New number for BAL Technical Advisory Service

BAL have launched a new phone number for their Technical Advisory and Specification Service (TAS).

The new number – 0330 030160 – replaces BAL’s previous 0845 number and costs no more than calls to geographic numbers and are included in free call packages from mobiles or landlines.

BAL TAS can also be contacted through the standard 01782 591120 number.

Handling approximately 50,000 calls a year, BAL TAS provides free assistance, advice and specifications for all aspects of tiling installation to professional fixers, tiling contractors, architects and homeowners. Whether assistance is required on a particularly complex tiling design, or simple product advice, BAL experts are available on the phone or via https://www.bal-adhesives.com/ask-an-expert-form/

What’s more, the team will provide assistance whatever the material used, from any manufacturer.

One of the first technical advisory services to be set up in the country, BAL TAS offers support like no other brand because they are backed by more than 50 years of heritage by tiling experts with many years’ experience and expertise in tiling and construction.

As well as offering a comprehensive technical advisory service, BAL also provide on-site project support through it’s nationwide team of Product Support Technicians (PSTs).

BAL is the only UK tile adhesive manufacturer to have specialist PSTs. BAL PSTs offer practical knowledge, project advice and training on the phone, online and on the road.

For more information visit https://www.bal-adhesives.com/about-us/support/

BAL named as Top-6 firm for sustainable manufacturing

Building Adhesives Ltd has been shortlisted as one of the top-six best performing companies in the UK for sustainable manufacturing.

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Building Adhesives Ltd, which specialises in the development and manufacture of tiling and decorating products, was named as a finalist in The Manufacturer MX Awards 2015, sponsored by the Natwest.

The national awards, run by The Manufacturer magazine and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, celebrated the best in manufacturing excellence across all industries within the UK at a special awards ceremony at The ICC in Birmingham in November.

To be shortlisted, Building Adhesives had to demonstrate a company-wide commitment and proven business case for sustainability.

Judges considered how the business has a sustainable approach to improve commercial performance, competitiveness, employee engagement, and customer and supplier perception. Judges also looked for innovative practices, future sustainability plans and a commitment to reducing its impact on the environment.

Peter Bell, Managing Director at Building Adhesives, said: “Being named as one of the top-six manufacturing companies in the UK for sustainability is a huge achievement for the firm.

“To be shortlisted is evidence of our investment in our employees, equipment, processes and external accreditation to ensure our business activities do not compromise the environment for future generations, and that there is a sustainable demand for our products that meet the needs of the customer (environmentally and in use).”

Nick Hussey, CEO of Hennik Group, publishers of The Manufacturer magazine and organisers of the awards said “It is an incredible achievement to have been shortlisted – these are the largest and most rigorously judged awards in the sector so any company being shortlisted will have provided evidence to the judges of a superior level of understanding of what makes modern UK manufacturing so vibrant and competitive.

“Manufacturing is very much alive and well and the shortlisted companies are exemplars of what advanced manufacturing looks like in terms of sustainability, innovation and world class competitiveness”.

BAL helps protect 3,000 Amazonian villagers

Nearly 3,000 indigenous villagers and 80,000 trees in the Peruvian rainforest have been protected thanks to a partnership between BAL and Cool Earth – Europe’s fastest growing environmental charity.

Cool Earth works with villagers in South America to prevent rainforests from being cut down. Funding a local trust, Cool Earth makes the local community the legal custodians of the land, and uses community rangers and satellite imagery to monitor and protect the rainforest 24/7 from illegal activity.

Supported by celebrities such as Vivienne Westwood, Ricky Gervais, and Kate Moss, and backed by leading environmentalist such as Sir David Attenborough and Sir Nicholas Stern, the charity institutes sustainable employment programmes, and supports schools and clinics, so that indigenous rainforest communities do not suffer from lost logging income.

As part of its partnership with Cool Earth, BAL funds the protection of one square metre of rainforest in for every square metre of BAL’s tile adhesive range used.

