Chelmer Group sticks with Bostik on a residential and leisure project in London
Professional flooring contractor, Chelmer Group, has specified a range of surface preparation products from Bostik for use at the new Hallsville Quarter development in Canning Town, London.
The Hallsville Quarter complex is part of a £3.7billion regeneration project for the area and is due for completion in 2024. The development, which is taking place over five phases and across six hectare, includes 1,100 stylish and contemporary one, two and three bed apartments and town houses. These will be complemented by a new retail and leisure space, an energy centre, car parking and garden areas.
After being selected to provide the flooring across various areas of the site, Chelmer Group specified a range of specialist products from Bostik. These included Screedmaster Rapid DPM, Screedmaster One Coat Membrane, Universal Primer, Screedmaster Epoxy Primer, Screedmaster Ultimate, Screedmaster Flow and Screedmaster Deep to ensure a smooth and even surface prior to the laying of the decorative floorcoverings.
Carl Harper, Operations Director at Chelmer Group, said: “We often use Bostik products in our preparation work; I’ve dealt with them for about 15 years and have a good relationship with them. With respect to choosing Bostik and its products, I find the company very competitive, which helps on the commercial side, but also a great back up when it comes to any technical issues. The project at Canning Town may be price-led but I still had to find a balance between price and quality. Many manufacturers outprice themselves on products that are only as good as Bostik’s, which gives it the competitive edge.”
Bostik’s technical team visited the site for mid-job check-ups throughout the project, dealing with any problems regarding the floor preparation and providing separate specifications where required.
Carl continued: “When working on a project on the scale of Canning Town, a strong partnership is key. This ensures that the products chosen are fit-for-purpose and any problems on site will be quickly resolved. Technical backup is massively important – people underestimate that hugely. If you haven’t got backup on a project as big as the one at Canning Town, you’re up the creek without a paddle. If you have an issue, you need to know the manufacturer will be there to back you up with support, reports, technical knowledge, even to meet the client and go through the process.”
When a subfloor is damp (above 75% RH), a surface applied DPM should be used or time should be allowed for it to dry naturally to protect floorcoverings from any residual moisture. As with most sites, time on the Canning Town project was limited, therefore the Screedmaster Rapid DPM was specified.
This played a big part in the project as it dries in as little as one hour, meaning timescales were not compromised. Rapid DPM has a two-coat application, with the first coat drying after 15 minutes and the second after approximately 45 minutes. Once the second coat is dry, the floor layer can work on applying the smoothing compound straight away. This meant that, with this system, a contractor could lay a DPM and smooth a floor in a single day.
Some of the areas on site required Bostik’s specialist smoothing compound, Screedmaster Deep, owing to the height levels in the floors being incorrect. Screedmaster Deep can be applied between 5mm and 50mm in a single step, so is ideal when working on uneven subfloors.
Due to the thicker levels of smoothing compound required, there’s more tension in the subfloor as the product dries. The solution was to use a stronger, harder DPM system that included Bostik’s Screedmaster One Coat Membrane and Screedmaster Epoxy Primer.
Another big challenge was the logistics on site. As the development would often be working at 17 or 18 stories high with a relatively limited water supply, the products selected had to be easy to manually handle.
As a result, Screedmaster Flow was chosen as it is a bag and bottle smoothing compound that performs like a water mix, without actually requiring any water.
Carl commented: “I’ve got between 20 to 30 guys on site at any given point during the day, so a lot of meticulous planning is required in terms of deliveries to ensure they’re not waiting around for products to arrive. On this project we benefitted from deliveries via one of our distributors every two to three days. The customer service we received from both the distributor and Bostik was excellent throughout.”
The Hallsville Quarter project is that start of wider transformation in the area, helping to form a new, prosperous district centre in an emerging area of east London.
PQ: When working on a project on the scale of Canning Town, a strong partnership is key. This ensures that the products chosen are fit-for-purpose and any problems on site will be quickly resolved.
