Perfect floors for kids’ paradise
In the course of relocating, the salesrooms for the long-standing company Spielwaren Kurtz were completely refurbished, converted, and redesigned on four levels. The toy retailer is aiming to spark their customers’ - ranging in age from 0 to 99 - excitement with a modified product range, additional offers, and downscaled, attractive shop floors.
Data
| Building type | Retail |
|---|---|
| Area | 1300 m² |
The team at Speckner Bodenbeläge from Waiblingen finished the floor for the new play worlds just in time for the Christmas shopping season. The installation materials in the UZIN system ensured that the installation work would flow smoothly.
Over 180 years of tradition, Spielwaren Kurtz has made themselves into a firm institution in the city of Stuttgart. “With the remodelling and the new product range, we’ve created an atmosphere in which tradition and modernism come together in a shopping experience all their own,” says general director Bernd Stocker. “When they are here, kids as well as adults should feel completely at ease. They can try things out, get detailed advice, or just browse around undisturbed in the middle of 50,000 items.” The new play worlds give visitors countless ideas on 1,300 m2 of space. An event and meeting room on the fourth floor completes the range of offers.
Floor installation: an important building block in interior design
The building owner prioritised solid, professional installation so that the floor can also stand up to the needs of big and little visitors in the long run. He found the Speckner Bodenbeläge company from Waiblingen a professional partner that executed all flooring work, from refurbishing screed to surface covering quickly and reliably. Light stone tiles were installed in the ground floor, carpeting in the play area, and luxury floor coverings with a smoked oak look in the rest of the building. This warranted special attention for the stairs, because extremely high bond strength and dimensional stability were needed here. “We only worked with choice installation materials that were coordinated with each other in the system” explains general director Klaus Speckner. The choice in building materials of primer, levelling compound, and the compatible adhesive have to coordinate for the respective areas so that the building owners and architect are pleased with the result.”
After the prep work comes the compatible adhesive
An even, smooth substrate was needed for installing the luxury floor coverings. For this purpose, the old tile bed was first bevelled and freed of adhesive residues. Cracks in the existing substrate were resinified and sealed with UZIN KR 516, and then the screed was sanded. After coating the primer UZIN PE 360, the whole floor had to be levelled out. “The self-levelling premium compound UZIN NC 170 LevelStar is ideally suited for creating a homogeneous, even area,” says Spechner, “it dries in just about 24 hours.” For areas with heavy wear that have to absorb the weight of fork lifts and onslaughts of visitors, only tight bonding of the luxury tiles would do. “This is considered the best and most secure method according to state of the art,” explains the floor professional. “With the fibre-reinforced wet adhesive UZIN KE 66, luxury floor coverings can be installed on absorbent substrates with dimensional stability. For planks that are about 15 cm wide, it’s really important that no joints form.” The highly shear-resistant dispersion-based adhesive is also practical for handling: It’s easy to apply, has good suction and a short open time - a big advantage due to the tight time window. In addition, it is odourless during and after installation, super low-emission in accordance with Emicode EC1 Plus, and is characterised by low consumption. All components of the system from the primer UZIN PE 360, the levelling compound UZIN NC 170, and the adhesive UZIN KE 66, are distinguished by the Blue Angel.
For the stairs: solvent-free, water-based contact adhesive
The stair areas likewise had to be clean and flat before the installation. The floor-laying professionals used the low-slump smoothing compound UZIN NC 182 here, the consistency of which can be adjusted and be drawn out to be as low as zero. It’s already dry after an hour or two, and allows for quick further processing. “We’re also progressing quickly with bonding the luxury planks,” says Klaus Speckner. “The water-based, solvent-free contact adhesive UZIN WK 222 bonds floor coverings, curved profiles, and skirting boards immediately and reliably, the floor can take traffic right away, we were able to proceed as usual.”
Floor finished for Christmas sales!
“The flooring work had to proceed quickly,” recalls Klaus Speckner, “it was just a few weeks away from the big Christmas shopping season when we began.” The outcome: The floor is exposed to extremely heavy traffic on a daily basis, and is a success thanks to perfect installation and a positive aura. Even months later, joints have still not formed from use. The fibre reinforcement significantly reduces residual indentations. Even pallet trucks can’t touch this floor. “Now we are well-placed for the future,” says Bernd Stocker of Spielwaren Kurtz, happily.
