12Dec2022

Laying design flooring in the Berlin complex

The skips and building materials in the quadrangle between Forststraße, Buggestraße, Björnsonstraße and Opitzstraße in the Steglitz district of Berlin are gradually disappearing under a decorative layer of autumn leaves that float down noiselessly from above. Indoors, though, it’s a hive of activity – two of the 23 flats here that have been undergoing extensive renovation since June 2021 are reverberating to the sound of the flex milling machine, single-disc grinders and vacuum cleaners that are working their magic on this sunny day in November. The various trades are losing no time in getting down to work on the building site. Painters, electricians, plumbers and floor layers are having to coordinate their work so as to avoid treading on each other's toes during the final spurt. Delays and delivery constraints rooted in the coronavirus pandemic have repeatedly led to setbacks in the work schedule. A total of 2,200 square metres of living space is undergoing modernisation on behalf of HERON Bau- und Objektmanagement GmbH – with flat sizes varying from 34 to 178 square metres.

Sealing screed joints with casting resin

Right now, the crew from Schulze Fußboden-Centrum in Neukirchen/Pleiße is busy preparing the subfloor for laying the designer flooring. The cement screed with its underfloor heating is sanded, brushed and thoroughly hoovered before the screed joints and transverse grooves, which are reinforced with corrugated joint connectors, can be sealed with casting resins. The fast-curing STAUF SGH 50 two-component silicate casting resin is just the job for ensuring force-fit cohesion.

STAUF D 54: Low consumption for large area use

When it comes to applying the priming layer, the floor and parquet layers Jürgen Pflug, Vasile Hanarec and Benjamin Gerhardt, aided and abetted by helper Malte Schulze, start by reaching for STAUF D 54: this adhesive and primer concentrate boasts excellent coverage and is quick-drying to boot – important properties when large areas and tight schedules are the order of the day. STAUF D 54 is also a good choice if the aim is not just to pay lip service to occupational safety and healthy living – after all, this concentrate is solvent-free and very low-emission. Any larger areas of unevenness in the screed are then pre-filled with STAUF RM: this stable, cement-based levelling compound is used under parquet or elastic or textile flooring. It is then the turn of the self-levelling filler STAUF XP 10. This compound is mixed with water in a clean bucket until a homogeneous mixture is obtained and is then spread evenly over the surface.

Long open time for designer flooring

When it comes to laying the Creation 30 designer flooring from Gerflor, the specialists opt for STAUF D 37 – a very high-yield, dispersion-based flooring and contact adhesive that stands out with its particularly long open time and pressure-sensitive adhesive phase. The tools of choice for applying this flooring are STAUF notched trowels number 1 and 2. Some 24 hours later, the floor is ready for use – and work can now continue on the final spurt at this building site.

Züruck