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With reduced installation time and the ability to walk on the floor the same day, you can have your busiest areas back to normal use faster. An adhesive-free flooring installation typically reduces installation time by up to 50% compared with an installation using adhesive. For example (depending on substrate condition): a 200m² corridor would be laid in two days compared with 4 days with an adhered floor covering, with an approximate 20% cost saving to you.

Altro adhesive-free technology means you can install over existing sound and secure surfaces such as tiles and even flaky paint, without having to wait for any adhesive to ‘cure’. Lack of adhesive means no tacky areas and trafficking glue through a building plus the reassurance that without adhesives your subfloor or coving will not be damaged when the floor needs to be lifted or removed at end of life. With an adhesive-free floor your installation will not suffer from any associated odours, which is vital in a hospital (or any other occupied building), for example, with areas which cannot be closed; therefore, keeping disruption and distress to users to a minimum.

With speed of installation from using an adhesive-free floor you can easily return your business to normal service within 24 hours; disruption and any anxiety to residents, patients and customers are dramatically reduced. A corridor within a hospital or care home is in constant use by foot and wheeled traffic. Closing down the corridor for a lengthy period of time is not an option, so by installing an adhesive-free floor the work can be completed quickly, even overnight, so that the traffic flow is uninterrupted and when you come to replace the floor covering after many years of use there is no floor preparation needed.

With an adhesive-free floor you can keep your building warm and comfortable as underfloor heating can be kept on; this reduces impact from the work needed to be done, removing the need to hire expensive de-humidifiers or temporary heaters. And keeping the heating on will help dry out freshly plastered walls reducing the time needed to decorate and install surface fixings, giving a quicker return to service.

As you won’t be using adhesives and DPMs in the installation, you will not need to hire noisy air extraction equipment; or make alternative arrangements to move or re-house occupants, this will in turn reduce disruption, costs for materials and labour overheads, thereby keeping your accountant happy. You can also save costs on disposal by diverting your waste from landfill or by partnering with Recofloor (insert link to Recofloor page), or recycling the floor and reusing it in another area of your building.

Due to the fact that the product is not stuck down using traditional wet adhesives, when the product is uplifted the material is not contaminated with the usual subfloor residue. As there is also no damage to the subfloor and adjoining walls, there are no repairs required, with associated further resources needed.

By planning to use an adhesive-free floor at the inception of your project means you can keep your budget on track without having to compromise on finishes — putting yourself under pressure — or having to rush the finish on an adhered floor, which as one of the last finishing items can be subjected to mounting time pressures; thereby, running the risk of errors.

Adhesive-free safety flooring contributes to reducing the environmental impact of customer specifications - A+ BRE Generic Green Guide Rating for Safety Flooring, full details available at www.thegreenguide.org.uk

Altro floors have undergone rigorous external VOC testing. VOCs are volatile organic compounds that are released into the atmosphere by some substances and products. It is thought that exposure to VOCs can cause problems like sick building syndrome, diminished learning in schools, and reduced productivity in offices. VOCs are typically five times more concentrated indoors than outdoors. Our floors are compliant with national and international indoor air quality schemes including Swedish Building Product Declarations (BPD) and FloorScore, the indoor air quality scheme used with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in North America.

The inclusion of the Altro Easyclean technology means that Altro adhesive-free floors use fewer cleaning chemicals and water throughout their lifetime; therefore, reducing their environmental impact during the in-use phase of the product’s lifecycle.

Adhered flooring uses contact adhesive, so to remove it you could damage not just the subfloor but adjoining walls too. An adhesive-free floor gives you no fuss repair and maintenance, with ease of access to the subfloor allowing you to readily identify and fix problems. In the case of an adhered floor, if you have a leaking pipe you would need to repair both subfloor and wall, the bonded floor would need to be re-screeded and possibly have a surface DPM re-instated; this would not be required with an adhesive-free installation.

With an Altro adhesive-free floor installation there are no adhesive-related odours and therefore no need to close a critical area such as a busy hospital corridor or provide costly ventilation equipment for affected areas in an occupied property.

Altro adhesive-free floors offer up to 14dB sound reduction, which is great for noisy environments such as kindergartens and schools reducing disruptive in-room sound and noise transfer as excited young children or thousands of older ones move around a building. Within a hospital or care environment reducing noise in a ward can aid patient recovery and enhance residents’ wellbeing. Coupled with up to 2.4mm thick options adhesive-free flooring is an ideal choice for areas that need to look good while helping to give comfort underfoot; much valued for carers, nurses and teachers, who spend many hours a day on their feet.

With 59 colours and designs to choose from Altro adhesive-free flooring now provides you with inspirational and decorative solutions for all application areas coupled with a more functional design palette for your harder working areas requiring safety; whether you need a welcoming space for public-facing areas, a homely feel for a patient room or tough, slip-resistant floor for service corridors, there are options for all.

Using biophilic design our new, in demand, wood-look floor can help create a comfortable feel or sense of calm and wellbeing for health and care environments. With the concrete design option in our Altro Cantata range you can create an urban chic look in contemporary buildings and terrazzo gives you an organic feel with a metallic twist.

With over 10 years’ experience of working with our adhesive-free floors and having invented our international, award-winning Altro XpressLay, we are confident in our products’ durability. But don’t just take our word for it. Our case studies are testament to customer satisfaction, and with a 15-year life expectancy and 10-year guarantee on all our adhesive-free products you needn’t fear that an adhesive-free product will let you down.

Altro adhesive-free floors have been endorsed by facilities managers, architects and main contractors for your peace of mind. Take a look at our case studies and testimonials.

“We love the new floor because it’s easy to clean, reduces the noise of the place, but mostly because it’s welcoming, it’s homely”.
Anna Carrier, The Lawns Care Home

“The look of the product is fantastic. We have not got harsh adhesives causing problems with people with breathing difficulties. The installation is a lot quicker and the acoustic value is absolutely brilliant”.
Roo Williams, C&C Flooring.

“This new flooring looks superb, colourful and modern, and it’s a proven safety flooring that can stand up to the rigours of busy school life. “There has been no rucking or movement at all. It’s as firm and reliable as any flooring fitted with adhesive. So for a school it’s a great product, because we have the flexibility to repair or reuse the flooring in the future if required”.
Mark Owen, Facilities Manager, Hessle High School

“Altro XpressLay is not a short-term solution, it is proven, ground-breaking flooring that holds as effectively as an Altro safety flooring installed using adhesive, and there are no rucks, no movement at all. It also offers the same guarantees and lifetime slip resistance of other Altro safety flooring.”
Esteve Torres, architect

“We needed a flooring that would allow us to meet the tight deadlines we had to work on. In addition, we needed it to respond well to the humidity of the environment. It was easy to clean, durable, resistant to stains and, of course, it was slip-resistant.”
“Altro XpressLay does not use adhesive so it can also be used again.”
James Sullivan, Linney Cooper Contracts Manager

For busy, demanding service areas Altro adhesive-free floors provide you with a tough, durable, decorative and non-ruck floor which has been tried and tested in many challenging environments.

Watch our case study video filmed at The Lawns Care Home to see how Altro Wood adhesive-free floor made the installation stress and worry free.