The staged remodelling and refurbishment of a large residential property on the outskirts of Watford has made full use of the different board products from the range of Marmox Ltd., as the owners have sought to create their dream home which not only meets all of their lifestyle needs, but also offers safety, warmth and high standards of acoustic insulation.
Originally beginning work on site in 2019, main contractor M & M Team first converted the loft space to create an additional bedroom and bathroom before the owners successfully sought planning permission for both rear and side additions. The latter, traditionally built extension is being fitted out as a guest suite with bathroom, while there are several further bedrooms for the family on the first floor. The 4,000 square foot property also contains a stylish kitchen, dining room and living space as well as a fully equipped gymnasium. Helping shape all of these spaces within what was originally a mid-20th century building, M & M Team’s operatives have used hundreds of square metres of Marmox Multiboard, Soundboard and – following its launch last year – the manufacturer’s Class 1 rated, non-combustible Fireboard. All of the Marmox boards, together with the special adhesive, fixing washers and other ancillary products have been purchased through Marmox stockist, Pro Tiler in Northampton. Interestingly, in a number of areas to the work, it was decided to combine two of the Marmox board types in a composite build-up to meet specific challenges.
Marmox Multiboards are manufactured from extruded polystyrene or XPS encapsulated in reinforced polymer concrete, produced in a range of thicknesses up to 60mm and offer a variety of positive physical characteristics in addition to being fully waterproof
The site manager for M & M Team, Wojtek Malyszko, commented: “This has been a very complex rebuild which has progressed as various planning permissions were obtained by the owners, nearly doubling the size of the property. As well as the bathroom we installed in the loft, there are three more on the first floor, plus the one in the guest suite and a w.c. on the ground floor next to the main entrance: which in total have consumed a lot of Multiboard. While I have used other types of backerboard in the past, it was the owners – together with their architect – who identified the Marmox from searching online. Basically, they identified it as a much more waterproof solution than moisture-resisting plasterboard and then they found out that the new Fireboard was available on the market and decided it would be better for the master bedroom due to its fire protection, insulation and sound reduction performance.
The fact that the Fireboard offers twice the decibel sound insulation compared to standard plasterboard was a key factor. Also, in the children’s bedrooms the client wanted to include a skirting detail with a shadow gap. We confirmed from the Marmox technical helpline that it is permissible to join the two different materials, so we put a layer of Multiboard over the top of the Fireboard so that we could cut out a recess. It is actually easy to cut the boards using a table-saw or a multi-tool. Then we’ve used the Marmox washers for fixing across timber or metal studwork.”
Marmox Multiboards are manufactured from extruded polystyrene or XPS encapsulated in reinforced polymer concrete, produced in a range of thicknesses up to 60mm and offer a variety of positive physical characteristics in addition to being fully waterproof. They are both light to handle and easy to cut, while still being able to sustain substantial loadings if required, such as for flooring applications. They further offer good thermal insulation performance, helping to cut condensation risk. They are both light to handle and easy to cut, while still being able to sustain substantial loadings if required, such as for flooring applications. Already attracting widespread interest from both contractors and consultants seeking to comply with the enhanced demands of the Building Safety Act, Fireboard features the same polymer modified honeycomb mortar on one or both faces and is suitable for use inside or outside a property to take a plaster or render finish. The 600 x 1200mm format boards derive their non-combustible characteristics from the rock mineral wool core and the coatings’ resistance to spread of flame, and are available in thicknesses from 20mm up to 200 mm. Offering a nominal density of 150kg/m3 the boards’ core delivers a compressive strength of 90 kN/m2 making it three times stronger than standard mineral wool, increasing its versatility and practicality for numerous applications in new-build and retrofit situations.