Construction World July 2017

FLOORING

Key components to flagship hospital project

The flagship construction project in the Cape Town CBD is built on the tract of land formerly used as a parking area by Media24, between the Artscape Theatre and the CTICC. The flooring project began in May 2016, and was completed in December 2016. “We supplied flooring underlayment materials through Penta Flooring and Kalley Flooring, who were the appointed installers of the vinyl floor finish. These two contractors levelled several thousand meters of floor, to achieve the smooth and level surface required for the installation of the Polyflor Vinyl Sheeting,” comments TAL technical consultant, Matthew Medhurst. Key components to the flooring installation’s success was the use of specific TAL products, namely TAL’s VaporStop HB vapour barrier and TAL Screedmaster. TAL VaporStop HB was recommended due to the suspected high moisture levels within the concrete slabs. “This would’ve hugely impacted the success and longevity of the vinyl finish,” comments Medhurst. High moisture levels in the substrate will adversely affect the performance and integrity of polymer- modified underlayments and vinyl overlayments. TAL’s VaporStop HB vapour barrier is a moisture tolerant, 100% solids epoxy barrier coat that prevents the passage of water vapour and moisture through concrete slabs into the underlayment compound and vinyl sheeting layers. For this particular project, two coats of VaporStop HB were applied, each coat at a rate of 200-micron thickness (5 m²/ℓ). The wet VaporStop HB installation was fully blinded with TAL Primer Aggregate SQ2 and then left to dry for 24 hours, before the floor was swept and vacuumed to remove any loose aggregate particles. TAL Screedmaster was then installed onto the prepared floors. Manufac- tured from rapid-setting shrinkage-compensated cement and selected aggregates, the self-levelling characteristics of this material ensure a totally smooth and level surface. Another advantage of the compound is that the installation time is minimal, which ensures a fast turn-around on the project. “This was important for this project, as waiting for the slabs to properly hydrate during the Cape winter can prove challenging,” explains Medhurst. “TAL is a well-respected supplier of tile adhesives, flooring underlayments, and construction products to the South African construction industry, and we are proud to be associated with this iconic project,” Medhurst adds. The new hospital complex boasts 250 beds, state-of-the-art theatres, doctors’ surgeries and consulting rooms, linked retail, a gym, and a parkade.  Construction and tile adhesive specialist TAL has supplied flooring products to the flagship Netcare Christian Barnard Memorial Hospital, constructed by WBHO in the Foreshore area of Cape Town.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JULY 2017