MULTIBOARD SPREADS THE LOAD FOR WALL FIT-OUT

A nationally renowned flooring specialist is using Marmox Multiboards as part of a high-specification installation covering much of the 13th floor of Moor House, an architecturally striking office building located on the capital’s historic London Wall.

Epping-based OSF is a family-run business serving clients from the commercial, residential and other sectors across the UK. In this case, a team from its 40-strong workforce is undertaking a contract to a challenging timetable, where rates of progress needed to be optimised without compromising on appearance or long-term durability.

OSF chose a proven build-up where, with the original carpet tiles removed, the raised access floor is being covered with a 12.5mm-thick layer of Multiboard to carry unusually large-format limestone tiles.

OSF’s Managing Director and Founder, Ollie Scarfe, said: “At Moor House we are providing the flooring package for the project developer, including carpet tiles in the offices, broadloom to the media rooms, vinyl in the kitchen and the limestone in the boardroom. There we are installing 1200 x 1200, 20mm-thick limestone tiles across an area of 360m².

“We have been using Marmox Multiboard for the past 6–12 months in place of where we used to install plywood and a decoupling (DITRA) mat. This solution is quicker, equally effective and saves a lot of money. We now really only use Multiboard as the substrate for such situations.”

The 445 1200 x 600mm sheets of Multiboard were supplied through Protiler Tools in Northampton, being installed using around 150 tubes of the manufacturer’s 360 adhesive, along with galvanised steel washers to spread the load from the screw fixings.

Marmox Multiboards are manufactured from extruded polystyrene, or XPS, encapsulated in reinforced polymer concrete, produced in a range of thicknesses up to 80mm and offering a variety of positive physical characteristics in addition to being fully waterproof.

They are both light to handle and easy to cut, while still being able to sustain substantial loadings of up to 400 kPa, equivalent to 40 tonnes per square metre. They further offer good thermal insulation performance, helping to cut condensation risk.

The Multiboards can be screw fixed using the special plastic dowels available or glued in place using Marmox adhesive, and frequently feature as tilebacker boards in commercial as well as domestic situations, including within swimming pools.

When creating a wetroom or other applications where achieving a waterproof surface is imperative, all joints should be sealed using the manufacturer’s butyl-based tape.