Household Distribution Centre (Northwich) 165m2 (6mm PU Screed)

What the client wanted to achieve

In this case a major distribution company contacted us to originally repair an area in a weather tight canopy recently erected on top of an exterior substrate, once Contact flooring had surveyed the area it was clear that the substrate suffered from many different types of repairs and it was clear that a new screed finish was required.

The main issue with this project was the heavy use of forklift trucks and pallet trucks, the success of this project was going to be down to precise preparation and the correct system being installed, this is what we did.

The Solution

As with many outside substrates the quality of the concrete can sometimes be very different, what we had here was a surface that had be damaged and subjected to heavy traffic, the surface was also very dusty due to usage and obviously with the climate at the time of the installation, very wet.

The first thing to do was to dry the substrate out so we installed space heaters that were left on for over a week, once a moisture test had been carried out it was now time to start the preparation, a heavy duty Beff was used initially to remove 1-2mm from the surface, this was then finished with a grinding machine to ensure a smooth finish was ready for the installation of the necessary repair mortars and a 6mm Polyurethane screed.

As this project was tight on time lines we installed a 6mm resin rich polyurethane system to the total area of 165m2 in one day, this system is renowned for its hard wearing, chemical resistant properties which also has  excellent impact resistant, after the installation the client was very happy and he can now go forward with this new area and enjoy a fit for purpose surface for many years to come.

Common questions

Can PU screed be installed under an external canopy?

Yes, provided the substrate is dried and tested first. This Northwich distribution centre needed a floor beneath a weather-tight canopy recently erected over an exterior substrate. With wet conditions during installation, space heaters ran for over a week to dry the substrate, and a moisture test was carried out before work began.

Why choose 6mm PU screed for forklift and pallet truck traffic?

A 6mm resin-rich polyurethane screed is hard-wearing, chemically resistant and has excellent impact resistance. That made it the right finish for this area, which is heavily used by forklift and pallet trucks and had suffered damage from heavy traffic along with many different types of previous repair.

How was the dusty, damaged substrate prepared?

A heavy-duty Beff removed 1-2mm from the surface, dealing with a surface left very dusty by heavy use. A grinding machine then produced a smooth finish, and repair mortars were applied before the 6mm polyurethane screed was installed.

How long did the PU screed installation take?

Once the substrate had been dried and prepared, the whole 165m2 area of 6mm polyurethane screed was installed in a single day. This helped meet a tight programme, although drying the substrate with space heaters beforehand took over a week.