Technical.

Flooring does a simple job, cover a subfloor to create a prettier, safer, more hygienic environment for you to work or live in.  However sometimes the terms surrounding flooring can be a little baffling to someone not involved within the flooring industry, so here in the Technical section we aim to cover some of these terms concerning flooring so you can have a better understanding. You will find guides to cleaning your floor and general up keep, to safety information on the floors and installation materials used, whether a Site supervisor, an Architect or a Care Home Manager these maybe of help to you. The Terminology section will cover some of the terms used in describing flooring techniques to material installations, and we hope this information will help you understand a little more about flooring as a whole. Of course if you receive an Estimate or Invoice from us or you have a general question and are a little unsure of something's meaning, call us will be happy to explain.  If you think we've missed something when you call let us know and will add it to this page too.

Cleaning Information.

Cleaning your floor has more benefits than just it's looks.  Safety flooring has an R rating which is reduced when the floor becomes dirty, which will increase the likeliness of a slip or fall.  While cleaning a linoleum floor with bleach would create PERMANENT staining,  the guides listed here are the recommendations from the material manufacturers which will ensure years of carefree use, maintaining their look, safety and lifespan. Polyflor   Altro   Gerflor   Tarkett   Armstrong   Karndean   Freudenberg/Nora   Forbo   Kahrs   Junckers   Quick-Step

COSHH Information.

With all installations of any kind Health and Safety must be taken into consideration, whether it's a possible fire risk or slip hazard these must be addressed  the documents in this section are useful for building your own risk assessment or emergency action plan if your a site supervisor/co-ordinator.  They are useful just in case you need to know how a product can be dealt with should a spillage or exposure occur.  These COSHH and MSDS sheets are from the manufacturers and contain there latest recommendation in handling their products. F.Ball   Ardex   Mapei   Altro Adhesives Forbo

Terminology.

As with all industries short names, or acronyms become the norm, in this section we will list down common ones in flooring so you'll have a better understanding of what we provide and can do for you. R-Rating (DIN 51130) The R-Rating is a German method of evaluating a floor surfaces slip resistance.  This system uses a human to walk on a platform which has it's inclination or angle increased until a slip occurs, these slips are averaged out to to give a R-Rating from R9 to R14, this rating applies to floors meant for a dry area, like a corridor. R14 is the best rating possible at this time.  This information is supplied with all materials by the manufacturers. Class A/B/C Slip Resistance (DIN 51097) On a  floor meant to be used in wet conditions like a shower or swimming pool.  The same test is applied as the R-Rating, but is categorised in Classes, namely A, B and C. In this case Class C is the best rating. This information is supplied with all materials by the manufacturers. Coving / Self Cove This is the system of creating a curve in the joint between the wall and the floor.  This used to be done with concrete using a glass bottle and was known as 'Bottle Cove'  as time has progressed we now use a preformed vinyl strip which is stuck down using contact adhesive making the desired curve. The material is then laid onto the  cove and can be stuck on the wall usually at a height of approximately 150mm.  You may have seen this in hospital corridors and wards, it's also used in walk-in showers / wet rooms. Captile Capping for ceramic wall tiles.  This uPVC trim is is fitted at the same time as the wall tiles being fitted in wet rooms. The trim tucks behind the bottom edge of the tile above the desired coving height.  The trim has a barb which hangs down inline with the tile face, the vinyl is then coved and inserted between the wall and the barb.  This means that any water running down the tiles lands on the coved vinyl into the wet area instead of running down the back of the vinyl and the wall, this preserves the bond between the adhesive and the vinyl coved up the wall. Latex / Screed Latex or Screed is used to smooth off or minimize undulations which some floors suffer from, if laying a vinyl, rubber or linoleum floor these imperfections would be visible and ruin the look of a floor, unlike cement latex is much smoother and finer in consistency due to it's powdery composition and is required on most concrete floors prior to flooring installations.  We also have Latex which can be applied to plywood and chipboard floors to smooth off joints between boards. Damp Proof Membrane (DPM) Depending on conditions in buildings some will show signs of damp within the subfloor.  No stuck down floor can be laid over a damp floor without special preparation.  We call this preparation DPM. This is where we can install a DPM sheet between the subfloor and your floor covering to keep the damp away from the material, or use specially formulated epoxy resins which chemically cure to suppress residual or rising damp. Hot Welding Using a specialist tool we can join to sheets of material together, in the case of Vinyl we can heat up the edges of to adjacent sheets and using a matching colour of vinyl weld (plastic string) we can seal the gap between the two adjacent sheets, once it has cooled down the vinyl floors welded joint we will be completely waterproof making joints in shower rooms, bathrooms etc. possible.  With linoleum we can do the same procedure to  fill the gap, but due to linoleum being made up differently to Vinyl it is impossible to make a waterproof joint, it will however be water-resistant. Tackifier Unlike other adhesives tackifier stays sticky for life times.  Primarily used for sticking down carpet tiles, or loose lay materials. it is ideal for under floor ducting systems so they can be accessed and the tile replaced without the need of new adhesive, it is also handy for high traffic areas, if a tile is damaged whether physical or staining they can be easily replaced without inconvenience.