St. Andrews Episcopal Church

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, St. Andrews Episcopal Church was built in 1901 with a California Redwood frame and a rough-faced Virginia granite exterior. With almost 120 years of service, the church requires periodic renovation work completed with careful consideration of the structure and its historical significance. St. Andrews is one of many structures financed and organized by Grace Arents, a Christian activist and philanthropist working at the turn of the 20th century. While a strong subfloor and new floor covering were desired, the project goals also called for minimal impact on the structure. The project plan resulted in almost no impact, using a floating construction solution.

Existing Substrate

Removal of the carpet floor covering revealed VAT tiles confirmed by lab tests to contain asbestos. The tiles were poorly adhered to the wood subfloor below. The project plan called for the VAT tiles to remain in place and for nothing to be adhered to the church’s subfloor structure. A floating construction was used.

Preparation

The existing subfloor was cleaned and vacuumed. Poly sheeting was laid over the entire space with its seams fully taped, preventing any liquid subfloor materials used from reaching the underlying church structure. Schönox Renotex® 3D, a multi-dimensional fiber reinforcement fabric, was rolled in place throughout the project area, acting as a decoupling layer between the self-leveling material to come and the poly sheeting on the wood subfloor.

Leveling

The expanse of the project and the ½ inch intended depth of the pour made pumping of the self-leveling compound atop the Renotex® 3D fabric an ideal project solution for efficiency and consistency. Schönox AP Rapid Plus, hybrid active-dry based, self-leveling compound, was used to form the subfloor surface which would receive floor covering. It dries independently of the job site’s environmental conditions, accepting foot traffic in 2 to 3 hours and floor covering in 16 hours at the ½” project depth.

Floor Covering

LVT flooring was installed, completing the renovation project with a finished, durable floor with none of the renovation materials adhered to the church’s underlying structural surface.

Renovated Subfloor

From red carpet over old, poorly adhered VAT tiles to new LVT tiles on a floating construction formed by Schönox AP Rapid Plus over Renotex® 3D.