Kirstie Manning, National Specification Manager at Wilsonart, explores how improper waste disposal, shortages of experienced tilers, and health and safety concerns can create a host of delays on new-build housing projects.
There are few industries where the old adage ‘time is money’ is more appropriate than in construction. After all, it stands to reason that the more efficiently a team can complete work on one phase of a housing project, the sooner they can move on to support on another, helping to ensure that the whole project can be completed on time and within budget.
However, this desire for efficiency, coupled with the pressure to ensure projects are carried out quickly and affordably, must be carefully balanced with the need to ensure works have been completed to a high standard, and that waste is kept to a minimum and disposed of responsibly. After all, with fixed penalty notices commonly issued for non-compliance with relevant waste disposal and environmental regulations, the cost of negligent practices across a whole site quickly starts to add up, and incur unwanted delays.
Poor disposal methods and material choice can cause costly delays
When it comes to bathroom installations, fitting traditional tiling with water-based grout and adhesive mixes can use large amounts of water, and leave lots of residue behind on site.
For many construction professionals, keen to be efficient on a project, the quickest and easiest solution for disposing of grout and adhesive residue may appear to be to simply pour it down the drain. This, however, is among the worst possible disposal methods, and
leads to clogged or damaged pipes, which new build properties are especially susceptible to as their foundations continue to settle. As such, attempting to cut corners in this way can come back to bite developers, with the potential to cause costly delays.
The mixing process itself, meanwhile, can be incredibly water intensive, especially if taps are left running for washing tools and other materials after use, having the potential to add significantly to the overall cost of the project.
Moreover, accruing large amounts of single-use plastic waste, such as spacers, wedges and their packaging, can add further to the overall waste of a project, and lead to increased waste management costs through the likes of skip hire, transport, and landfill fees. Placed in these terms, the potential problems, cost, and wastage stemming from fitting traditional bathroom tiling is stark.
Another common delay to bathroom projects relates to the choice of materials. As traditional bathroom tiling tends to be so heavy, it can be difficult to handle and transport to site, particularly if there is a shortage of skilled labour available to assist. In addition to the increased amount of time that this can create on a project, it also raises health andsafety concerns around the handling of materials, with any downtime caused by injury potentially leading to further delays.
These issues are exacerbated by a shortage of experienced tilers, with the number operating across the UK having fallen by approximately 30% since 2010. 1 Given the complex and delicate nature of the tiling process, installing these materials can, by their very nature, serve to slow down a bathroom project if the fitter doesn’t possess the necessary skills and experience.
Why smart wall surface selection really matters
1 https://construct-it.uk/a-skilled-trade-on-the-brink-why-tiling-risks-being-left-behind
The impact of smart wall surface selection in mitigating these issues cannot be overstated. Choosing the right materials ensures that surfaces are durable, water resistant, faster to install, and easy to clean, all of which are essential for busy families, tenants and homeowners.
By minimising the amount of water being wasted, as well as the amount of adhesive and grout residue, and single-use plastic waste generated on site, developers are discovering the benefits of using bathroom wall panels that do not require traditional grout or adhesive mixing. Not only do these panels help to avoid costly delays, but they also greatly improve the overall finish of the space, maintaining that ‘day one look’ throughout their lifespan.
Meanwhile, opting for bathroom wall panels, which tend to be considerably lighter than traditional tiling, can also speed up transportation to site and the installation process itself, allowing for existing skilled personnel, who might otherwise be needed for the safe handling of heavier materials, to be redeployed to other areas of a project where their involvement can have a greater impact.
Additionally, the installation process involved with bathroom wall panels is far simpler than with traditional tiles, thereby allowing developers to bypass the challenge of having to source registered tilers capable of carrying out the complicated and highly technical task.
Supporting cleaner, more sustainable sites
In making these considerations around their bathroom wall surface selection, developers can also ensure that they are aligned with Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). With certain traditional bathroom installation practices evidently in need of change, construction professionals must shift their attention towards the use of practices and materials that are capable of meeting the demands of modern living. This includes ensuring that the environmental footprint created by projects is reduced through new approaches to minimising waste and carbon emissions.
Choosing bathroom wall panels
To find out more about Wilsonart’s Wetwall brand of faster and smarter bathroom wall panel solutions for residential and commercial spaces, visit https://www.wilsonart.co.uk/wetwall.