When you’re working as a large-scale flooring contractor, efficiency is everything. Making sure you get the job done as quickly as possible for the lowest possible cost means you can maximize profit margin – but what about the other factors at play?
Quality workmanship is an obvious concern. Getting the job done quickly and cost-effectively is only a benefit if you have a satisfied customer and an intact reputation in the long run.
Then there’s safety – a consideration that larger flooring contractors in particular are increasingly aware of. When you employ a large team of fitters, you’ve got a responsibility to make sure the products and equipment – including adhesives – you supply them with are the safest they can be.
Doubts about DCM-free?
Switching to DCM-free flooring adhesives is undoubtedly safer for your team – but concerns about the wider impact are holding many contractors back from making the switch.
What if DCM-free is slower? What if the fitters don’t like the smell? What if the results aren’t as good? If you’re asking yourself these questions, you aren’t alone – and if you need some reassurance from an experienced flooring contractor that’s already made the leap, you’re in the right place.
Meet Saint Flooring
Established in 2008, Saint Flooring based in Cheshire is a leading approved flooring and interior installer to the UK new house build industry, with five national offices servicing many of the country’s leading property developers. The business installs upwards of 1 million square metres of flooring each year.
The company has built a reputation for excellent based on quality work, superb customer service and a strong sense of responsibility towards both people and environment. They’ve invested heavily in equipment and facilities that enables them to minimise waste from their operations, and also ensure the waste that is generated is diverted from landfill as much as possible.
In March of this year, Saint Group made the decision to switch its carpet adhesives exclusively to the Gekko G25 compact DCM-free Premium Carpet Spray. This versatile adhesive offers superb coverage (4m2 per 500ml) and compatibility with most textile-based floorcoverings, with a fast drying time and a low-odour formulation – plus it’s free from harmful dichloromethane.
We caught up with Alan Aitken, Regional Director for Saint Group, to find out more about why the business decided to make the switch.
Hi Alan. We’re really impressed with Saint Flooring’s overall ethos – can you tell us a bit more about the business, and what first attracted you to Gekko products?
Saint Flooring is a specialist flooring contractor in that we fit flooring almost exclusively in the new housing market, working closely with four and five star property developers. Across the group we have 112 employed staff covering all our key departments from operations to warehousing, with everyone playing their part in the Saint Flooring structure. Further to that we have upwards of 100 installers, with a solid mixture of sub-contractors and employed labour – all passionate about delivering top quality installations for our valued clients.
As a company we pride ourselves on doing everything we can to keep our people safe while also giving back to the environment. We’ve invested heavily in our recycling program, where we recycle everything from carpet, underlay, vinyl and LVT to cardboard and plastic packaging. The health and wellbeing of all our staff – employed and sub-contractors – has always been at the forefront of our minds. This was a strong driver in our decision to move away from market alternatives that contained harmful additives.
You’re now using G25 right across the business – can you tell us what drove you to make the change?
Rachael Morgan came to see me in February this year and I was immediately impressed – not just with the product but with Gekko overall. Previous manufacturers have promised to deliver what Gekko have achieved, but haven’t managed to obtain the quality and consistency Gekko have.
The biggest factor for us then – and now – is the support Gekko have offered us. They helped us to set up product trials right across the business so I could get a hands-on opinion of the product, and the feedback from our installers was extremely positive. To have that alongside the health and wellbeing benefits made the G25 a no-brainer for us. As a market leader in the New House Build Market, we hope our change will inspire fellow contractors to make the right choice for the industry and their staff/installers.
What’s the feedback from fitters been like?
Our installers have had nothing but positive feedback about the G25 Spray Adhesive, from the low to non-existent odour, to the extremely good contact it has upon bonding floor coverings.
Across the group, our installers have expressed an appreciation of our willingness to change, and to put their health and wellbeing at the top of our agenda day in, day out. At Saint Flooring we value our installation base and they are 100% part of the family. We want to ensure that continues for many years to come.
Do you think you’ll expand your use of Gekko products in future?
Definitely. Rachael has discussed some of the forthcoming products including a new DCM-free spray for vinyl, and also the DCM-free contact adhesives. We’re very interested in trying these and seeing the benefits they can offer for our team. Because of our focus on recycling, we’re also watching Gekko with interest because we understand that a recycling program for spray adhesive canisters is currently in development, which could help us to divert even more waste from landfill.
So there you have it – making the switch to a DCM-free product can be simple and seamless when you work with Gekko. If you’re interested in setting up a product trial within your own business, regardless of size, simply get in touch – we’d love to show you how Gekko products can make a real difference on safety, without compromising on performance. Learn more about the risks of dichloromethane here – and check out this real-life story from a flooring contractor who suspects his health was impacted by chemicals in floor adhesive.
We’d like to say a huge thanks to Alan for chatting to us and of course, for trusting the Gekko brand with Saint Flooring’s hard-won reputation – if you’re a large contractor and you’ve been reassured by his experience, contact us today to discuss your journey with safer adhesives.