Travertine Marble
Despite the beauty of Travertine marble, over a period of time the fissures and holes which give the stone its mottled appearance can begin to harbour dirt, and look unsightly. To promote a good bond for the repair material, these holes were immaculately cleaned by dustless shot-blasting and then filled with fast-setting resin. As a listed building all processes needed submission to the authorities for clearance prior to commencement. Several expansion joints also needed treatment.
Flooring Problems
Since the centre trades 7 days a week, all work was carried out on nights. Tile replacement was effected using rapid-set screeds, and the grout selected was a colour-matched resin, also fast-setting. Great care was necessary when grinding to remove excess resin grout, since it would have been easy to open up the surface again due to the porous, spongy nature of the inside of Travertine.
Marble Floor Tile Joints
During the program, it was decided to replace some of the poured expansion joints, which had been formed between rows of tiles. Despite extensive investigation there was not a product on the market which would set within two or three hours, yet remain flexible. During the project this issue was overcome by the Technical department at Premfloor, who actually designed and colour-matched such a jointing material.
