A range of Bostik subfloor preparation and adhesive products have been used at a new residential development in Manchester to provide a faultless flooring finish.
The £30 million Smith’s Yard development sees two new, seven-storey and eight-storey apartment blocks set on a 0.24-hectare site on Blossom Street, Manchester. Comprising 199 apartments in total, the blocks contain a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments, as well as fourteen town houses. There is also approximately 600 square meters of commercial space.
WJD Flooring was chosen as the main flooring contractor on the project, who then selected to use Bostik’s Screedmaster Rapid DPM, Screedmaster Ultimate smoothing compound and Bostik’s BEST adhesive to ensure a smooth and even floor surface.
Before any work on site could commence, a technical survey was carried out. As is common on new construction developments, the site survey revealed laitance was present on the new concrete. This needed to be removed to ensure that subsequent treatments could successfully adhere to the concrete substrate, avoiding any costly and time consuming corrective work in the future.
To overcome this, the floor was scarified to remove any excess laitance and was then prepped for the application of Bostik’s products.
Once prepped, Bostik’s Screedmaster Rapid DPM was applied to the subfloor to suppress any residual moisture. One of the benefits of Rapid DPM is its fast drying time, taking approximately 60 minutes, which means the floor layer can quickly get to work on applying the smoothing compound.
This was followed by the Screedmaster Ultimate smoothing compound – providing a high-quality finish to which the decorative floor coverings could be bonded.
Will Darlington, Managing Director at WJD Flooring, said; “When we first start work on a site we’ll always assess the condition of the concrete surface to ensure we are specifying products that will offer the best finish. As a result of the scarifying process, we knew we needed a package of products that could effectively smooth the floor, getting rid of any grooves. We chose to specify Bostik as they’re the best on the market. They have a quality product portfolio backed by an extensive technical support network, which means that we can be sure the solution is right for the job.”
In areas where LVT was specified, WJD Flooring used Bostik’s BEST – a new, solvent-free, multi-functional acrylic adhesive that’s suitable for use with LVTs, linoleum, rubber, sheet vinyl, thermo-acoustic underlays and more. Bostik’s BEST has an excellent open time range and a high bonding strength, and passes BREEAM EN13999 with an EC1 rating thanks to its low emissions.
Speaking of the relationship with Bostik, Will Darlington added: “Bostik has always been a really good manufacturer to work with and we have an excellent relationship with the team. The technical advice they can provide on-site is second to none and we’re looking forward to collaborating on more projects in the future.”
