Subfloor preparation remains one of the most important stages of any tiling installation. When it’s not carried out correctly, issues can arise later in the project, often leading to additional cost, delays and, in some cases, the need for remedial work.
As projects become increasingly time-sensitive and substrates more varied, installers are frequently required to address challenging backgrounds while still meeting fast-track programme demands. This is particularly relevant where preparation must support the long-term performance of tiled finishes.
BAL and Mapei consider different approaches to subfloor preparation aimed at addressing challenging site conditions and time-critical requirements.
BAL Level Plus: Floor preparation on difficult backgrounds
SOMETIMES when you turn-up on a job you come face-to-face with challenging substrates such as flooring grade bitumen residues, existing glazed tiles or old thermoplastic vinyl tiles.
With these subfloors any old leveller won’t do – you need a product with enhanced performance. BAL says its BAL Level Plus is a suitable solution – giving you smooth floors prior to tiling.
BAL Level Plus is a 1-part or 2-part smoothing and levelling compound. As a 1-part mix with water, use for good all-round performance on common substrates such as concrete, sand:cement screeds, anhydrite screeds, cementitious flowing screeds, unglazed tiles or stone, and old tile adhesive residues.
When superior enhanced performance is needed, use BAL Level Plus as a 2-part mix with BAL Level Plus Liquid latex for a moisture tolerant levelling compound for more difficult substrates such as flooring grade bitumen residues, flooring grade asphalt, under-floor heating and heated screeds, direct onto glazed tiles, existing thermoplastic vinyl tiles (excluding LVT), and under DPMs, says the company.
It adds: ‘When used as a 2-part mix, BAL Level Plus can be used from 2mm-10mm bed depth – or if you need to go deeper, it can be built up to 30mm with aggregate.
‘Whether you mix with water or latex, BAL Level Plus gives you a long pot life of 25 minutes and you can be tiling in as little as two hours for fast-track project completion.’
With great flow and self-healing properties, BAL Level Plus is said to provide superior levelling. Suitable for spike-rolling, it provides a super flat surface for tiling.
Alex Underwood, head of marketing at BAL, said the new product gave several levelling options to fixers and contractors when faced with difficult substrates.
He said: ‘BAL Level Plus really is a perfect smoothing and levelling compound for tilers and contractors – giving them the option of a 1-part water mix for standard levelling or mixing with BAL Level Plus Liquid latex for problematic floors they may find unexpectedly on-site – such as bitumen adhesive residues or old thermoplastic ‘marley’ tiles.
‘It really is the ‘get out of jail’ leveller for all situations faced – and gives fixers and contractors the freedom to choose the most economical or performance driven solution they need, with just one product.’
www.bal-adhesives.com
