SITUATION:

The newly constructed 46,000 square-foot Mercedes-Benz car dealership in Langley, British Columbia was scheduled to receive porcelain tile over a newly poured, on grade concrete slab. Slab leveling, crack repair and anti-fracture measures were required to prepare the slab for tile installation. Several other trades were on site requiring rapid-drying and fast track products to be used to finish the floors without the worry of displacing tiles after they were set and grouted.

CHALLENGES:

  • New construction
  • 46,000 square-foot installation area
  • Other trades on site; coordination of work area was a challenge

SOLUTION:

ARDEX Sales Professional Don Brletic and ARDEX Technical Field Representative Bertram Tasch worked with Novax Tile and conducted many on site demonstrations. First the floors were leveled using ARDEX K 15®, a premier self-leveling underlayment that can receive tile or stone in just six
hours. ARDEX 8+9 was used as an anti-fracture membrane with ARDEX SK Mesh.

Once the floor was properly prepped, ARDEX X 77™ with its very easy to install creamy smooth consistency was used to set 4” x 6” imported German porcelain tiles. Novax Tile installers used ARDEX FL Grout Charcoal Dust on the floors opening them to traffic in just 90 minutes. This project was the first Novax Tile installers had ever used ARDEX 8+9 for and they were impressed with the ease of use and results it provided. “We used to use a different crack isolation product but we are converted for life.”

Novax received a full 10-year SystemOne™ Warranty on this installation for installing a complete ARDEX system assuring Langley Mercedes that their premium showroom floor would match the excellence and quality of these luxury vehicles for many years.

PARTICIPANTS:

Installer: Novax Tile LTD.
Contractor: Ledcore Construction Architect: Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning

SITUATION:

Porsche Centre Vancouver was constructing a brand new state-of-the-art facility featuring an impressive display of curved concrete and glass in a modern, spacious decor. Built in the new hub of luxury car dealers at 688 Terminal Avenue, the dealership boasts more display space for a massive selection of new and used inventory, double the number of service bays and more customer parking. Before tile could be installed, the showroom and bay area floors required levelling, waterproofing and crack isolation measures.

CHALLENGES:

  • 15,000 square-foot installation area
  • New construction
  • 9,000 square feet of severe substrate issues to be addressed
  • Multiple trades working on job-site
  • Seven week installation time-frame

SOLUTION:

ARDEX Sales Professional Don Brletic and ARDEX Technical Field Representative Bertram Tasch performed product demonstrations for Ledcor Construction. Each week they visited the jobsite and educated the installers on the importance of proper preparation, leveling and installation techniques. ARDEX V 1200™ was used to address nine thousand square feet of leveling issues with ARDEX V 1200 smoothed at 5/8 inch thickness. ARDEX 8+9™ was applied as an anti-fracture membrane. With the floor prepped and leveled, 12’x 24’ large-format porcelain and 12’ x 24’ glass and mosaic tiles were installed using ARDEX X 77™ and ARDEX FL™ in Charcoal Dust. A 10-year SystemOne™ warranty was given to Ledcor installers, assuring them that ARDEX products are as premium, durable and high-quality as a Porsche.

PARTICIPANTS:

Installer: Robertson Floors LTD – North Vancouver, BC – General Manager, Josh Mulherin
Contractor: Ledcor Construction – Vancouver, BC – Site Superintendent, Rick Traher
Architect: Kasian Architecture – Vancouver, BC

SITUATION:

From their brand new premium facility at Exit 3, M1, Airside Motor Retail Park, Swords, Co. Dublin. Joe Duffy Jaguar, Landrover Airside offer a comprehensive range of products and services. The quality of service they provide to individual customers continues to be key to their success and is fundamental in their commitment to Land Rover Ireland and each and every Land Rover Customer that walks through their doors.

CHALLENGES:

A fast track solution was needed for Tiling and screeding this prestigious new car showroom for Jaguar and Landrover and have cars driving in on the finished floor as quickly as possible.

SOLUTION:

Ardex A23 Screed was used as a fast track screed option allowing the K15HB to be installed with 72 hours and the tiling system to be installed the next day. The K15 HB left a beautiful smooth and level surface for the tile system to be installed. The BAL Stone and Tile insured that the tiles were solidly bedded in adhesive with no voids or weakspots under the tiles. The Microflex grouts gave a very smooth and hard grout joint. From start to finish this was a sucessful system.

