Dear all,
Thanks to those who took the time to respond to my enquiry about floor coverings. I didn’t get many replies, and I’m still not sure how to proceed, so if anyone has any more information my initial enquiry follows this brief overview:
- Whatever used needs to be extremely hardwearing
- Be careful that concrete/water mix used is the correct ratio, too little water can cause problems later on
- Several people suggested using vinyl
- Ensure flooring is monochrome to make it easier to see pests and dirt
- Air-con can be harnessed in new buildings to minimise off-gassing problems: "If you have air con with external air coming in, off-gassing shouldn't be so much a problem, especially if this is left full on, on max air intake, before you move in"
- Sealed concrete floors have proven a good solution for at least one institution, remaining intact for at lest 5 years so far, although what they were sealed with is not known...
Best wishes,
Charlie
Miss Charlie Whitehead
Heritage Officer (Archivist) - Robert Welch Design Archive
Robert Welch Designs Ltd, Lower High Street, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, GL55 6DY, UK
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Date: Mon, 9 May 2016 16:46:26 +0100
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Specifying floor/wall coverings for archive repository
To: [log in to unmask]
Dear all,
I have been asked to specify floor and wall paints for a new build archive store.
If my understanding of PD 5454 is correct, ideally anything used needs to be solvent free. This means that the walls should be fairly straightforward, just a low-VOC water based emulsion, and I was under the impression that the least done to the floor the better providing the concrete is sealed somehow to minimise dust.
Our operations director has suggested painting the concrete floor using a 2 pack epoxy floor paint as it is really hard wearing, but this is solvent-based. I understand that no covering should off-gas, however it would be counterproductive if the covering needed to be regularly replaced or repainted. The room will contain mobile racking and we had considered a vinyl covering but that seemed to come with its own issues.
The NARA in America seem to have applied water-based epoxy coatings directly to shot blasted concrete, so that it bonds: https://www.archives.gov/preservation/technical/tip13.pdf (page 10) but it appears they had this preparation specially formulated which is unlikely to be cost effective in our case as a small business collection.
Is there anything in the UK which we can easily purchase off the shelf that will meet the standard as close as is possible? I have been looking for a long time before it dawned on me that somebody out there may already know the answer, or provide a solution which we haven't yet considered. I'd be very grateful for any advice/recommendations if anyone can help.
Please reply off-list to: [log in to unmask] and I can compile a summary of replies if others are interested.
Best wishes,
Charlie
Miss Charlie Whitehead
Heritage Officer (Archivist) - Robert Welch Design Archive
Robert Welch Designs Ltd, Lower High Street, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, GL55 6DY, UK
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