Stunning granite flooring completes shopping centre refurbishment.

BAL products have played a significant role in a major refurbishment scheme of Rugby Central Shopping Centre.

Formerly called the Clock Towers Shopping Centre, Rugby Central is a two-story shopping mall in the heart of the town with more than 50 outlets.

The two-year refurbishment of the centre included revamping shop fronts, installing new, energy-efficient LED lighting systems and the installation of granite flooring throughout.

BAL – market-leaders in full tiling solutions - worked with tiling contractor WB Simpson & Sons to provide a full tiling specification with materials sourced through Capitol Tiles. This was backed-up with full project and product support from BAL’s Technical Advisory Service and Product Support Technicians.

More than 2,500 bags of BAL Level Max – nearly 62.5 tonne – was used on the project to level the existing concrete base after the original quarry tiles and adhesive was mechanically removed.

BAL Level Max was specified because it can be used up to 80mm in a single application – the largest bed depth in the market. What’s more it is reinforced with Fibre Strand Technology and has added flexibility, self-smoothing capability, fast flow and low shrinkage – plus it is pumpable - making it perfect for large scale commercial projects such as this. Rapid-setting, it accepts foot traffic in three hours, and tiles in four hours – at whatever depth – producing considerable time and cost savings.

Because of the sensitivity of the granite flooring, a rapid-drying white adhesive was required for the project – and WB Simpson & Sons found the solution with BAL Rapid-Flex One.

Recently introduced into the market, BAL Rapid-Flex One is a high performance S1 adhesive that has extended open time of 30 minutes and working time of 60 minutes, while it can be grouted after only three hours.

The longer working time, but still rapid-setting nature of the product made it perfect for such a commercial project where workability and time saving were key requirements.

The floor was finished with BAL Micromax2 Grout – an efflorescence free, flexible and abrasion-resistant grout for walls and floors that is perfect for heavily trafficked areas.

Richard Friebe, Director at WB Simpson, said: “The scale of the preparation work required prior to tiling was scary, especially when it was discovered at an early stage that not one, but two layers of existing tiles, plus bedding was coming up when the mechanical removal commenced.

“Our operatives could not believe how quickly and efficiently they were able to provide a new, excellent base to receive the new granite paving. Due to the outstanding properties of BAL Level Max (which was used between 45 and 65mm on average), we were able to reschedule the works with the main contractor (Stepnells) causing little or no interruption to the tenants who were able to trade normally. We would have no reservations in adopting the same process using the same materials should a comparable situation arise in the future.”

Robin Swift, Centre manager, Rugby Central Shopping Centre, added: “Our substantial refurbishment has taken time, but the results have truly regenerated our shopping centre and the facilities for our customers and visitors. We wish to extend a huge thank you to everybody for their patience during the works and all the companies who helped this project come to fruition.”

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