The Benefits of Lightweight Underlayments
Marine Flooring - The Benefits of our Ultra Lightweight Underlayment
An underlayment plays an integral role in the flooring installation process due to sitting between the sub floor and the decorative top coat. The underlayment allows the coating to sit on top of a smooth surface rather than a rougher, possibly uneven marine deck.
This can be the most important aspect, especially to ensure the longevity of the flooring system. Without a good underlayment the system will always be likely to fail. The most common problem, especially in the marine industry is the effect of moisture. Cracks in the underlayment can expose the steel structure and mineral subfloor to moisture causing rust and structural damage.
Waterproof
Waterproof underlayment’s are a huge benefit in these situations as the subfloor can be kept moisture free, providing a better long term solution. This is perfect for marine vessels such as cruise ships as they are especially prone to waterproofing problems and have to regularly replace failed flooring. With a waterproof underlayment the likelihood of failed flooring is significantly decreased due to them containing no water or water soluble latex and having no joints or cracks for moisture to get though. Being easily formed and flexible the underlayment can also be sloped to facilitate proper drainage.
Lightweight
Lightweight underlayments are up to 4 times lighter than regular underlayment’s. This is particularly useful to marine vessels where weight saving is of huge importance. When used onboard one RFA ship the weight of the onboard flooring decreased by more than 12,000kg with 2,700kg of Ultra Lightweight 
Underlayment used in place of 15,000kg of regular underlayment.
The benefit of lightweight products can also be seen during the installation process. During installation it is common practice to work to tight deadlines. This becomes much easier and more obtainable when using lightweight products as installers need much less product to cover an area. The product can be moved with ease and take up less space than the much heavier traditional product.
From the perspective of hygiene and maintenance, a flexible, easily formed lightweight underlayment offers increased benefits as it can be used to create coving. This makes it easily maintainable and stops the build up of dirt or moisture in corners and cracks. This is especially enhanced by providing no cracks or joints and consistent flooring levels even where the steel decking is not flat.
Waterproof, lightweight underlayments are therefore invaluable as they provide a huge variety of benefits from being lightweight and waterproof to providing a fast and effective installation. Here at ERS Marine we use and supply 1290 IMO Ultra Lightweight Underlayment, an innovative product from SynDeck which is IMO approved, ultra lightweight, waterproof and easily formed into various shapes as well as being structurally sound, giving it the ability to solve most problems and give a long term solution in even the most difficult of environments.
Lightweight Underlayment's on RFA Ships
We have installed SynDeck ultra lightweight resin flooring on a number of RFA MOD ships.
SynDeck Full Product Range
We provide an extensive range of SynDeck marine resin flooring products.
For our Full SynDeck Product Range, please click here.
For Resin Flooring in London and the rest of the UK please visit our land based division.
