Approved Contractors
Our quality work for Aspire Defence and GB Building Solutions means we are now an approved contractor for both companies.
In August 2011 Lloyd Marsden won the tender for the soft flooring package on Wavell Barracks Garrison mess WA0605, a package worth 120k. This was the final part of 20 million pound project by Aspire to refurbish and build additional army personnel accommodation and recreational facilities.
The Garrison mess was a 3.9 million pound new build state-of-the-art facility for officers and senior ranks to be able to dine and socialize together. The build consisted of public rooms and dining rooms, along with bars and ante rooms.
The project had been put out to tender by Aspire (as it has to tender 1/3 of the work it receives from the armed forces. GB Building Solutions (GBS) were successful in securing the tender. GBS’ turnover is in the region of 400 million per year and they specialize in commercial build, particularly in the public sector. They are main contractors on most of their projects which include schools, hospitals, nursing homes and Aspire Defence work.
GBS were very tight on time schedule as they had to hand over the completed work by 12th December 2011. Lloyd Marsden had 700 square meters of latexing, damp proof membranes and capped and coved safety flooring to install and 1400 square meters of double stuck commercial grade carpet.
We commenced works on 17 September 2011. As the site was very busy we could only take small areas at first so that we did not hinder the progress of other trades. The screed had been laid 2 months prior to our commencement, which meant it was not fully dry, so Lloyd Marsden were tasked with applying a damp proof membrane (DPM) system that would be compatible with an under floor heated floating screed. We used Sika Rapid DMP, as this is one of the only DPMs on the market that is suitable for use on under floor heating; two coats have to be applied at cross directions to one another to achieve a barrier that sealed the slab.
It is a common misconception that a DPM holds back all the moisture in the slab forever. Moisture usually passes from a screed at 1% per day. With two DPMs moisture still passes but at a rate of 0.1% per day. This allows the screed to eventually dry over time, whilst causing no problems with floor coverings or the commonly used water soluble adhesive to adhere them to the slab.
After the two coats were applied to various accessible areas, Lloyd Marsden applied P131 (F.Ball&Co.). This is a neoprene based primer that aids the adhesion of latex to a DPM. This was allowed to dry fully before the Latex (Arditex NA) was applied. The latex was applied to these areas and spike rolled to eliminate air bubbles and assist the removal of blend lines and undulations. It was then left to dry for a minimum of 48hrs or until it reached <75% RH (relative humidity). The drying times were actually quite considerable, taking sometimes up to five days to fully dry due to climatic conditions and the lack of any heating or airflow. GBS provided us with large fans to shift the damp air around the building to reduce drying times; this worked to a certain extent but drying still took up to three days. GBS very keen for us to push on with the floor fitting regardless, however we convinced them that it was not worth the risk to fit vinyl until the base layer was fully prepared. Towards the end of October we were able to take much larger areas and on one particular week we DPM-coated, latexed and fitted over 300 meters. Lloyd Marsden managed to complete all the vinyl floors by the 10 November 2011.
The carpets had been ordered from Newhay Carpets as soon as the contract was awarded to us:Newhay only make bespoke carpets to order so their earliest delivery was be 28th November, leaving us only 2 weeks to install over 1400 square meters of carpet, a slightly tall order. However we pulled out all the stops and completed all the carpet fitting by 11th December, one day early! The carpet fitting method used was a double stuck system using Duralay 650, tackified to the slab using F40 adhesive with the carpet adhered to the underlay using F3adhesive.
Since completing the Garrison Barracks mess, Lloyd Marsden has returned only twice to snag a few items; we believe that this is a real testament to our attention to detail and quality of workmanship. Lloyd Marsden has now been given the opportunity to appear on the Aspire recommended list and GBS preferred contractor list.
