Hello fellow bloggers J , this post is to document one of our most recent projects/Job at S Edwards Carpets & Vinyls, Firstly I’d like to say a quick thank-you to the owner of the property for allowing us to capture the process on camera as obviously a person’s home is their most inner and private space. So a big thank you to one Miss Lauren Clohessy & Mr Shaun Findlay.
The property in hand has been a recent purchase by the above couple (Named) where they have decided to completely gut the place and start again which as we all know is not an admirable job, With the knocking of walls down to merge rooms, the Re-wiring, Plumbing, Floors to lay, Bathrooms/ kitchens to fit & worst of all that dreaded decorating. Due to the amount of work involved in renovating the home, the laying of the floors was decided that it was best to be done in two separate stages. Stage 1 being the hard flooring (Karndean) down stairs in the Hall & kitchen/diner, stage 2 being when the carpets are to go down in the upstairs areas & Lounge. Carpets last is always the wise decision, tradesman and decorators on your lovely new cream carpet, I don’t think so, because then … you will be in trouble 😉
This post is regarding stage 1 of the process which has now been completed, everything went to plan and both myself and the customers are dead pleased with the work.
I will now Guide you through the work undertaken step by step so you can see how we at S Edwards Carpets & Vinyls tackle a job …
5 Separate trips had to be taken over the period of 1 week, reason being the sub-floors (the floor on which we are laying onto) in the property were in dire condition and a lot of attention had to be taken to them before we could lay anything over the top. Especially Karndean which requires what we call a snooker table finish, complete even dry surface.
If you don’t want to be bored with all the details you can just skip straight to the pictures on our Facebook Page –
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.433606579992167.102792.275352329150927&type=1
Trip 1– This trip involved ply boarding over the old timber floorboards & applying a DPM (Damp Proof Membrane). over the quarry tiles in the kitchen area. Ply boarding over the old timber boards is essential as you need a solid surface with no gaps in, because later on we will be screeding the entire floor (self-Levelling). A DPM had to be applied to the quarry tiles because these are a nightmare for fitters as they draw up any slight bit of dampness from the ground, damp is a disaster to self levelling screed as it will eventually cause the screed to disintegrate, Thus ruining your floor. In extreme cases some quarry tiles have been found to have been laid directly onto the Soil. I know crazy right?
Products used, 6mm ply boards, Mapei ESM (DPM).
Trip 2– A quick trip in which we had to go and prime the surface of the now dried DPM, This can be applied the same day as the screeding but as the customer will be adding under-floor heating to the kitchen area, this needs to be done prior so as the customer can lay it out where he wishes, once dried.
Products used, Mapei’s Eco Prim T, this primer must be used when used in conjunction with Mapei ESM.
Trip 3– Screeding over the now laid under floor heating in the kitchen area up to the adjoining ply boards with a fibre screed therefore locking the under-floor heating in place and building up the sub floor to the same level. A fibre screed has to be used to allow for slight expansion in the concrete when the heating is turned on.
Products used, Mapei Ultra plan Renovation, A fibre screed suitable for under floor heating.
Trip 4– Primer the entire floor over the ply boards and now dried screed in the kitchen area. Once the primer had gone off we then proceeded to screed (self-Levelling Fibre Screed) over the entire floor area to create a perfectly even surface in which to fit to. Not forgetting to use an aerator as we go ( a tool used to release the air pockets in the just laid screed). Again a good quality fibre screed had to used to allow for slight movement in the timber sub-floor, Because joints can bounce when walked upon.
Products used – Balls Stop Gap p131 (Primer) or the Green stuff as we like to call it. Mapei ultra plan renovation screed.
Trip 5– Using a Carboretum stone (rubbing down block) rub down the surface of the screed where any minor inconsistencies in the levelling may be, in our case none apart from a few air pockets above the under-floor heating in the kitchen where the aerator could not be used, due to thickness in which the first layer of screed was applied to cover the heating. Once perfect or ‘Pukka’ the entire floor was adhered with a high pressure sensitive adhesive. The glue then has to be left for a period of about half hour to 45 minutes in which to cure (go tacky). Once cured we are were ready to lay the Karndean. Proceeded to lay with no hiccups and bob’s your uncle. JOB DONE, or stage 1 at least.
Products used, UZIN KE 2000 S NEU (pressure sensitive glue), Karndean Knights-Tile (Warm Oak p39)
Check out all 39 pictures at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.433606579992167.102792.275352329150927&type=1 Don’t forget to like our page while there !!
P.S ignore the time stamps on the images, Forgotten to re-set the clock from a holiday taken :S Ooops !!
Hope you enjoyed and gained from this post please feel free to comment and let us know what you think of our work?
S Edwards Carpets & Vinyls 