Since partnering with Cool Earth, BAL has helped protect 333 acres and 79,920 trees – locking in 86,580 tonnes of CO2 that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere contributing to global warming and climate change.

Alex Underwood, Head of Marketing at BAL – the UK’s market-leader in tiling solutions – said the company was proud of its environmental commitment and partnership with Cool Earth.

“BAL is proud to be the only company in the tile industry to have become a partner of Cool Earth where fixers, contractors and specifiers using our products are making a measurable difference to protecting the rainforest.

“Thanks to our partnership, 16 indigenous Ashaninka villages in Peru’s Ene Valley have been linked together to shield millions of acres of neighbouring forest from illegal logging and coca which is destroying the forest.

“As well as protecting the local populace, Cool Earth’s ground-breaking work has helped protect 19 endangered species and shelter more than 8,000 species of animal at risk.

“Our partnership with Cool Earth is just part of our commitment to the environment, which also includes setting the highest standards in environmental management through the product life cycle from raw materials sourcing, product manufacture and consumer use.”

So far Cool Earth has already saved over 541,000 acres from deforestation – an area larger than Greater London. Protecting some 129 million trees has prevented over 140 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

To find out more about BAL’s partnership with Cool Earth visit www.coolearth.org/bal

Introducing BAL Micromax2 Anthracite

BAL, the market-leader in tiling solutions, has introduced a new Anthracite shade to extend its Micromax2 range of super-fine, flexible wall and floor grouts. The new Anthracite shade is available in 2.5kg, 5kg and 10kg bags and is also supported with the launch of a colour matched silicone sealant.

The ashen-hued grout is the perfect match for darker tiles that don’t quite pair with Ebony, the darkest shade of the BAL Micromax2 family. As trends for ‘different shades of grey’ grow, the BAL Micromax2 range now offers a full colour spectrum within its pallet of colours.

BAL Micromax2 was developed with fixers and contractors across the country to create the ultimate grout for tiling; a grout that meets every demand of a tiler and their customers.

It’s technologically enhanced formulation ensures enduring good look and consistent colour with no efflorescence, patchiness or shading, even across the largest areas. What’s more, its super smooth formulation allows for easy application into gaps as fine as 1mm, while its super strong and flexible characteristics mean it is suitable for joints as wide as 20mm.

BAL Micromax2 comes with built-in Microban® protection to stop the growth of bacteria and unsightly black mould, to further ensure that perfect results last the lifetime of your tiles.

As well as top product performance, fixers, contractors and specifiers can enjoy the benefits of BAL’s 25 year guarantee, on and off-site project support and expert technical advice to give them peace of mind that their projects will last the test of time.

BAL Micromax2 is also available in White, Manilla, Jasmine, Pebble, Chocolate, Gunmetal, Smoke, Ebony and Cocoa, as well as the new Anthracite.

Get ultimate waterproof protection with BAL Tank-it

Suitable for internal or external waterproofing, BAL Tank-it is the new, ultimate tanking system formulated with innovative technology from the UK’s market-leaders in tiling solutions.

Highly polymer-modified, BAL Tank-it is a two-part, rapid-setting product which provides complete protection and can be tiled after only 90 minutes.

Easy to use, BAL Tank-it can be applied by either simply using a standard 4mm notched trowel and float, brush or roller. As it conforms to BS EN 14891 classification it can also be applied outside for projects including terraces, balconies and fountains. Furthermore, BAL Tank-it is perfect for waterproofing areas of total immersion such as swimming pools, hydrotherapy pools, spas and hot tubs.

With BAL Tank-it no priming is required, producing significant time and cost savings on key installations for tilers and contractors.

BAL Tank-it components – 5kg powder, 5l liquid and 20m scrim tape – are each sold separately allowing ease of use on larger commercial and domestic products.

As well as providing ultimate all-round performance, ultimate workability and ultimate versatility, BAL Tank-it comes with a complete 25 year guarantee when used as part of a full BAL system solution providing market-leading peace of mind on all installations.