PARTICIPANTS:

Installer/Applicator: Crannagh Concrete, Kealy Construction

General Contractor: Kealy Construction Ireland

Architect(s): Project manager and Facilities Director Dermot Fallon Dublin Ireland

SITUATION:

Porsche, one of the most famous luxury cars manufacturer, has set up showrooms and workshops all over the world to showcase their world-class craftsmanship in vehicle quality. Besides its showrooms, Porsche also had high visual and functional requirements for their aftersales service centre in Hong Kong, as they wanted to offer premium customer experience in every point of touch, even in the car maintenance and repair process.

CHALLENGES:

Chemical resistance for sure is the key factor for the client to consider.
The Porsche workshops had frequent vehicle in and out, so the chemicals emited from it might cause erosion on the floor tile and the grout.

SOLUTION:

The client wanted the 7000m2 floor tile in the workshops to be extreme appealing and also long-lasting. Ardex EG2 was specified in the project. It was selected to cater two issues – chemical resistance and ease of application. On one hand, the epoxy-based EG2 has excellent chemical resistance which made it very suitable to be used in the workshop. On the other hand, when compared to the ordinary epoxy-based grout, EG2 has high viscosity and is extremely easy for workers to manipulate during application, even for narrow joints.It made the application process much easier. Also for the client, EG2 was an excellent option for them to keep the tile system durable while not sacrificing good tile appearance.

PARTICIPANTS:

V.K. Decoration

SITUATION:

  • This is the busiest IKEA shop in China’s capital city Beijing and even in Asia.
  • This is a steel construction building with total area of 60,000m2 including the car parking.
  • The average traffic flow is about 40,000 people.
  • The flooring was really bad even after repairing for several times.

CHALLENGES:

  • The existing substrate damaged seriously and the steel structure is a little flexible for concrete and other cement products.
  • Very high traffic load and forklift fast turning.
  • Due to noise concern, the application is only permitted at night.
  • Each segment open for repair work should be finished renovating within 7-10 days.

SOLUTION:

As the busiest IKEA shop in CN, it has the highest turnover around the country. Thus, the owner is not willing to shut down the whole shop, and they even don’t want the customers to be annoyed by the installation noise. So in the end, the owner required all the installation should be conducted in the night time, when there is no customer in the shop.

To minimize the affection to the shop, the whole renovation area is divided into several segments and each segment should be renovated within 10 days. The renovation work contains remove of damaged concrete and replace with ARDEX A35 fast curing leveling mortar, or repair of concrete with ARDEX R2PE epoxy coating. After the leveling, ARDEX K31 high strength self leveling underlayment is applied for smoothing the surface before applying the floor adhesive ARDEX AF2510.

SITUATION:

Known for its inspiring, quality and economical home furnishing displays, IKEA experienced failures with their existing floors and asked ARDEX to find a solution. IKEA wanted a product that was durable, abrasion resistant and aesthetically pleasing. They also wanted a floor with superior longevity that was easy to maintain.

CHALLENGES:

  • Cracking in various areas throughout the existing concrete substrate
  • Installation completed while store remained open, so a product with low or no odor was required
  • Area to be repaired in sections 4500 m2 (48,439 ft2)
  • Abrasion resistent floor required
  • Able to withstand heavy rolling loads and foot traffic
  • Over five year floor repair solution expected

SOLUTION:

Offering complete customer service and technical support, ARDEX recommended to the Shanghai Weigu Corrosion Company and IKEA China the ARDEX Self-Leveling Polyurethane System. This flooring system would repair existing cracks in the substrate and meet all the finished flooring requirements IKEA wanted.
To ensure there would be no harsh odors during the installation, Shanghai Weigu Corrosion Company installed a fan system and VOC monitors. This system was used to make sure there was absolutely no odor in the air that would distract the customers while shopping.

After each area was sectioned off, Shanghai Weigu Corrosion Company used a grinding machine to prepare the existing surface to receive the ARDEX Self-Leveling Polyurethane System. The grinding process creates a strong bond to concrete, removing any possible contaminates that could cause failures with the ARDEX system.

To prevent cracks from reflecting or telegraphing through to the new floor system, cracks larger than .8mm (1/32”) were filled with a suitable cementitious patching compound. The ARDEX Polyurethane Self-Leveling System is a three coat system. Once all pre-existing cracks were filled, the ARDEX R7PP Polyurethane Primer was installed to ensure a strong bond between the flooring system and the substrate. Next, the ARDEX R120PP Polyurethane Body Coat was installed followed by the ARDEX R115PP Polyurethane Top Coat.

The ARDEX Polyurethane Self-leveling System was selected because it is easy to install, extremely durable, abrasion resistant and has a long life span. ARDEX Polyurethane Self-Leveling Systems can be installed seamlessly to maintain an aesthetically pleasing floor. The perfect combination for IKEA China.

