ACADEMY RECORDS


BEST EVER YEAR Welcoming more than 450 industry professionals through its doors in 2019, the academy for Excellence in Flooring has helped to improve practical skills and knowledge within the industry. Working with professional installers, retail store managers and builders merchant staff, the centre has improved confidence and technical insight.


Carpetright has trained 500 staff through the centre. Louise Sylvester, regional manager, Carpetright said: “Our brand value is to be the most recommended flooring retailer and to enable us to do this, we must ensure our teams are confident in the products we sell. With this in mind, the training programme proved excellent with teams enjoying the day and their feedback being that everyone should take part. Attendees left with more confidence and our surveyors were particularly pleased to have gained valuable technical insight.”


Alongside the work with retailers on specialist training programmes, the Academy for Excellence in Flooring has


F. BALL PROVIDES NATURAL LOOK FOR NEW ORGANIC MEAT


RESTAURANT F. Ball and Co. Ltd.’s Stopgap 800 wearcoat has been used to create a visually striking floor finish to complement the urban aesthetic of a new organic meat restaurant in south London.


Contractors from The Polished Concrete Co., based in Croydon, applied the wearcoat to create a hardwearing, natural-looking floor finish as part of the refurbishment of ‘28 Well Hung’ in Nunhead.


Prior to the installation of Stopgap 800, contractors lifted the old wood floorcoverings from the 70m2


subfloor


of the restaurant and ensured it was suitably sound, smooth and dry before proceeding with the usual subfloor preparation process. To guard against excess subfloor moisture potentially damaging the finished installation, contractors applied Stopgap F77 waterproof surface membrane to isolate any subfloor humidity.


42 | PRODUCTS & SERVICES


also seen a record number of installers learning new skills in Master Installer and Level One courses in its recently refurbished training centre. More than 450 professionals used the Academy in 2019, an 18% uplift over the previous year that demonstrates the positive impact being training can have on business. Steve Whitburn, an installer with more than 30 years’ experience is a perfect example of this.


Steve said: “The wood and laminate Quick-Step Master Installer programme


proved so successful in establishing the business in my new locality that I returned to the Academy six months later to complete the LVT Master Installer course. To be honest, I was quite surprised by all the technical and background information. We were shown a range of core practical skills, such as how to fit stairs properly, but it was the tweaks, tips and tricks to make things easier and quicker that have made a real difference.”


www.quick-step-academy.co.uk


Stopgap 800 is a self-levelling, industrial- grade floor compound used for upgrading and renovating new and existing internal floors in light to heavy-duty applications where floorcoverings are not required to be installed. This makes it suitable for use in areas such as: storerooms, workshops and warehouses.


The single coat solution fully cures in as little as three hours to create a barrier against residual construction moisture or rising damp where relative humidity values (RH) are up to 98%.


Contractors then applied the Stopgap 800 wearcoat over the entire subfloor, at a thickness of 8mm. When the levelling compound had cured, contractors polished the surface before applying a sealer to protect it from water and other liquids and allow for easy maintenance by reducing adhesion of dirt or other debris.


Stopgap 800 is also protein-free, allowing it to be used in biologically sensitive areas. It can be applied over a wide range of subfloor types including sand/cement screed, concrete, granolithic, terrazzo, epoxy and polyurethane resins and Stopgap waterproof surface membranes.


Commenting on the project, Claire Butt, partner at The Polished Concrete Co., said: “Stopgap 800 provided the natural, industrial look the meat restaurant required. We have been using F. Ball products for 20 years and can always rely on them. We carried the job out in five days, giving us plenty of time to ensure a perfect floor finish adding to the aesthetic of the site ahead of its opening.”


www.f-ball.co.uk


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