Public buildings such as community halls are regularly used for various gatherings. Accordingly, their premises should be resilient. The community hall in Oberlauchringen was completely renovated in 2024, and in addition to the general requirements for resilience it was important to adhere to a strict schedule and budget. When laying tiles in the building, the craftspeople opted for PCI products that are reliable, efficient, fast and easy to process.

The Oberlauchringen community hall in the municipality of Lauchringen in the district of Waldshut was built in 1968 and expanded in 2001/2002 to include group and meeting rooms. The community hall is mainly used for school sports at the elementary school and for local club sports. Designed for about 450 people, the hall is also used for dance and music events. Due to the general age-related need for renovation, the municipal council decided to carry out a general refurbishment of the building.

Challenging tiling work

The Jehle architects’ office worked together with the company Montalbano + Ditton from Lauchringen which laid a total of 400 m² of tiles. The wooden staircase leading to the stage in the community hall was a particular challenge when laying the tiles.

Wood places special demands on tile laying. Tiles have a hard time adhering to this critical substrate because wood has a natural tendency to swell or shrink depending on the ambient conditions. Priming, isolating and a two-component adhesive are normally required to bond ceramic coverings permanently. This process makes laying tiles on wood complex and time-consuming.

In this situation, it was necessary to find a suitable adhesive that would adhere to wood and cure quickly. PCI Flexcoll meets this requirement because it is flexible and adapts to the substrate. As PCI Flexcoll does not require priming, the staircase, consisting of three-layer spruce wood panels, was simply sanded and vacuumed before the adhesive was applied. Due to the special stress on the stairs, for example during events, the installation was carried out using the combined method. By applying the adhesive to the underside of the ceramic tiles at the same time, a reliable bedding of the ceramic tiles was achieved. PCI Flexcoll is a one-component SMP adhesive that can be processed directly from the bucket. This saved the craftspeople additional worksteps and allowed them to carry out the worksteps directly one after the other. This resulted in the tiles being laid quickly and efficiently. The adhesive reacts with air or substrate moisture which ensures reliable and fast curing. Coverings laid with PCI Flexcoll can be exposed to loads after one day. The stairs could therefore be grouted just one day after laying and released for use after the grouting material had cured.

PCI Flexcoll is free of solvent and isocyanate and low-emission in accordance with GEV-EMICODE EC 1 PLUS. The product enables all types of tiles, slabs, mosaics and natural stone to be laid quickly and easily, and not just on wood. Other critical substrates such as metal or young cement screeds can also be efficiently covered with PCI Flexcoll. This adhesive can even be used for repairs in underwater areas.

Successful refurbishment thanks to proven products

The tiling of the wooden staircase was one - albeit challenging - aspect of the extensive general refurbishment. Other PCI products were used for tiling a total of 400 m² in the entire building, such as the adhesive and protective primer PCI Gisogrund and the flexible waterproofing slurry PCI Seccoral 1K for waterproofing under ceramic coverings. In addition, the polymer-modified tile adhesive PCI FT Flex was used which is particularly suitable for large-format fully-vitrified tiles. The ceramic coverings were grouted with PCI FT Megafug.

Thanks to the advantages of PCI Flexcoll, it was possible to carry out a challenging step in the extensive refurbishment in a time-saving and efficient manner. The Oberlauchringen community hall was reopened in September 2024. The construction site was supervised by the responsible PCI specialist consultant Markus Nagel.