Users can also rely on BAL for complete project support. No other brand can offer so much experience and expertise including free technical advice, free on-site consultancy, free training and free specification service.

Now available in stockists nationwide, BAL Tank-it is the revolutionary new waterproofing system for complete protection in any environment, ensuring your projects look great and last the test of time.

Discover more here

Introducing BAL Level Max – the new all-in-one leveller

With innovative Fibre Strand Technology (FST), bed depths up to 80mm in a single application and suitable for use over most bases including timber at 3mm, BAL Level Max levelling compound is the latest innovation from the market-leader in tiling; BAL.

Already received with great acclaim by tilers and flooring contractors, BAL Level Max combines the benefits of BAL’s levelling expertise to provide users with a complete, all-in-one flooring product for preparing internal floor surfaces for the installation of tiles, natural stone, vinyl or soft furnishings.

With a max bed depth of 80mm in a single application – the largest depth in the market –BAL Level Max easily levels backgrounds with varying heights.

Competitively priced, BAL Level Max reduces overall project costs and duration significantly with easier and faster installation. With an outstanding flow rate and 30 minutes working time it is easy to screed, while it accepts foot traffic in three hours and can be tiled after only four hours.

What’s more, BAL Level Max only requires a depth of 3mm over timber, whereas many alternate products in the UK require a minimum bed depth of 10mm. This means BAL Level Max can provide over three-times more coverage than these competitor products.

As seen here  BAL Level Max is suitable for levelling most backgrounds and provides superior performance with key features including added flexibility and strength, self-smoothing capability, low shrinkage and a protein free formulation.

BAL Level Max is extremely versatile making it suitable for domestic and commercial projects as it is pumpable and achieves excellent coverage of 5m² at 3mm bed depth.

Available in 25kg packs, BAL Level Max is perfect prior to the installation of tiles or floor coverings even on key installations such as Under Floor Heating.

In addition to its outstanding performance, users will also enjoy market-leading peace of mind on all installations with a complete 25 year guaranteed system solution and unrivalled technical support, including BAL Technical Advisory Service and on-the-road Product Support Technicians for project support from start to finish.

Now Available through hundreds of stockists nationwide, BAL Level Max is the ultimate, high-performance leveller giving you the perfect start to your flooring project.

BAL specified for Huddersfield Leisure Centre

BAL, the UK’s market leaders in full tiling solutions, have played a crucial role in the development of a new 12,500m², £36m leisure centre in the heart of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

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Recently opened, Huddersfield Leisure Centre features a range of top sporting and leisure facilities, including a 25m competition pool, 20m training pool with moveable floor and a family leisure pool with interactive water features, water flume and sidewinder.

What’s more, visitors can enjoy squash courts, a 15m climbing wall, bouldering wall, twelve court sports hall, large gym, cycle studio and combat room.

The centre also features changing facilities, offices, meeting rooms and a large café.

The new centre was designed to meet the clients brief for a multi-purpose sporting and leisure facility for the local community which compliments the existing street pattern and contributes to the regeneration of the town and surrounding region.

BAL tile adhesives, grouts, sealants and preparation products were all specified for the project which featured more than 10,000m² of tiling in the main changing rooms, upstairs changing rooms, pool surround, leisure pool and main swimming pools.

BAL worked extensively with project architects AHR, main contractors BAM, tiling contractors The Tiling Company and tile suppliers Ceramique Internationale Ltd from design to completion, including specification support from BAL’s Technical Advisory Service (TAS) and on-site support from BAL’s expert Product Support Technicians.

David Longbottom, Specification Manager at Ceramique Internationale, said: “We called upon BAL at the very beginning of the project for their technical advice and full NBS specification for the tiling, and we would like to thank them for their hard work on this prestigious project.

“BAL are a tried and trusted manufacturer, always providing quality tiling products, with back-up support and technical advice from design to build.”

BAL products used at Huddersfield Leisure Centre included numerous preparation products such as BAL Quickset Cement, BAL Quickset Render, BAL Prime APD and BAL Bond SBR (acrylic primer for walls and floors, bonding agent for walls and floors respectively).

