Onduline provides ideal solution for supermarket chain
05 January 2024When a prominent supermarket chain embarks on a comprehensive roof refurbishment of one of its busiest stores, ensuring minimal disruption to daily business operations is imperative. This was the task given to Jupiter Construction, who not only had to complete the roofing project quickly and efficiently, but also had to utilise a roofing system that imposed no adverse effects on the stores functionality.
Jupiter Construction is one of the leading principal contractors in the North of England and works closely with the popular supermarket chain, overseeing a strict maintenance programme across multiple stores. After the Batley store in West Yorkshire suffered persistent roof leaks caused by aging bituminous felt and broken tiles, the decision was made to fully refurbish the 15,000m2 roof to mitigate any further issues.
Minimal disturbance to the supermarket
Nigel Stocks, Contracts Manager at Jupiter Construction, highlighted the unique challenges of carrying out construction work on a fully functioning supermarket store: “One of the key criteria of the project was ensuring the supermarket could operate as normal, so it was vitally important that we minimised noise, dust, and other disturbances that could potentially impact customer experience and employee productivity.
ISOLINE® LOW LINE sub-roof
“It was with this in mind that led us to Onduline and its ISOLINE® LOW LINE sub-roof system. Unlike traditional systems, ISOLINE® allows you to retain the existing felt and baton underneath, as opposed to a full strip and re-roof, and therefore eliminates the need to close the store during the construction work.
“The retention of the felt and baton provided our team with a surface to work from when installing the ISOLINE® LOW LINE bituminous sheets, which not only minimised the risk of anything falling through the roof during construction, but also offered an increased degree of weather protection. We adopted a phased approach to the project to ensure we could fully install the ISOLINE® system on the section we were working on that particular day, meaning the system protected the roof from any adverse weather overnight and possible water ingress.”
ISOLINE® LOW LINE is the only sub-roof system in the UK to be BRE tested and BBA Accredited to as low as 10o with a 30-year guarantee. Specifically designed for use on low pitch roofs, this lightweight bituminous underlay sheeting is fixed below the primary tile or slate roof covering, acting as the primary waterproofing layer of a roof. Thus, making roof tiles a secondary line of defence and enabling the pitch of the roof to be much lower than the minimum as recommended by the tile manufacturer.
Due to the corrugations, ISOLINE® LOW LINE allows increased ventilation and airflow both above and below the sheet, and tile battens positioned above the corrugations allow moisture to drain to the eaves which, with the enhanced ventilation, maintains excellent moisture control within the cavity.
Easy to carry, handle and fix, the non-slippery sheets are simple to cut with vertical overlaps embossed into the sheet. This makes installation even quicker and easier as it takes away the need to measure and it also removes confusion when it comes to knowing how much to overlap.
ISOLINE LOW LINE proved instrumental in overcoming the challenges
Nigel concluded: “The ISOLINE® LOW LINE system from Onduline proved instrumental in overcoming the unique challenges of refurbishing a fully operational supermarket roof. The innovative design and the support of Onduline’s technical team not only ensured the project's success but also contributed to the overall efficiency and functionality of the store.
“The feedback from the supermarket has been overwhelmingly positive and the retailer appreciated our adherence to timescales, our methodology, and the crucial aspect of keeping the store live.
The success of the refurbishment and the use of Onduline’s ISOLINE® LOW LINE system has given us a blueprint of how we will approach similar projects in the future."
