A NEW LEASE OF LIFE
F. Ball stepped up to the challenge to create a primary care centre in a prominent, unused building in Ireland.
Products from F. Ball and Co. Ltd., UK manufacturer of flooring adhesives and floor preparation products, have been used as part of a refurbishment of the Centrepoint Building in Tralee, Ireland, which will now serve as an HSE Primary Care Centre.
F. Ball’s Stopgap P131 general purpose primer and Stopgap Red Bag levelling compound were used by contractors for the 4000m2
floor refurbishment.
Dominating Tralee’s skyline, the six-storey property was built in 2008 but has remained largely unoccupied ever since. While this presented contractor Brendan O’Brien of BOBF with some advantages, such as minimum moisture levels (no waterproof surface membrane was required as the existing concrete base had fully cured over the years), it also posed challenges. With an out of service elevator, transporting 40 pallets of levelling compound up several flights of stairs proved both physically strenuous and time consuming, therefore the decision was made to remove the windows and winch up the pallets from the street below.
The concrete subfloor of the building was primed using Stopgap P131, a general-purpose primer for absorbent subfloors. Priming prevents unacceptably fast drying of adhesives and levelling compounds on all absorbent surfaces, which can weaken the levelling compound and lead to floor failure. It also helps to promote the adhesion of the levelling compound to a screed or waterproof surface membrane.
24 | PUBLIC SECTOR
With a quick turnaround required for the job, the pump- specialising contractors needed a levelling compound which, in their own words, “had a quick curing time, could be pump- applied, and had high compressive strength.” Ticking every box was F. Ball’s Stopgap Red Bag levelling compound: a water-mix self-smoothing underlayment suitable for absorbent subfloors. It is also designed for areas subject to moderate levels of footfall and light-wheeled traffic, the likes of which would be expected in a care centre, and is suitable for biologically-sensitive areas. Contractors from BOBF applied the levelling compound at a thickness of 8mm.
Commenting on the project, Brendan said: “I’ve used F. Ball products regularly for 13 years, and they’ve never let me down. We were very fortunate to have our F. Ball technical representative, Chris Moore, on the site with us for the entire three-day project, ensuring that the right materials were used and that we worked under optimum conditions. He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, even helping us out with the pumping when we were under pressure!
“As a company, F. Ball’s technical background and support is next to none. They are our go-to product brand every time.”
The HSE Primary Care Centre is expected to be fully functional by early 2019.
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