A number of different tile adhesives were utilised throughout the project including BAL Single Part Flexible (flexible adhesive), BAL Supercover Rapid Flexible (fast-setting, high yield tile adhesive), BAL Rapidset Flexible (fast-setting flexible adhesive) and BAL Max Flex Fibre (flexible, fibre-reinforced adhesive).

The stunning tiling work was completed with grouts including BAL Microflex White, BAL Superflex White, BAL Superflex Wide Joint in Grey, White and Limestone, BAL Grout White and BAL Easypoxy White. Movement joints and edges were sealed with BAL Micromax Smoke (flexible, anti-microbial silicone sealant).

BAL Rapid-Mat wins award for innovation

BAL Rapid-Mat, the revolutionary new uncoupling solution, has been voted by industry experts as “Best Innovation” at The Tile Association Awards 2015.

TTA Awards 2015-Best Innovation-L to R-Joe Simpson

One of the most significant innovations in the uncoupling mat market for more than 15 years, the BAL Rapid-Mat is a new solution to accommodate lateral movement for tile installations encountered by fixers, contractors and specifiers.

What’s more, BAL Rapid-Mat is the only uncoupling system on the market that is fully guaranteed for 25 years by the suppliers.

Alex Underwood, Head of Marketing at BAL, commented:  “Being named as the Best Innovation by industry experts is proof of Rapid-Mat’s position as the cutting-edge solution in the uncoupling mat market. Delivering a number of unique benefits compared to traditional cavity mat systems. BAL Rapid-Mat gives fixers and contractors peace of mind that their projects will stand the test of time.

“Thinner, lighter and faster – the BAL Rapid-Mat has been highly engineered by our team of technicians and scientists to transform the uncoupling mat market and help meet the needs of the tiling industry.”

Designed in conjunction with fixers, contractors and installers, BAL Rapid-Mat is designed for problematic floors, such as those that may be subject to lateral movement stresses. It is perfect with underfloor heating, timber substrates and other challenging backgrounds.

Furthermore, it helps reduce project costs and duration, requiring 20% less adhesive than traditional cavity uncoupling mats, which need almost “an extra layer of adhesive” to fill the surface cavities or dimples. The saving amounts to using 1.5 kg less adhesive per square metre, a major saving of 45 kg adhesive per 30 metre roll.

BAL Rapid-Mat saves more time on-site by being faster and simpler to lay than other mats, due to its lightweight profile and printed cutting guidelines. In addition it can be laid either side uppermost, unlike cavity-based mats which require cavities to be on top. Each piece of BAL Rapid-Mat is simply butt-jointed to the next, without the need to buy and apply additional tapes.

Being only 1mm thick, compared to 4mm for other traditional cavity systems, means it also occupies less storage space. A full 30 metre roll also weighs just 8.5 kg, making it easy to transport and carry around the site. The slimness also makes it ideal for laying over existing tiling, as it offers a minimal increase in floor height.

BAL Rapid-Mat is available through hundreds of stockists nationwide and can be purchased by the roll or by the metre.

The annual TTA Awards are the most prestigious awards in UK tiling industry, recognising excellence throughout the industry. This award is the latest in a long series of TTA successes for BAL, the long-established market leader in professional tile adhesives and grouts.

 

BAL breaks new ground with launch of high spec training centre

A state-of-the art £300,000 Innovation and Technology Centre (ITC) has been officially opened by the leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council Councillor Mohammad Pervez at Building Adhesives Ltd in Trentham.

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Councillor Pervez opened the Centre alongside the Company’s Managing Director Peter Bell at a special launch event on March 11th.

Founded in 1963, Building Adhesives Ltd is the market leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of tile adhesives, grouts, sealants, and associated building products through its BAL and DUNLOP brands.

Revolutionising training in the tiling sector, the purpose-built ITC delivers a significant upgrade on the firm’s current BAL Training Academy and features a state-of-the-art demonstration auditorium, practical training bays and meeting rooms.

