Permaban is set to complete a prestige floor for an Asda Distribution Centre

Permaban have been at the forefront of floor design, installation, product manufacture, floor repair, maintenance and aftercare for over 25 years.  Since being founded in 1983, Permaban have become a leading supplier in the UK, Europe and Middle East along with new presence in Asia.  The product range offers quality solutions for ‘leave-in-place' formwork, dry-shake floor toppings, concrete curing and sealing products.

Permaban's Regional Sales Manager, Clive Jones, explains the installation process of Permaban's AlphaJoint system at an Asda Distribution Centre, Didcot Power Station based in Oxford, UK.

In March 2009, Permaban were commissioned to supply 303 3 metre lengths of AlphaJoint GD8 and 200 litre drums of Aquacure for a floor area of 36,000m2.  Constructed by McLaren Construction for Gazeley and designed by Architects Chetwood Associates with Structural Engineers Capita Simmonds.  The brief was to construct the finished floor using as many methods, materials and designs to give a professional floor appearance.

Permaban's Aquacure is one of the new generations of concrete cuing products with a low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) and is safe to handle, emits no smell or bad vapours and has a 90% curing efficiency with one application.  The floor finish displays a satin sheen and will slowly cure the slab, drastically reducing any surface crazing as it re-hydrates the surface during the initial drying after power floating.

The floor slab consisted of a 185mm mesh fabric design, reinforced with a single layer of A193 mesh and laid to a FM2 ‘Special' tolerance by Stuart Industrial Flooring.  In the speculative construction of the floor, the developer is advised to build to as high standard as possible.  Surface regularity specification FM2 is suggested to reduce the amount of grinding required.

Whilst on site, Jones explained that "The floor slabs were each laid by floor pouring techniques using a Somero Laser Screed machine and exceeded 1400m2 each day over a four week period.  When dry, each pour was then split into five to six bays and saw cut to reduce the drying stresses and risk of cracking".

The interior floor of the Asda Distribution Centre is now well underway with the second stage of racking process in place and is expected to be completed shortly.