Safety flooring is used in many areas in commercial premises especially in toilets, kitchens, behind bars and break out areas. Everyone has seen the vinyl with sparkles in it, and you can see this with our Portland range. The importance of these products is their slip resistance especially when the floors are wet.
Fortunately with new technology the designs are hugely improved and we are key suppliers of Polyflor and Altro Flooring who are at the forefront of this sector.
There are 3 key ways of installing safety flooring.
- Cap and Cove—This is where the vinyl is installed up the wall so water can not escape. This is excellent for hygiene ratings but is also the most expensive method due to the extra materials and labour time.
- Sit on skirtings—Here you lay the vinyl flat to the perimeter of the wall then install a PVC skirting over the top. This is cheaper than cap and cover but not as water tight.
- Flat Lay with Sealant—The simplest and cheapest way to install sheet vinyl is with this method. We install the vinyl to the perimeter and finish it with either a clear or colour matching sealant.
The key to safety flooring is actually the sub floor preparation under the vinyl. We can guide you through this tricky process but depending on whether the sub floor is wood/concrete/stone or other we will select the collect materials for this. Wooden floor need to have a minimum of a 6mm ply installed to the subfloor. A feather finish is then used to hide the perimeters to the wood. Concrete needs a self-smoothing compound. There are hundreds of different ones but we only use the big brands like F Ball, Ardex or Mapei.
