Martin Mathys N.V. is a Belgian manufacturer of decorative paints and specialist protective coatings for building maintenance. The business was founded in 1845 and has widespread product distribution throughout Europe.

Like Tor Coatings, Mathys is a subsidiary of US specialist paints manufacturer Rust-Oleum, who in turn are part of RPM Inc., one of the world’s top 10 coatings businesses.

The Mathys team approached Tor Coatings when they were looking to repair and refurbish a 2000m2 flat warehouse roof.

The roof was constructed of concrete and had been a problem for a number of years. Failed waterproofing materials had led to water ingress and this issue was becoming increasingly problematic for the firm. An effective, long term solution needed to be found.

Following a site survey, a 20 year Elastaseal cold liquid applied roof waterproofing system was specified. Elastaseal works by sealing the entire roof with a seamless, reinforced, barrier membrane, that is not only 100% waterproof but also allows the roof to breathe. This safe, durable and cost effective system is designed to extend the life of a failing roof.
Prior to the application, the roof was cleaned down and moss and stone chippings were removed. The existing membrane was primed with Torcure MC – an adhesion promoting binder and sealer.

The Elastaseal system was applied by professional contractors. As the installation does not require risk-laden hot works, the building could remain fully operational during application of coatings – which was a major benefit.

Elastaseal was an excellent solution for this particular roof as it meant detailing around pipes, protrusions, roof lights and upstands could be carried out with ease and, once coated, these areas would be fully waterproof.

The system was extended up the faces of adjoining parapet walls and terminated in special pre-cut chases. This measure is designed to prevent water from running down the wall and entering the building.

Elastaseal is compatible with almost all sound roofing materials so there was no need to strip out the existing roofing membranes (of which there were a number of different types).

It can be specified to last for time frames ranging from 10 to 25 years. The flagship 25 year system is also certified by the British Board of Agrément (BBA).

The Mathys roofing project was completed over a period of 4 weeks and represented the first phase of a site-wide roof refurbishment programme.

Founded in 1980, The IoR is a professional body of leaders of the roofing industry, including Tor Coatings. It is the only one in the UK that offers individuals involved in the roofing industry, at Supervisory and Management level, the opportunity to gain nationally recognised roofing qualifications through structured training courses.

The AGM was well attended and both that and the evening event were a great success. After being welcomed by the Lord Mayor of Belfast, all the IoR delegates, guests and sponsors were treated to a night of Irish music and dance.

For more on the IoR please click here.

For the past six years Tor Coatings has worked with the Trust on a regular basis to refurbish almost all of the flat roofs at Burnley General Hospital. The latest installation was a ‘warm roof’ system over the Edith Watson Unit.

The 1000m² roof was in a poor state of repair when Tor Coatings conducted its initial site survey. The main deck had a badly degraded asphalt coating that had been compromised by the weather. Where the sun had heated the material it had slumped, crazed and cracked. A solar reflective coating had been applied to protect it, but it had not performed as expected. Water ingress – ultimately due to the failure of the asphalt membrane – had started to become an issue for the hospital.

Following the survey, Tor produced a detailed specification. This included a definition of the project requirements, a detailed overview of the refurbishment method and products to be used, photographs of every area of the roof and CAD drawings.

An important technical requirement – for the client – was that the new roof system would reduce energy consumption for the building. Accordingly, a thermal insulation element was introduced so the roof would meet the requirements of Part L (Conservation of Heat and Power) of Building Regulations (2010) i.e. the roof must achieve a minimum U-value of 0.18m²k.

For this project the Elastaseal™ warm roof system was specified. Elastaseal™ is a liquid waterproofing system designed to provide a seamless waterproof membrane over a wide variety of existing roof substrates. In the construction of a warm roof system, thermal insulation tiles lie immediately beneath the Elastaseal™ system and on top of the roof deck and a special vapour control layer (designed to provide effective condensation control).

Once installed the Elastaseal™ warm roof system helps lower energy costs by conserving heat within the building during colder months and also lowers energy costs associated with the cooling of buildings during warmer months.

Depending on the level of specification, Elastaseal™ systems can perform for 25 years before first maintenance and are backed with a manufacturer’s guarantee.

The roof system at Burnley General Hospital was installed by a professional contractor registered with the Tor Partners scheme. The scheme – operated by Tor Coatings – ensures Tor’s systems are installed correctly by trained, experienced and competent contractors.

Achilles is one of the world’s largest and most trusted providers of supplier information in the Utilities sector. It assists and supports the procurement process by identifying, qualifying, evaluating and monitoring suppliers on behalf of major utilities organisations worldwide.

The UVDB Verify audit and assessment is undertaken independently by Achilles and provides a rigorous assessment of a company’s risk critical issues with a particularly strong focus on demonstrable compliance to Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) requirements.

The detailed assessment focused on evaluating Tor Coatings’ in-house health, safety, quality and environmental systems. The award provides assurances to potential and existing customers that Tor has effective SHEQ systems in place and that they apply these successfully to every area of their operational environment.

