Wood floor know-how in the Orange World

A break area with a show kitchen and a large outdoor terrace invites people to get together. Orange World was completed just in time for the Würzburg Wood Days on 24th June, an industry get-together that Pallmann has been organising for many years. Under the motto "Friends in Würzburg", it was held for the first time on site in the new seminar centre. The tight schedule for the renovation required exacting coordination of the individual work steps, from the preparation of the subfloor to the laying of the wood floor made of oak high-sided slats. Naturally, the fast and hard-wearing product systems came from Pallmann and Uzin.

"During the conversion of the warehouse into the new training centre, we were able to show how fast drying our products are, how they fit together in the system and how we use them most efficiently so that the floor is ready for the event," explains Heinrich Gaier, application engineer at Pallmann. "As a team together with Uzin, everything worked perfectly."

Tight schedule meets the requirements of today's construction sites

As a professional in the field of surface finishing and thanks to the complete range for installing  wood floors, Pallmann has experience with the requirements of the construction site. "Tight deadlines are almost a standard part of today," says Gaier. As the new Orange World is to serve as a lively meeting place for employees and customers - a highly frequented and busy area - the floor had to be very resistant. This required a professional construction of the 400 m2 area. For optimal protection of the fully bonded high-slat wood floor, a triple application of the 2-component wood floor lacquer Pall-X 98 was applied for very heavily used wood floors. For the canteen and show kitchen area, the Pallmann team produced an oak table over six metres long and three metres wide. 24 people can be seated at it. "This is an absolutely unique piece made of Belgian oak and a special eye-catcher," says Pallmann Managing Director Stefan Neuberger. "It is probably the largest table in Europe made from one piece of heartwood." The table was handcrafted, sanded with the Pallmann Spider wood floor sanding machine, brushed and finally finished with the 2-component oil-wax combination Pallmann Magic Oil 2K Original. The solvent-free, 2-component wood floor oil with natural oils and waxes is resistant to mechanical and chemical stress and emphasises the colour and structure of the wood.

Machining the subfloor in the former warehouse

The substrate preparation began with shot-blasting of the existing monolithic concrete slab. Missing areas were previously filled with UZIN NC 946 rapid screed. "Shot-blasting meant that the dense concrete was well prepared for optimum adhesion of the barrier primer," explains Armin Metz, Uzin Application Engineer. The epoxy resin primer UZIN PE 460 is particularly suitable for damp, porous and unstable substrates. It was applied twice, sand blinded with quartz sand, and edge insulation strips installed. Then the levelling compound UZIN NC 170 Levelstar was applied with a machine pump in a layer thickness of 3 to 5 mm. With its extremely good flow, the cementitious levelling compound ensures very smooth, even surfaces and thus optimum results during installation. Its good absorbency, despite high strength also brings time advantages when gluing high-quality floor coverings.

Wood floor installation by professionals for professionals

For gluing the 10 mm thick on-edge slat wood floor, the experts chose Pallmann P9, a solvent-free, very low-emission 2-component PUR adhesive with particularly good adhesion. The universal wood floor adhesive sets quickly, is shear-resistant according to DIN EN 14293 and water-free. "Since the adhesive dries quickly, we were able to sand the wood floor the very next day," explains Heinrich Gaier. "We worked together as a team, alternating laying in sections and sanding with two sanding machines." The Pallmann Gecko Flex is ideal for sanding the edges, while the Pallmann Cobra belt sander and the multi-talented Pallmann Spider were used for the surface.

Fibre-reinforced joint filling for the surface and hard-wearing varnish

In the next work step, the team closed the existing joints of the upright slats with the fibre-reinforced joint filler Pall-X Filler. The joint filler was mixed with the existing wood dust on site and applied evenly to the surface with the surface trowel. The patented water-based joint filler has good stability, penetrates easily into the joints and, due to the fibres, closes even large gaps up to 3 mm wide in one application. After the very short drying time, the surface could be sanded a second time with different grit sizes. "Only professional sanding ensures a beautiful and easy-care wood floor," says Gaier.

The next step was the application of the water-based 1-component primer Pall-X 325, which is suitable for highly absorbent wood floor types and for sanded wood floors. As a final triple coat, the wood floor professionals used Pall-X 98, a water-based, 2-component wood floor lacquer for very heavily used wood floors in residential, commercial and industrial areas. "It is very suitable for high-sided slats in heavily frequented areas and ensures an easy-care and hard-wearing surface," says Gaier.

Orange World passes test with flying colours

„The new training centre and the break area are very well received by employees and customers," confirms Heinrich Gaier. Already on 24 June, 150 wood floor insatllers and other guests from all over Germany and Austria met at Pallmann's Würzburg Wood Days in the Orange World. The exchange with colleagues from the industry in the new ambience was particularly well received. We plan to offer several training courses per week. Separate rooms are available for theoretical and for practical courses, wit 80 m2 of space  for experimenting with the wood flooring. "The industry is moving fast, there are always innovations and new techniques that need to be explained," says Gaier. "Regular training and, above all, practical applications make sense.”

Investing in the future

"We are investing in the location and have already added a floor to Pallmann's existing administrative building," says Managing Director Stefan Neuberger, explaining his plans. This will house more offices, meeting rooms and the application technology department with its own new test rooms and test areas. In addition to the photovoltaic system, there is even a bee meadow on the green roof, as well as the company's own honey production. "The acquisition of the warehouse and the associated expansion of our premises with the new training centre are the perfect addition to our utilisation concept," says Neuberger.