Minutes matter to meet installation demand

July 20, 2021
Retailers and installers are under pressure like never before as the sector deals with the perfect storm of a sales boom, a fitting backlog and a skills shortage of trained installers.

We covered the training and skills issue earlier this year but product technology has helped accelerate installation.

Interfloor prides itself on  providing time-savers for quality flooring finishes. Whatever the challenge, Interfloor has a product to make fitting a perfect floor faster and easier, saving both time and money.

Duralay’s specialist LVT underlays are quick to fit, easy to work with and help reduce the risk of damage to luxury tiles due to uneven sub-floors. The collection includes Multi-Fit, Low-Grab and Dry-Back underlays all designed to maximise underfoot comfort and ensure the LVT looks good for longer.

A perfect accompaniment is Fast Grab Multi-Purpose Flooring Adhesive STK300. This versatile, water-based synthetic latex adhesive has exceptional bond strength, is easy to trowel and is non staining. It can be used on sub-floor types from concrete to chipboard to screed.


Gripperrods Self-Adhesive Floor Edgings and Nosings are the perfect ‘finishing touch’, speeding up the fitting of the floor and are available in a range of finishes such as oak, matt silver and matt gold.


Extensive research and development facilities at F. Ball and Co. Ltd.’s headquarters in Cheddleton, Staffordshire, enable the company to continuously enhance its products to help flooring professionals meet increasing customer expectations, including working to ever more exacting time constraints.

For example, the latest advancements in cement technology has enabled F. Ball to provide installers with a time-saving solution for where a levelling compound is not required when working over plywood subfloors: Stopgap Micro Rapid, a new ultra-smooth, flexible, rapid-drying floor finishing compound for creating a flawlessly smooth subfloor finish.


Stopgap Micro Rapid can be applied to a seamless micro feathered edge to fill indentations formed by screws used to secure plywood and hardboard sheets, as well as the gaps between boards, preventing imperfections transferring to finished installations. It can also be used to repair minor surface defects in a wide range of other absorbent surfaces, including sand/cement and calcium sulphate screeds.


The product is walk-on hard and ready to receive new floorcoverings from just 20 minutes after application, and priming is not required prior to use, saving further time.


With a fast setting time of 90-minutes under normal conditions and flow properties that help it cover poor condition subfloors faster, floorwise has developed Pro-Screed Gold to match the performance of the market’s best products while still delivering on the supplier’s promise of value. Working over old adhesive residue, on top of a wide range of substrates and compatible with underfloor heating systems, and moisture tolerant, Pro-Screed Gold is a reassuringly versatile solution.


The evolution of flooring adhesive has arrived with Mapei’s new Ultrabond Eco V4 Evolution, the latest addition to their Ultrabond Eco Adhesives range. The ‘all-in-one’ universal adhesive combines the best characteristics of Mapei’s floor covering adhesives in one formulation.


Available in 15kg tubs, the easy to apply adhesive provides a strong initial hold and extended open and working time. It is suitable for installing LVT, carpet, PVC, linoleum, semi-flexible vinyl tiles and modular LVT.


Level IT Pro30, from subfloor preparation specialists UltraFloor, has been formulated to refurbish existing floors in previously unachievable timescales, without removing old adhesive residues first – revolutionising traditional subfloor preparation methods. All subfloors prepared using Level IT Pro30 can accept foot traffic in as little as 30 minutes, and are ready to receive unbonded floor coverings after 45 minutes and bonded floor coverings after 90 minutes, including LVT and vinyl.


For more information:

F. BALL & CO • 01538 361 633   www.f-ball.co.uk
FLOORWISE • 01509 673974 • www.floorwise.co.uk
INTERFLOOR • 01706 238 810 • www.interfloor.com
MAPEI • 0121 508 6970 www.mapei.co.uk
ULTRAFLOOR • 01827 254402 • www.instarmac.co.uk/ultrafloor/

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