Sales Director, Ian Birch comments; “I believe the award is testament to Tor’s commitment to and investment in Health & Safety, Quality and the Environment, and more importantly demonstrates our commitment to our customers”.

The Achilles accreditation means buyers can approach Tor Coatings with confidence, knowing that their standards have been fully audited and assessed – which is especially important with contracts of high operational risk.

For further information please contact us.

Certifire is a globally recognised third party certification scheme for construction products with fire performance. It is designed to give confidence to specifiers, building owners and enforcement authorities and is operated by Warrington Certification, a division of Exova Warringtonfire; the world’s leading independent certification, testing and fire engineering body.

This level of independent third party product certification sets Tor Coatings apart and demonstrates the firm’s continued commitment to preserving life through the provision of world class fire protective coatings technologies.

Tor Coatings is the market leading provider of fire upgrading coating systems for communal areas and fire escape routes in the UK social housing sector.

The announcement will be of great interest to specifiers operating in the sector, who, under current fire safety legislation, are advised to give preference to products with recognised third party accreditation whenever possible.

In order to achieve Certifire approval, Tor Coatings had to pass a series of rigorous independent certification tests. These were conducted on and off site and designed to verify critical areas such as product performance, manufacturing processes and quality assurance.

The testing was carried out by Warrington Certification who will also conduct annual audits of Tor Coatings to ensure ongoing compliance with the Certifire scheme.

Specialist contractor Capital Roofing Co. Ltd picked up the award at The Roofing Awards Annual Congress held on May 14th by the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC).

The annual awards ceremony celebrates the outstanding achievements of businesses within the industry, recognising all that is best across the entire roofing spectrum.

Capital Roofing – who are members of the NFRC – won the Liquid Applied Waterproofing category for refurbishment works carried out to the roof of the Birds Eye Frozen Foods plant in Lowestoft.

The client had tasked Capital with finding a practical, long-term solution to a problem roof, which was leaking in a number of areas.

Being in close proximity to the East Anglia coastline, the roof was exposed to sea air and the elements. The original surface was largely comprised of felt and asphalt. There were many challenges to contend with including roof-mounted plant, pipes, protrusions and large air-cooling units; which are essential to the running of the facility below.

Repairing the roof with conventional materials such as felt or asphalt was not an option. It would be impossible to effectively waterproof around the plant and protrusions and also pose a fire hazard due to the hot works that would be required. Hot works would also necessitate the temporary closure of the building during installation.

Capital decided upon the Elastaseal cold liquid applied roof coating system which can be applied over an existing roof membrane using brushes and rollers and, when cured, forms a seamless, breathable, waterproof barrier.

The safe, cold, liquid nature of the product meant the business could operate with the minimum amount of disruption during the installation.

The Elastaseal system will protect the Birds Eye roof from the elements for the next 25 years, meaning it won’t need further maintenance until at least 2035! A clean down and another simple application of the coating at that time will deliver a further 10 years protection.

The system is guaranteed by Tor Coatings and has been approved by the British Board of Agrément (BBA).

Capital Roofing were presented with the award by ITV newsreader, Mary Nightingale.

Capital Roofing’s Chris Shulver said “We are delighted to have won this award as the project was one of the most challenging we have undertaken with the Elastaseal system. Our highly experienced staff worked with Tor Coatings’ John Morton and the client to successfully overcome the obstacles and deliver a very high standard of installation”.

Capital Roofing is a member of the Tor Partners scheme – a quality assurance programme operated by Tor Coatings which ensures its products are applied correctly by trainer applicators.

To see some of the projects Capital Roofing has completed using products from Tor Coatings visit http://www.tor-coatings.com/capital/

For information on the entire Tor Coatings range visit http://www.tor-coatings.com or telephone 0191 410 6611, email: enquiries@tor-coatings.com

The University is currently refurbishing the campus to allow it to continue to provide the best student facilities possible. This includes the refurbishment of a number of weather damaged roofs.

Over time the existing flat asphalt roofs were cracked, crazed and blistered by seasonal weather. The poor condition of the roofs resulted in leaks that caused disruption to the University operations. The existing roofs had a failed silver solar reflective coating that was badly degraded. Refurbishing with asphalt was not a desirable option and the University required a long-term solution to the problems it was experiencing.

Tor Coatings, a leading specialist in roof refurbishment, conducted a survey of the existing roofs. All surfaces were inspected to assess the soundness of existing substrates and coatings. This was to verify compatibility with any proposed waterproofing coating system. After a detailed inspection Elastaseal™ 15 was recommended as the best solution. This system provides a 15 year 100% waterproof membrane.

One of many benefits of using Elastaseal™ is that the system is cold liquid-applied. This allows Installation to be carried out, without the risk of fire due to the cold nature of the product. More conventional roofing substrates such as asphalt require the use of hot works, posing a potential fire risk. As Elastaseal™ is a cold liquid product there are no associated fire risks.

