September 2019

ROBUST ROOF FROM BMI
Students at George Hastwell School, an academy in Barrow-in-Furness, are now sheltered by a roof that is built
to a specification from BMI UK & Ireland that is guaranteed to withstand the harsh coastal climate for 20 years.
The school commissioned Cunliffes, working with BMI, to draw up the school’s Capital Funding Application to the Schools
Funding Agency to replace the original roofs. Wind uplift calculations were required to find the best application method.
George Hastwell School.
The roof details were sent to BMI to complete the calculations and determine the correct fixing for the location. In this case
it proved particularly important as the calculations showed that both the membrane and the insulation beneath would be subject to windloads of up to 2.79 kN/m²
(kilonewtons per square metre) at the corners. This meant that the insulation had to be bonded separately using TPI insulation adhesive – a foaming, odourless, VOCfree
two-part rapid curing polyurethane adhesive manufactured from bio-renewable materials. The 1050m² project, installed by BMI’s IMA approved contractor
Pendlebury & Sons, consisted of a number of roofs with either concrete or plywood decks. For the non-flammable concrete substrates, BMI Icopal Tecnatorch Sand
and Siplast Primer were applied as the vapour control layer. For the plywood decks, the vapour control layer comprised BMI Icopal TorchSafe TA VCL Sanded and SA
Primer. Thermazone Torch On Insulation was then bonded to both vapour control layers with TPI Insulation Adhesive. Total Torch Vapour Dispersion Layer was installed
as underlay, followed by Firesmart Thermaweld Capsheet in Charcoal to complete the waterproofing system. www.bmigroup.com/uk
THE BIT BETWEEN THEIR TEETH!
SikaBit, the Safe2Torch reinforced bitumen roofing system from Sika, has been used to
upgrade the roof of a social housing block in the London Borough of Southwark.
Hambro Roofing used the SikaBit system at Castlemead
House after seeing the advantages of the SBS/APAO
hybrid technology.
Craig Smith from Sika explained: “The client was keen that any roof refurbishment should be carried out
using a Safe2Torch reinforced bitumen membrane, but it was clear that there was an opportunity to
upgrade the existing system with more advanced bitumen technology. SikaBit’s best-of-both-worlds SBS
and APAO hybrid bitumen technology provided the ideal solution to achieve consistency of specification
while enhancing the roof build-up. https://gbr.sika.com
SL8: ACCELERATE AND RENOVATE!
Forticrete is meeting the increasing demands of the roofing market with its innovative large
format, thin leading edge roof tile, SL8.
SL8: “We’ve created SL8 as we saw a need in the market
for a thinner edge tile, that is up to 50% thinner than large
format varieties, allowing roofing contractors to achieve a
unique minimum pitch of 17.5 degrees.”
Combining the visual aesthetic that replicates real slate with technical features of an interlocking tile, SL8
provides both superior coverage and a better-looking roof. The tile, which is 420mm by 390mm with a
hanging length of 396mm, offers excellent coverage requiring just eight tiles per m². SL8 has been
granted patents to cover the camber of the tile, interlocking design and features and dry verge design,
meaning there is no other tile like it in the marketplace. www.forticrete.co.uk
ROOFLIGHTS MAKE THEIR MARK
Ikon Rooflights – a new brand from industry leader Sunsquare – has brought BSI-Kitemarked
rooflights to the reseller market for the first time.
Above top: Air from Ikon Rooflights. Below: Pureview from
Ikon Rooflights.
With two pioneering flat-roof skylight designs, the new range offers verified quality and unbeatable
margins, with prices starting from just £445. Mark Lambert, Sales Director at Ikon Rooflights, said: “For
a long time, prohibitively high pricing has made Kitemarked rooflights completely inaccessible for the
reseller market. This has left distributors having to compromise, unable to offer top-quality products at
a margin that makes commercial sense. We’ve developed Ikon to change all this.”
SEPTEMBER 2019 TC 67