PARTICIPANTS:

Installers: Shanghai Weigu Corrosion Company

SITUATION:

IKEA is a multinational group that designs and sells ready to assemble furniture, kitchen appliances and home accessories. The IKEA Restaurant has your appetite taken care of, at equality appetizing prices. The flooring installation work was done in two phases and completed in May 2017. The applicators were required to complete the project in a short time frame that allowed only two weeks for both removing the existing vinyl and to install the new floor covering. Night work was carried out in order to avoid affecting the restaurant’s daily operations and to meet the time frame as requested from the customer.

CHALLENGES:

ARDEX was chosen for the whole vinyl installation work for the prestigious IKEA Restaurant at Alexandra, Singapore.
The area is approximately 2,000m2.
Environmentally-friendly, sustainable building products with Green Label certification were required.

SOLUTION:

ARDEX managed to secure the project by introducing its unique Flooring System, both products are certified with the Singapore Green Label: ARDEX K 310 is a rapid-setting compound used to prepare interior floors prior to laying the vinyl covering, and ARDEX AF 190 is a water-based, solvent-free adhesive for permanent internal vinyl installations.

PARTICIPANTS:

Installer and General Contractor: Entrust Organisation Pte Ltd

SITUATION:

Trolley Square is a 239,000-square-foot former trolley car barn built in 1908.

The refurbishment requires: upstairs – 17,000 sq. ft. of ceramic tile to be transformed into a polymer-modified cement diamond design floor. Work could only be completed at night to allow the mall to be open during the day. Schedules were set up to stop work and cover the floor with paper to accommodate mall traffic. This created challenges in making the stopping points look seamless.

Downstairs – 30 years of wax was built-up on the century old pavers brick flooring.

CHALLENGES:

  • 39,000 square feet
  • Multiple substrates
  • Varying elevations, often as much as every 4 or 5 feet
  • Night work only – mall open for business during the day

SOLUTION:

UPSTAIRS
Day one: Shotblasting the ceramic tile
Day two: Pour ARDEX EP-2000, a solvent free two coat substrate preparation epoxy, broadcasted with sand
Day three: Pour ARDEX SD-T® and the same night cut a diamond pattern and border to take on the appearance of the fine tile
Day four: Seal and stain the ARDEX SD-T® in two colors. Very difficult to stain and seal in the same day!
DOWNSTAIRS
The following routine completed continuously over a 5 week period
Day one: Shotblast brick to remove wax
Day two: Clean pavers with a pneumatic needle scaler and repoint the grout
Day three: Painstakingly repair broken pavers with colored cement
Day four: Apply two coats of floor coating

PARTICIPANTS:

Installer: E.B. Berger ARDEX LevelMaster Elite Installer®

SITUATION:

The Red Market in Macau is the only active wet market in Macau that are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The building is built in 1936. As the most trafficked wet market in Macau, inside there are three busy floors of seafood, poultry, meat, vegetables and other sundries. Since it is a heritage protected by the law, routine maintenance works are necessary to keep the building’s integrity.

CHALLENGES:

In the wet market environment, the floor is always subject to heavy traffic and water. So the grouting are prone to trap moisture and dirt. The heavy traffic would also easily cause damage to the grouting, causing it to lose its original functionality.

SOLUTION:

Ardex EG2 grout was specified in the project. The robustness and the water resistance of the ARDEX EG2 are the two key factors for client to select the product. First of all, epoxy-based grouting is extremely water resistance when compared to cement-based grouting. This further minimize the risk of water leakage to the below level. Also, due to its high stain resistance properties, it could virtually eliminates common stains and dirt pick up. EG2 also has excellent abrasion resistance thanks to its high compressive strength, making it perfect for high traffic areas.

SITUATION:

A well-known chain of shopping malls in Vietnam required waterproofing for deck roof with an A.P.P (atactic polypropylene) membrane.

CHALLENGES:

The project required an A.P.P membrane with high quality and the installation had to be completed after 2 weeks.

SOLUTION:

ARDEX WPM 160 Polyester reinforced APP Bitumen Membrane & ARDEX WPM 185 Mineral coated APP membrane. When torching APP membranes, the bitumen begins to flow like candle wax when it reaches temperatures above 300F. The molten bitumen then behaves like hot mopping asphalt and will flow. That makes the job quick, smooth and fast.

PARTICIPANTS:

Architect: Obayashi Vietnam Corporation
Applicator/Distributor: Intechem Co., Ltd.