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Kemper System delivers roof refurb to Art Deco gem

2 mins

The roof of an occupied 1930s art deco municipal office building, situated in the busy town centre of Blackpool, Lancashire, required urgent repair.

Blackpool municipal building

The building was experiencing standing water on a largely zero falls roof with only four drainage outlets, meaning water had started to leak into the occupied offices below.

Kemper System’s Stratex Warm Roof system using its Kemperol V210 was specified for the 1,200 sqm roof area—offering exceptional performance and supplied as a complete integrated system of matched components.

The Kemperol V210 is a polyester-based resin, applied wet-on-wet that forms a permanently elastic, seamless, yet highly durable waterproofing membrane.

Due to limited access on site, Lancashire-based Castle Contractors had to remove 40 tonnes of stone ballast and inverted insulation on the existing roof by hand. Because of the volume of material and the busy street location of the building, skips were not suitable to dispose of the waste, so the material was lowered from the roof and then immediately taken away from site using contractor’s vehicles.

The roof was extremely complex with detailing around air-conditioning units, raised steelwork and cable trays in close proximity. Contractors also removed and replaced eight rooflights and boxed-in others that were no longer required. All existing steel work on the roof was treated and encapsulated with plywood and waterproofed with Kemperol to ensure additional life span.

Contractors had to clean the roof prior to the application of Kemper System’s Kemperol V210. The lack of drainage meant any power washing created more ponding on the roof. Therefore, contractors used a vacuum wash and dry system that automatically extracted the waste water and pumped it directly down the drainage outlets.

After cleaning the substrate, contractors applied Kemper System’s Kempertec D Primer over the Kempertherm F insulation as part of the warm roof build-up. The insulation is rigid PIR board with multi-layer foil composite face on both sides, and has tongue and groove edges for interlocking construction. Kempertec EP5 Primer was also applied prior to installation of Kemperol V210 to the roof deck and stairwell areas.

The cold-applied Kemperol V210 liquid resin saturates a non-woven reinforcement fleece that is tailored to the exact contours and details of the roof. The waterproofing is installed in a single process and cures to provide a robust waterproof membrane that cannot delaminate and is UV stable.

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