Topshop/Topman, Bromley – Tor Coatings
Topshop/Topman, Bromley
Elastaseal (Tor Coatings)
Arcadia Group Ltd
Background
The refurbishment of the roof of a large retail property in Bromley, Kent has involved the use of Tor Coatings’ Elastaseal waterproof coating system. The building is home to Topshop and Topman stores operated by clothing retailer Arcadia Group Ltd.
The Challenge
The existing asphalt roof membrane had failed and water ingress was becoming a major problem. Stripping and replacing the asphalt would be both costly and extremely complex with large amounts of detailed areas making repairs potentially difficult. Such an overhaul would also involve hot works, which would inevitably result in temporary closure of the unit; this was not an option on a busy high street site.
The Solution
Elastaseal from Tor Coatings was chosen as the most suitable solution from a number of options. This cold applied system comprises two layers of high performance coatings sandwiched with a fiberglass mat for additional reinforcement.
The Elastaseal coating is applied just like a regular paint and offers the significant advantages of no on site mixing and no need for naked flames as with comparable hot work bitumen roofing systems.
After the roof was cleaned, a fast drying adhesion-promoting primer was applied. A second coat, whilst still wet was then embedded with a chopped strand fibre matting, which dries to a flexible surface with a very high tensile strength gained from the reinforcement mat. The finishing coat was then applied and allowed to cure.
All coatings were applied with brush or roller, allowing the materials to be simply applied around all of the difficult areas in a continuous film. This prevents any potential future leakage problems from the joints. Application of the system was facilitated with the 12.5 litre can size, which enabled operators to easily transport the materials up to the roof via the internal lifts.
Work to waterproof the roof of the unit took less than a month to complete and was undertaken with the minimum amount of disruption to either staff or customers.
The Benefits
Installation could be carried out with the building occupied due to the cold nature of the product. More conventional repairs such as hot works would have been necessary, posing a potential fire risk. As Elastaseal™ is a cold liquid product there are no such risks associated.