Regardless of whether the flooring installation is within a primary, secondary or further education establishment, floorings for school environments must withstand heavy use, couple technical performance with design excellence and be environmentally sustainable, dependable, safe and truly fit-for-purpose. But, essentially, they must deliver a cost-effective solution.
So, when Monmouthshire Council’s St Mary’s Roman Catholic (RC) Primary School in Bulwark, Chepstow, needed a new flooring to replace the old and cracked granwood flooring within two multipurpose halls and a corresponding corridor, something suitable which was both quick to install and cost-efficient was required.
The solution was found in Gerflor’s Attraction® loose-lay, fast track flooring system which could be quickly and easily laid directly over the existing flooring, thereby avoiding the time, cost and mess that would have been involved in lifting the original granwood, which typically creates a lot of dust.
“We not only wanted a flooring that could be easily installed over the existing floor, but we also needed a flooring which was robust enough to take the weight of a piano and be suitable for the variety of activities that take place in the two multi-purpose halls like PE, assemblies, after-school clubs and meetings. In addition, and in contrast to the previous brown floor, we wanted a colourful, bright and cheerful flooring for our primary school,” said St Mary’s RC Primary School Chair of Governors, Paul Pavia.
The head teacher considered different flooring options in the selection process before deciding upon education flooring specialist, Gerflor’s, Attraction® interlocking tiles in Wattaru, a deep and vivid blue that also reflected the school colour.
J&H Flooring was involved in both the specification and installation of 300 sqm of Attraction® tiles in the two school halls and corridor area. Jason Whitaker, J&H Flooring, said: “We were asked to provide a flooring solution to replace the existing tired, damaged granwood floor. Due to time & cost constraints, Gerflor’s Attraction® tile ticked all the boxes as it could be laid directly over the existing flooring without the cost, time and, importantly, the dust and mess that could be created if we had to uplift the granwood.”
Attraction® is a highly durable, loose-lay vinyl flooring solution with interlocking edges developed by Gerflor for rapid installation with minimal subfloor preparation and without the need to close premises. The ability to lay Attraction® tiles over many smooth flooring types can eliminate the time, cost and disruption of uplifting existing floorings. Designed for quick and easy removal, individual tiles, rather than an entire flooring, can also be lifted for replacement if damaged.
Dimensionally stable, Attraction® tiles have a 1mm pure vinyl wear layer for high traffic resistance, a Protecsol® 2 easy maintenance and ‘no polish for life’ surface treatment, a recycled glass fibre grid backing system and excellent indentation resistance. The range of 15 colours and three design options provides the choices needed to meet the aesthetic requirements of wide ranging contract flooring projects.
For more information about Gerflor solutions, order a free sample or to speak to a specialist call 01926 622600 / email: contractuk@gerflor.com or visit www.gerflor.co.uk
