF and PCP
programmes have brought significant capital investment to the education sector. When selecting products for these new build projects or refurbishments, it is important to consider the demands that each building element will be subjected to. Flooring, in particular needs to be safe and durable in educational facilities, maintaining its performance over a long period and under high levels of traffic. Key to achieving this is the correct preparation of the subfloor.
Selecting a subfloor preparation system Prior to the selection of subfloor preparation products for a school building, a moisture test should be carried out. High levels of moisture can be present in new builds, as a
result of residual construction moisture, or in refurbishments, where rising damp may be a long-term problem.
Offering a quick and easy method of initially assessing the moisture content at the surface of a subfloor, radio frequency devices provide an instant reading that indicates whether moisture is present or not. If the device indicates that moisture is present, it is important to investigate this further using a floor-mounted digital hygrometer to directly measure the Relative Humidity (RH) of the floor.
Where RH levels are measured at below 75%, flooring can proceed without further treatment. However, for RH levels of over 75%, a waterproof surface membrane should be installed. High performance epoxy resin systems can be used very effectively to
suppress residual construction moisture or rising damp. To ensure uniformity of coverage is achieved, for maximum performance, specifiers should select epoxy resin systems which are pigmented.
A smooth education Due to the high levels of traffic and safety considerations, the flooring in school buildings must be level and even. To achieve a smooth surface and maximise the performance of the floorcovering, a smoothing underlayment should be installed. Applying diluted general-purpose neoprene primers over absorbent concrete subfloors ensures the best handling characteristics of smoothing underlayments. Moreover, when applied undiluted, primers promote the adhesion of smoothing underlayments to epoxy waterproof surface membranes.
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