When specialist tiling contractors, P.Plunkett Tiling Contractors Ltd of Prudhoe, Northumberland were commissioned to provide a comprehensive tiling system solution for a prestigious new swimming pool, they turned to ARDEX as their manufacturer of choice.

A new venture for sport and leisure in Tynedale dawned at the end of August 2008, with the opening of new swimming facilities at Wentworth Leisure Centre. Managed by local charity North Country Leisure Tynedale, in partnership with Tynedale Council who funded the project, Wentworth Leisure Centre has undergone a multi-million pound redevelopment project, which has culminated in customers and visitors being able to take advantage of a new 25 metre, six-lane pool, a 15 metre studio pool, two cafés and a new fitness centre.

The 3000m2 project commenced with P. Plunkett Tiling utilising ARDEX X 7 G PLUS grey flexible tile adhesive with built-in admix to fix tiles to the main pool, studio pool, splash and fun pool, pool surround wall areas and changing room walls. Developed to conform to BS EN 12004 C2 TE standards, ARDEX X 7 G PLUS achieves approximately 20% more coverage per kg compared to a traditional cement-based tile adhesive. With excellent adhesion and flexibility, as well as excellent slump resistance and high initial grab, ARDEX X 7 G PLUS is perfect for all types of floor and wall tiles, including fully vitrified, porcelain and mosaics and has been proven to be suitable for virtually all types of situations including numerous swimming pool and wet areas installations.

The tile joints within these locations were grouted with epoxy-based ARDEX WA grout. Easy to apply and clean off, ARDEX WA provides a waterproof and chemically resistant joint from 2-12mm wide. These features make it the economical and ideal choice for use in swimming pools, showers, sports centres and other specialised buildings where high standards of hygiene and cleanliness are vital.

ARDEX X 7 R Rapid Setting Flexible Tile Adhesive was used to fix the pool surround and changing area floor tiles. Suitable for fixing all types of wall and floor tiles including porcelain, ARDEX X 7 R is ready to be walked on and grouted just 2 hours after application, making it a perfect choice for installations where minimising downtime is essential. In addition, ARDEX X 7 R offers excellent slump resistance, superior application properties and suitability for use with underfloor heating.

Prior to tiling in certain areas, the wall surfaces were rendered with ARDEX AM 100 fast track one coat tiling render. The rapid hardening properties of ARDEX AM 100 enables tiles to be fixed just 2 hours after application, guaranteeing a time saving of at least two weeks compared to a traditional wall render.

Large format tiles within the main reception were fixed with ARDEX-FLEX S 38 flexible rapid hardening floor tile bedding mortar. Key benefits of ARDEX-FLEX S 38 include superb adhesion, 30 minutes tile adjustability, 2 hours working time and a fluid, pourable consistency which enables large format tiles to be solid bed fixed without the need to butter the back of the tiles.

Grouting was completed with ARDEX-FLEX FL grey rapid setting flexible grout, which delivered a water repellent and dirt resistant finish to this superb swimming pool complex.

Steven Allsopp, Contracts Director of P. Plunkett Tiling commented, “ARDEX’s range of tiling products are outstanding – not only do they always deliver reliability with premium performance, but also, the ARDEX customer support and technical advice proves an added bonus that we find most helpful”.
For further information on the ARDEX product range please use the email provided.

Email: info@ardex.co.uk