PR 37166        
11 November 2015

Hospital floor receives a Rapid Cure from TREMCO

 Pictured is TREMCO's SX500 Rapid Drying Smoothing Compound

TREMCO's rapid-drying damp-proof membrane (DPM) system has allowed contractor Corinium Carpets to replace and re-lay vinyl flooring at the Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) at Cirencester Hospital in Gloucestershire.

The MIU is housed in a typical post-war hospital building with concrete ground floors. But after several decades, the lack of any serviceable damp-proof membrane had resulted in high moisture levels in the floor slab and failure of the vinyl floor covering.

Cheltenham-based Corinium Carpets won the contract to replace the failed flooring and called in TREMCO to inspect the damp and damaged substrate.

A detailed inspection by TREMCO's Regional Manager, Tony Lees, revealed very high damp-readings in five of the six zones affected. "Because of the damp, the adhesive securing the vinyl floor covering had emulsified and the flooring was peeling away," explains Tony. "We, therefore, advised installing a full DPM across the whole area, which was probably more than 1,000 sq. metres."

As the task meant replacing the entire floor, the MIU had to be closed during the works and its services temporarily relocated to another department. The hospital only allowed a week's closure, so Tony proposed using TREMCO's rapid-curing products which cure and can be over-coated in just a few hours after application.

The task required the existing vinyl floor to be lifted and the underlying concrete to be cleaned of all traces of adhesive. Cracks and repairs were then chased out and pre-filled with TREMCO's ES200 damp-proof membrane and bulked out with kiln-dried sand to fill the wider gaps.

Damaged and hollow areas of screed were broken out, leaving square edges which were re-filled with TREMCO SX400 Cementitious Repair Mortar. Granite chippings were used to bulk-out areas more than 8mm deep.

With the existing surface repaired and level, all rough areas were then pre-smoothed with TREMCO SX300 High Performance Latex Underlayment.

TREMCO ES200 Rapid-Drying DPM was laid upon this smooth surface using a 2mm x 5mm notched trowel. When still wet, a long-handled roller, pre-wetted with ES200, was used to flatten the serration ridges and the surface left to dry for a minimum of four hours.

Once the DPM was dry, a coat of CS100 Epoxy Primer was applied, followed by a 3 - 6mm layer of SX500 Rapid Drying Smoothing Compound.

Finally, a covering of Tarkett Optima vinyl sheeting was fixed using TREMCO's SF108 Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (SF600 two-part PU adhesive being used for wet working areas) and the PVC skirting fixed with SF115 Contact Adhesive.

"Time was of the essence as this was a working hospital", says Corinium managing director, Joe Jewkes. "We only had from Monday to Friday in which to complete the work."

Work started early on the Monday morning when Corinium started lifting the old vinyl floor. "We removed all the old latex and scabbled back to the bare slab," says Joe.

"That afternoon we started applying the ES200 and by the evening we were applying the fast-track DPM to half of the floor area."

The following day, Corinium repeated the process on the other half of the floor so that by Wednesday the slab was repaired and the new vinyl surface could start being laid.

Corinium is a TREMCO customer of many years standing. "We use TREMCO a lot - they always deliver excellent products and a good technical service," says Joe.

"We chose TREMCO on this particular job because we knew it would do the job and could fit into the very tight timescale."      

For further information on tremco illbruck, please call 01942 251400 or visitwww.tremco-illbruck.com.

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With compliments:
Alison Relf
Taylor Alden Ltd
Unit 2, Temple Place
247 The Broadway
London
SW19 1SD
Tel: 020 8543 3866
Email: alison@tayloralden.co.uk