Refurbishing the roof of Loxley House, the central hub of Nottingham City Council, caused no disruption to essential public services, thanks to Sika Liquid Plastics’ new low odour cold applied liquid roof membrane, Decothane Ultra.

The roof of Loxley House, located in Nottingham’s busy city centre, has large amount of detailing and upstands, and due to its age was prone to leaks. After a number of water ingress problems it was decided that the roof required a new waterproof coating, which could be applied around plant and detailing and would protect the building for years to come. A liquid applied solution ticked all of these boxes.

The project began in 2014, expertly undertaken by Derby-based Midland Roofing Services through the East Midlands Property Alliance (EMPA) Framework contractor, Robert Woodhead Ltd. The City Council required work to be carried out while the building was in use, due to the important nature of its work and the vital services it provides, required daily by the public.

The main challenge arose when the project kicked-off, as the waterproof coating for the roof needed to be applied around the air handling units for the building. As the offices below were in constant use, it was essential that any potential smells were minimised as any odour from roofing products used during installation that may have entered the building would have caused inconvenience and disruption.

Luckily it was at this time that Sika Liquid Plastics was bringing Decothane Ultra to the market, a new low odour liquid applied roof membrane. During development, Sika Liquid Plastics worked closely with Odournet, a team of independent consultants that deliver top level expertise on sensory analysis techniques and their application for product optimisation and material testing. According to test data, Decothane Ultra was scientifically proven to be much lower odour when benchmarked against other single pack polyurethanes available in the market. It achieves more than 80 percent reduction in odour strength five minutes after application and greater than 95 percent reduction after just one hour against a similar one-component competitor.

To add to this, the Decothane family of products are cold applied, eliminating the risk of fire in an occupied building during installation and cure to form a completely seamless waterproof membrane. These benefits over traditional roofing systems have enabled liquid waterproofing to become the fastest growing sector of the flat roofing market.

Midland Roofing chose to use Decothane Ultra with fantastic results. The impact of the work on the staff and visitors was greatly reduced with the building remaining fully functional. This was achieved by use of the low odour product, good management and communications between site agent and FM team, and effective management of the air intakes.

Over 3,000sq m of Decothane Ultra will have been applied to the roof by the completion of the project, which is split by various plant and access areas. These sections presented their own unique challenges, with some low plant presenting a clearance of only 10mm. The choice of a premium liquid applied product proved instrumental for these more awkward roof elements.

Jason Crich from Midland Roofing Services said: “Even for the most difficult parts of the refurbishment, Decothane Ultra allowed us to negotiate tricky plant areas with ease and achieve a skilful and flawless application.

“With its low odour levels and ease of application, Decothane Ultra will no doubt be the first choice for a growing number of refurbishment projects in sensitive areas and for highly populated buildings. The client has been really impressed with the quality of the work undertaken by our team and the effectiveness of the low odour solution that was specified for the job.”

Decothane Ultra utilises a range of new novel curing agents developed and patented by Sika. This new chemistry offers a versatile platform from which to formulate extremely low solvent content and to low odour liquid applied membranes for a wide range of applications.

Decothane Ultra is available in the UK from Sika Liquid Plastics. For further information visit www.liquidplastics.co.uk or call the Enquiry Line on 01772 259781