BAL – market-leaders in full tiling solutions – are celebrating after their unique floating uncoupling mat was voted the Best Innovation at The Tile Association Awards 2019.
BAL Flexbone 2Easy is a truly uncoupled solution. The uncoupling mat is laid loose on the subfloor – preparation can be reduced to just a quick sweep of the floor, provided it is flat, level and sound. This means the product can be used over mastic asphalt, mixed substrates, bitumen, screeds with laitance, contaminated screeds and screed with cracks.
Designed with perforations, vapour channels and a mesh weave reinforcement, the system ventilates and uncouples the covering from the substrate in a single process – permanently and reliably.
Any residual moisture in the substrate is evenly distributed through a system of channels and then drawn off through the perforations in the mat via the grout joints. In this way, substrates that are still damp are not encapsulated.
This means the mat can be laid on fresh screeds including sand:cement when it’s walkable, and anhydrite screeds at 1.5% Carbide Method water content (usually minimum 0.5% CM water content is required before tiling). Saving on preparation can save up to 50% of the total installation time.
Alex Underwood, Head of Marketing at BAL, said: “We’re absolutely delighted and of course honoured that BAL Flexbone 2Easy has named as the Best Innovation of the year at the TTA Awards.
“BAL Flexbone 2Easy is a truly unique and innovative product for the British market – there are no other uncoupling mats out there that can be loose-laid over unprepared substrates – significantly saving time and money and overcoming sub-floor problems.
“The product has already seen a phenomenal uptake in the UK and an extremely positive reaction from fixers, contractors and specifiers, and this award is just testament to the innovative features of this product.”
As well as BAL Flexbone 2Easy, BAL also have three other uncoupling options on its range including BAL Flexbone VAried, a bonded waterproof system, BAL Rapid-Mat, a lightweight, thin uncoupling mat which one Best Innovation in 2015 and BAL Single Part FastFlex – a unique one-part S2 adhesive that also acts as an uncoupling layer
