FEATURE
Tip of the Month: ON THE BALL
In his last column, F. Ball and Co. Ltd’s Technical Service Manager looked at the issue of priming, an often-overlooked aspect of subfloor preparation. For this latest column, Stephen Boulton gives a guide to the impact of old adhesive residue on subfloors, offering a professional solution that will save both time and money for contractors dealing with adhesive-residue contamination.
When beginning work on a floor refurbishment, F. Ball advises contractors to take the time to thoroughly assess the composition and condition of the subfloor, to avoid the common pitfalls that can lead to a substandard floor finish. During a refurbishment, contractors must begin by removing any existing floorcovering and prepare the subfloor to receive a new covering. Often when a floorcovering is removed it will leave behind old adhesive residues, including bitumen and carpet tile tackifiers, which could potentially damage the integrity of a new flooring project.
To achieve the best bond with subfloors, it is advisable to remove all residues and contaminants before installing any new subfloor preparation products. Contractors needing to prepare a substrate to receive subfloor preparation products may need to use mechanical methods such as grit blasting, scabbling or grinding to remove
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contaminants. On larger projects, methods like these can be time-consuming and costly – particularly when working on an occupied site or in an area where noise and dust become inhibitory factors. A high performance alternative is now available, however, for installations that must cover challenging subfloor quality or be completed to tight timescales.
installation would begin to lift and crack, resulting in total floor failure.
“In this competitive market, contractors should always keep up to date with new developments.”
Under normal circumstances, smoothing underlayments should not be applied over anything but the most minimal traces of adhesive residues, and it should be noted that even trace contaminations can compromise a professional finish. This is because the initial expansion and shrinkage of a smoothing underlayment can cause the softer adhesive residue to debond from the subfloor. In this instance, the entire
Contractors wishing to achieve a successful flooring installation, without the time consuming work of removing adhesive residues, should use a minimum preparation smoothing underlayment specially designed to accommodate such contamination issues. Using the latest cement technology, specialists at F. Ball have developed a new high performance, minimum preparation smoothing
underlayment that can be applied directly over old, sound adhesive residue, including bitumen and carpet tile tackifiers. Negating the need for mechanical removal or priming, the self-smoothing product provides a cost- effective alternative to others on the market, offering the guarantee of a high quality finish that F. Ball customers have come to expect. In addition, the fast setting
and drying characteristics incorporated into this new product make it the perfect solution for professional flooring contractors working to tight deadlines.
As I have said, mechanical methods of subfloor preparation are time consuming and costly for flooring contractors, but recent product developments mean that problem floors can now be overcome quickly and efficiently. Fast drying, professional smoothing underlayments that can accommodate adhesive residue will create both time and cost saving benefits for contractors, without compromising the promise of a high quality finish. In this competitive market, contractors should always keep up to date with new developments and embrace the products that allow them to offer the best value to customers.
www.f-ball.co.uk
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