BAL, a manufacturer and supplier of full solutions, is celebrating “six decades of excellence.
In the early 1960s, a lack of specialist tile fixing products and support meant the development of tile use in the UK struggled. As such, in 1962 the members of the British Ceramic Tile Council (BCTC) formed a company to manufacture specialist products and provide service and support for tiling in the UK: Building Adhesives Ltd, with its range of tiling products branded BAL.
At the time, BAL’s were the only products recommended by the BCTC, and it began to roll out its products to distributors.
Because there were no real British Standards in the 1960s for tile fixing, the company says, BAL also set up a comprehensive technical advisory service to provide advice to fixers and distributors on tiling best practice – a service which still continues to provide support to this current day.
It launched the first seminars to discuss the introduction of standards and relevant BAL products through 1969/70 including CP212; part 1 (internal tiling) part 2 (external tiling) and CP202; tile and slab flooring (95% was about substrate preparation prior to sand:cement fixing).
BAL has since become a leading contributor to the development of British and European Standards, directly and indirectly through tile associations such as The Tile Association (TTA) – of which it is a full member.
BAL also became the first manufacturer to use independent testing through the BCRA, it says, with regular partnerships to ensure product developments passed laboratory and physical testing.
BAL’s mission is and always will be: “to ensure that all products must be specially developed and fully tested with today’s range of tiles and new backgrounds.”
The company also reportedly developed the first epoxy grout from a tile manufacturer which broadened the market possibilities for tiling to be used in hospitals, hygienic and chemical environments.
Since BAL launched in the 1960s, the company has introduced several first-to-market products, it says, such as the first floating uncoupling mat (Flexbone 2Easy), first thin lightweight mat (BAL Rapid Mat) and the first adhesives with fibre strand technology.
The company also has a comprehensive product development programme, constantly looking at products and systems aimed to improve the industry.
Now, as part of Ardex Group, BAL can tap into a worldwide resource of people, product, materials and R&D, “ensuring it is consistently ahead of the game”.
www.bal-adhesives.com
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