No more floor play
March 1st 2008

You could be forgiven for asking what all the fuss is about with regards to different industrial flooring systems for different projects. I mean concrete does the job adequately doesn't it? Stuart Bailey, UK Sales Manager for Resin Flooring at ARDEX explains to Tim McManan-Smith the huge benefits resin floors offer

The resin flooring division of ARDEX began six years ago and is experiencing a high degree of growth.

ARDEX offers a complete range of industrial flooring products including concrete toppings, primers, epoxy coatings, damp proof membranes and polyurethane floor screeds suitable for all types of industrial flooring applications.

ARDEX industrial flooring products are designed to work together as an integrated system. Every floor has different requirements and the key factor to a successful floor is using the right product.

Each ARDEX product is the result of inhouse research and development which takes place at its Head Office in Suffolk.

For ARDEX floors, durability is key.

Polyurethane screed is able to last 20-25 years and is offered with a 12 year warranty. Clients are sometimes seduced by cheaper alternatives and contractors that cut corners to save money. "The dilemma is when a customer only has a small amount of money but wants a Rolls Royce job. These are mutually exclusive.

Our biggest issue is to get the client to spend the appropriate amount for their needs. You have to consider what you want the floor to resist against and how long you want it to last," says Bailey. He goes on to say that "it takes as long as it takes to lay the floor, you can't cut corners." Many purchasers do not realise the difference between smooth, flat and level.

This can cause confusion when specifying flooring. Smoothness is how rough the floor is, flat is how uneven it is although it may be flat and sloped, whereas level is how horizontal the floor is. In a narrow aisle warehouse a few millimetres of deviation in the level can cause loads to hit racking when they are fully extended.

ARDEX work with both the end-user and the contractor to achieve the desired result.

"Food production is a key market for us," says Bailey "The whole supply chain has to take it seriously and there are strict standards to meet with regards to health & safety, hygiene and cleanliness. Slip resistant, hard wearing, easy to clean floors are very important and the industry requires the highest performing floor systems. For instance you cannot clean concrete of bacteria to an acceptable level.

All of our systems are independently tested for food facilities." "Cleanliness is a very big motivation for quality flooring but ironically it is rare to find companies with an effective cleaning regime and the floor often gets blamed.

You must clean floors properly or they will not work," states Bailey. Alongside health and safety – slips and trips – colour demarcation is another obvious reason to get resin floors into a factory so that different areas can be identified to help prevent accidents.

So it seems that floors can be more complex than many people think.

Chemical resistance, easy to clean, slip resistant, colour and durability are some of the factors that have to be considered when specifying flooring. And the perennial problem of lifecycle costs versus capital costs is in the background too. For further details on ARDEX resin flooring systems please call ARDEX on 01440 714939 or visit ARDEX online at www.ardex.co.uk. For more information on cleaning procedures, hygiene standards, slips and trips and other resin flooring related queries visit the Resin Flooring Association's website: www.ferfa.org.uk.

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