Marmox Multiboard Spreads The Load For London Wall Fit-Out

A nationally renowned flooring specialist is making use of Marmox Multiboards as part of a high-specification installation covering much of the 13^th floor to Moor House, an architecturally striking commercial 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, and recognised for carrying out work to the highest possible standards. 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 therefore opted to employ a proven build-up where – with the original carpet tiles removed – the raised access floor is being covered with a 12.5 mm thick layer of Multiboard to carry unusually large format limestone tiles.

The MD and founder of OSF, Ollie Scarfe comments: “We specialise in delivering high-specification flooring finishes for the construction industry and users alike: with a reputation built on quality and service. We can provide tailored solutions for any type of project.   At Moor House on London Wall 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 cross an area of 360 square metres after our proposals for the build-up were accepted by the project team. While the company has been stablished for nearly 20 years, we have only 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 number 1200 x 600mm sheets of Multiboard were supplied through Protiler Tools in Northampton: being installed using approximately 150 tubes of the manufacturer’s 360 adhesive along with the special 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).

The boards are able to offer a decoupling benefit because the combination of the rigid outer layer and the XPS is able to absorb lateral movement or horizontal shifts within the sub-floor, thereby preventing stress being transferred to the tiles or other rigid floorcovering and causing damage.  

Multiboard further offers 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 employing 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. www.marmox.co.uk