Providing the perfect platform for training in tiling techniques, skills and product use, the multi-use venue is available to a range of people in the tiling and construction industries including apprentices, installers, architects, specifiers, distributors, retailers and colleges.

A full programme of courses is available at the ITC, helping to raise standards across the industry and support vocational qualifications. Bespoke course are also available to suit individual requirements.

Mr Bell said the investment in the new facility was part of the company’s overall strategy as the market-leader to increase its training provision and help raise standards across the industry.

“The opening of the Innovation and Technology Centre is proof that we are committed to not only providing the best products, but also the complete package of support for our customers, distributors and suppliers including technical support and training,” he said.

“Building Adhesives Ltd was founded in the city in 1963 as the development centre for the British Ceramic tile industry and we were the first adhesive manufacturer to offer industry training – and the first to open a training centre – so training and development has always been fundamental for us.

From our highly qualified team of scientists, to our technical advisory team, customer support teams, marketing and administrative departments, we are dedicated to leading the industry in innovation and training. The Innovation and Technology Centre provides another milestone in the construction industry and cements our place as the market leader.

“The construction of the Innovation and Technology Centre is also evidence of our continuing commitment to manufacturing in the city of Stoke-on-Trent and providing the community with a superb training facility to develop skills and support industry qualifications.”

Dave Rowley, BAL Training Manager, who has been leading training at the company for more than 20 years, added:  “The Innovation and Technology Centre provides a significant enhancement of our training facilities and allows us to cater for a larger number of delegates than ever before.

“The large auditorium provides seats for 40 delegates with a total capacity for 100 delegates and features high spec A/V and projection facilities and removable training bays for high impact practical demonstrations and theoretical presentations.

“We can also provide CPDs and presentations in our state-of-the-art meeting room, while our practical training bays can be altered to provide realistic environments as the training course requires.”

A number of college students have already taken part in training at the centre, and bookings are now being taken for upcoming courses.

For information on BAL courses at the ITC contact Janet Webster , Training Administrator on 01782 591120 or email training@building-adhesives.com

Everything for tiling – properly guaranteed

Tilers nationwide can now source everything they need from a single supplier, all covered by a 25 year guarantee, thanks to BAL. The market leader in professional tile adhesives and grouts fully guarantees everything bearing its name, including BAL Rapid-Mat, its remarkable new uncoupling solution. This has taken the market by storm, being the UK’s first and only uncoupling mat fully guaranteed for 25 years by the supplier.

BAL Rapid-Mat in action

BAL Head of Marketing, Alex Underwood, said, “We understand how important a proper guarantee is to professionals and their customers. Everything we supply comes with a formal 25 year guarantee, so that fixers can have complete confidence in their first-choice tile adhesives, grouts, uncoupling solutions, levellers, primers and preparation products, sealants, admixtures and more. BAL has always believed that if a company really has faith in what it supplies, it will back it with a written guarantee.”

Dave Stott, winner of the TTA Tiler of the Year award 2013, said, “Fixers do not want vague assurances from suppliers. We expect a clear, written guarantee so that we know where we stand with products. BAL is the only manufacturer to offer a straightforward 25 year promise, which it puts on its web site for everyone to see. Apart from the guarantee, which is even printed on the mat, BAL Rapid-Mat is so much better in every way than anything else. It is thinner, lighter and needs a lot less adhesive. Once you have tried BAL Rapid-Mat, you do not want to use anything else.”

BAL Rapid-Mat is designed for problematic floors, such as those that may be subject to lateral movement stresses. It is perfect with underfloor heating, timber substrates and other challenging backgrounds. It reduces project time by being faster to install, as demonstrated here. It also delivers major cost benefits by using over 20% less adhesive than cavity-based uncoupling mats.

BAL Rapid-Mat is available through hundreds of stockists nationwide and, unlike other uncoupling mats, is covered by BAL’s full 25 year guarantee.