The Elastaseal™ system works by seamlessly encapsulating the roof, creating a new membrane that is not only completely waterproof but also allows the roof beneath to ‘breathe’ due to its vapour permeability. This ensures the roof remains leak-free for up to 25 years depending on the level of specification (BBA approved system is available).

The Elastaseal™ 15 year system was applied to the roofs by T.R.C Service Group Ltd, a member of the Tor Partners scheme. This scheme assures the client that Elastaseal™ is applied by a trained professional contractor correctly, safely and efficiently in manner compliant with the manufacturers specification.

The housing company gave residents at Redheugh and Eslington Courts, Teams, a choice of colours for the exterior of their blocks.

And the new colour, called ‘Redheugh and Eslington blue’ is being painted onto the multi-storeys as part of a £100,000 improvement program.

The housing company worked with local paint manufacturer Tor Coatings to create the new shade of blue chosen by the tenants.

Alan Sandey, Tenant Liaison Manager at the housing company, said: “This improvement work will give the local area a new lease of life as these two blocks are clearly visible as people enter Gateshead from Newcastle .”

The Gateshead Housing Company’s Chief Executive, Bill Fullen, said: “We have already changed housing in Gateshead forever by making improvements to thousands of homes.”

Torprufe™ EMF is a single pack, breathable elastomeric water based coating system, designed for high performance decoration and waterproofing of exterior masonry such as cement, concrete and cementitious renders.

The system’s high elasticity and high solids content permits effective bridging of hairline cracks and imparts excellent breathability without flaking or cracking. Torprufe™ EMF has a high level of resistance to biological attack and early resistance to rain, which provides an excellent barrier to water penetration.

Top Photo: Eslington Court tenant Robert Buckley, The Gateshead Housing Company’s Alan Sandey, and Chris Little of Tor Coatings show off a sample of the new ‘Redheugh and Eslington blue’ Torprufe™ EMF masonry paint.

Bottom Photo: A completed section of the Redheugh Court detailing Torprufe™ EMF masonry paint.

Located in the heart of London’s fashionable Knightsbridge stands this luxurious hotel – a stone’s throw away from graceful Hyde Park, Harrods, Harvey Nichols and the chic dining haunts of the city’s most stylish set.

The circular tower ensures each of the 280 guest rooms including 22 suites benefits from sweeping outward views of London’s iconic skyline. The penthouse suites–one-of-a-kind in Knightsbridge–offer 360 degrees of contemporary luxury.

The existing felt and asphalt roof had degraded due to excessive weathering which caused cracking and rivelling resulting in the problem of water ingress.

Tor Coatings was approached by Full Metal Jacket Ltd to provide a comprehensive site survey. The client needed to solve the problem quickly, effectively and without disruption to guests or administration. The client also required that the roof be fully waterproofed and supported by a guarantee.

After a thorough inspection and photographic survey by Tor Coatings, the Elastaseal™ 20 year system was specified.

Elastaseal™ provides long-term resistance to ponded water and is especially suitable for flat roofs and gutters. This completely reinforced, permanent elastomeric seamless system encapsulates the roof to provide a completely joint-free and 100% waterproof membrane.

The Elastaseal™ system is a cold-liquid applied coating that eliminates fire hazards and the inconvenience caused by using alternative hot applied systems that require the building to be vacated. By using Elastaseal™ it meant there was no disruption to ongoing operational activities of the hotel.

The system was professionally applied by Full Metal Jacket Ltd, who are a trained Tor Partner. This partnership allowed Tor to provide the client with a 20 year Latent Defects guarantee covering both the product and its application.

The investment allows the firm to manufacture – and market – a new range of aerosol spray paints under their parent company’s name, Rust-Oleum; the market-leading consumer spray paint brand in the US.

Tor’s objectives were to produce a superior paint, deliver genuine innovation, better packaging and, crucially, to manufacture the paint in Great Britain – something no other supplier of mainstream, decorative consumer spray paints to the UK DIY sector presently does.

Tor recognised that one of the major issues surrounding the UK spray paint supply chain is the fact that the main players import their products from territories including the US and Germany.

The new aerosol facility (pictured) is a one-stop-shop which allows Tor to make, fill and label spray paints at a rate of 5,000 units an hour. The rapid turnaround ensures stock-outs are not an issue. The Birtley site is now capable of producing an impressive 10 million spray paints annually.

The Rust-Oleum paints are aimed at DIY enthusiasts with an interest in home improvement and come in a range of colours and finishes, including Metallic and Textured.

The flagship of the range is Universal – the world’s first all-surface spray paint. A very quick-drying paint that can be applied to any surface without the need for a primer.

Tor launched the Rust-Oleum range in March 2009 and has already achieved national distribution with over 400 stockists on board.

For further information please visit www.rustoleumspraypaint.com