Collomix Press Briefing 2016
Mixing and spreading intelligently combined
The CollomixLevMix leveling compound mixer in action for spreading floor leveling compound in the "Storchennest" students' hall of residence in Bayreuth.
The "Storchennest" students' hall of residence in Bayreuth is a new building featuring 98 apartments with a floorspace of approx. 24 m2 each. The client in this case stipulated a desire for a modern and orderly appearance for the rooms and the floors. After all, where lots of dirty shoes, hard heels and luggage wheels are the order of the day, every day, the surface has to be particularly tough, hardwearing and easy to clean. Vinyl is therefore planned for the floors of the apartments, with linoleum for the corridors.
The secret for any type of floor covering lies in the quality of the subfloor. Even though a vinyl floor generally poses few problems when it comes to use once laid, any unevenness in the subfloor during laying will be seen immediately in the floor covering. Not only does this look unprofessional, it also means more punishment for the surface at these points and may even cause cracks to develop.
The task for the experienced Bachmann company from Auerbach, therefore, was to spread a self-leveling floor leveling compound on the screed prior to the laying of the surface floor coverings. Tradesman Hubert Bachmann selected JK 13 from Joka for the leveling compound, having had nothing but good experience with it in the past. The total floor area amounted to about 3,000 m2 for the rooms and the corridors, requiring around 10 t of leveling compound, or 400 sacks of 25 kg each.
When it comes to the spreading of self-leveling levelers for larger floor areas, the material is often prepared and transported using continuous mixers and feed pumps. For smaller building sites, however, this kind of machinery and equipment is generally not economical for craft businesses. The cost and effort involved in transporting and cleaning the equipment is simply not worth it relative to the actual results. In most cases, hand-operated mixers are therefore used instead. In economic terms the result is often not particularly convincing, because, depending on the size of the job, one worker is more or less permanently taken up with mixing and preparing the material.
Mixing and spreading in a single operation
The new LevMix from Collomix was designed specifically for the jobs of both preparing and pouring spreading compounds at the same time. In combination with a vacuum cleaner it is ideal for dust-free working indoors. Since it is fitted with rollers, it not only mixes and pours in a single operation, but can normally be operated by just a single person as well.
The advantages of the LevMix for preparing the leveling compound and spreading it in the apartment rooms were quickly obvious. For the mixing operation the mixer was filled with 20 liters of water first and then had three 25 kg sacks of leveling compound poured in with the mixer turned on. The mixing time was two minutes. After this the mixture has to be allowed to settle for a short time before one final short mixing operation.
The ready mixture of leveling compound is then transported with the LevMix straight to the point where it is to be spread. A tipping device and pouring spout enable the leveling compound to be poured with pinpoint accuracy and in precisely dosed amounts.
The compound was poured at several points in the room and spread with a squeegee to a height of two millimeters. Following this the easily spreading leveling compound was compacted again with a spiked roller. The result was a perfect, smooth surface without any lumps or bubbles.
The first six rooms were fully covered effortlessly by two workers in less than 45 minutes. Each apartment needed just a single batch of mixture.
Special mixing mechanism for thorough mixing
For Hubert Bachmann the particular advantages of the LevMix are self-evident: Instead of mixing sacks one at a time it is possible to prepare three times the quantity in one go. The special mixing tool in the machine ensures that the material is mixed quickly and extremely thoroughly. High shear forces thoroughly break up the mixture of powder and water and ensure that the material is intensively wetted throughout. This means that the characteristics of the leveling compound are able to develop to optimum effect, facilitating the preparation process and ensuring that the desired quality is achieved.
Being highly mobile, the LevMix makes incredibly light work of mixing jobs on the building site. The mixing can be done close to where the material is required and the compound can be poured by just one person without any great physical strain. No more carrying of heavy tubs and no more strain on the backs of the workers.
For Hubert Bachmann this job involving small and medium-sized floor areas provided yet another demonstration of the major advantages of the CollomixLevMix compared to mixing pumps.
Statement from Hubert Bachmann
"For small and medium-sized floor areas in particular, as well as buildings with lots of small spaces such as the students' hall of residence in Bayreuth, we love to use the LevMix from Collomix. It enables us to prepare the material very quickly, the mixing quality is outstanding and we really appreciate being able to pour the material on this mobile basis. The mixing results are professional and we save an enormous amount of work time."
The contracted company, Bachmann Raum from Auerbach in the Oberpfalz region, is a reputed trade business in its third generation and is a specialist partner of JOKA. The company specializes in interior design, the laying and renovation of parquetry flooring and all other types of floor covering. Bachmann-Raum is the expert to contact in the region on all questions concerned with paints, wallpaper and solar protection.
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Photo and caption:
/ Photo: Collomix LevMix.jpg
Caption:
CollomixLevMix – the new multifunctional device for pouring
leveling compounds
Dosing and filling
Mixing cycle
Moving to the pouring point
Pouring
Spreading / compacting
Perfect results
Further information:
Collomix GmbH
Herbert Geier
Head of Marketing
Daimlerstrasse 9
85080 Gaimersheim
Germany
Tel. +49 8458 – 32 98 – 0
Collomix Press Briefing "CollomixLevMix – Working with Floor Leveling Compounds", 8/3/2015