The Co-operative Group is one of the world’s largest consumer co-operatives, owned by more than eight million members. It is the UK’s fifth biggest food retailer operating across the country with almost 2,800 local, convenience and medium-sized stores.
Problem
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In the Oakham store, initially a resin granulated poured flooring material was first used for the flooring solution. Unfortunately the screed underneath this, which included underfloor heating, was not allowed to dry correctly and as a result started to break down causing the Resin Floor to start to lose its integrity and break up.
Sheet vinyl was used in an attempt to fix the problem, but this could only be considered to be a temporary solution to the now increasingly urgent problem. A 2mm thickness product “adhered” would always follow the lack of integrity to the rapidly failing substrate below. As a fully operational store there were little, if any, options open to the COOP.
Solution
The Oakham Co-op store needed a quick and cost effective solution to fix the issues they were having, providing minimal disruption to a fully operational store..
They decided to install R-Tile Design Collection interlocking floor tiles as they required minimal subfloor preparation, and can even be installed over poor and uneven subfloors. The interlocking Design Collection tiles are loose lay which meant that no adhesives would be required. The Design Tile offered a robust hidden interlock joint, providing an almost seamless floor and had the added advantage of being suitable for wheeled traffic carrying up to 1000kg.
The R-Tile Design Collection interlocking floor tiles were able to be installed during non-operating hours which meant there was no disruption to daily business.
<p?Other benefits the Oakham Co-Op store have reported include the ease of daily cleaning & maintenance due to the materials integral Polyurethane (PU) coating.
Tiles used – Terrazzo & Wood effect
Area covered – 1,600m2 throughout the store
Time taken to install – It took 3 men working 12am-6am for 11 days to complete.
