Lining Systems The importance of Fabrication
By R D Mantle FIoR
Managing Director of Ampteam Limited
Sometimes a spark of clarity will result in a “eureka” or “light bulb”
moment and an idea will evolve into a unique product.
I don’t know how many people get such moments but it is
certainly not uncommon as it is one of the things that makes us
Human, our inventiveness!
Such was the case many years ago when the idea for the Unifold®
hinge was born, only I called it my “beer mat” moment, because
at the time I was bending a beer mat and you can probably guess
where I was when I was doing it!
Since those early days of trials, tests, disappointments and
triumphs, Unifold® has become a complete system and this has
been achieved through an evolutionary process more by necessity
than design, most often encountering a problem on site and
returning to the factory and solving it in the workshop, employing
fabrication techniques and whatever tests were necessary to
prove the solution.
Most of the fabricated components which are vital to the Unifold®
system were designed in the early years of product development
and we had many “light bulb” moments in that process along the
way, such as the patented Clip Joint used for difficult and narrow
applications.
We learned the use of our hinge principle in so many ways to aid
the fabrication process and to produce components which would
be impossible any other way. From the outset this produced
fabricated components fit for purpose and of exemplary quality.
We also realised early on that site working inside a gutter cavity
could often be very difficult and to expect site operatives to “cut
and carve” and then effectively seal a lining system was too much
to ask, so our intention was and has been throughout for us to
provide all fabrication, factory manufactured with simple gutter
joints so the installation is constant and repetitive and as easy as
we can make it.
We became a “single product company” concentrating on
providing product and service excellence.
The system has proven to be entirely versatile with the ability
to correctly line almost any existing system whether it is a level
gutter or laid to falls.
Some of our fabricated components are corners, tees, side boxes,
sumps and expansion joints and these are just a few! In fact there
are solutions for any circumstances however difficult or complex.
For quite some time now we have insisted that anyone who
installs Unifold must be trained to install the system. This is to
ensure conformity and continuity of the system quality on site.
This supports our 25 year comprehensive guarantee that includes
the installation as well as quality of materials and manufacture. An
industry first in gutter lining applications.
It is also without doubt that Unifold® is a technical product which
the following photographs clearly demonstrate.
Archetech - Page 106
This first photograph
shows part of a fabrication
that was probably one
of our most complex
and certainly one of our
largest.
This is a two piece corner
detail with an intruding
pier section.
And this is the complete
fabrication in situ, 18
pieces in total! And five
gutters entering a single
space! Not easy, and not
a common occurrence,
but if you are going to “set
your stall” to line gutters
then the ability to cope
with such circumstances is
elemental and vital.
This photograph shows
a sump unit with two
coned outlets and
demonstrating that each
end is a gutter section for
ease of installation. Can
you imagine attempting
the manufacture of this
on site?
The message is clear, any lining system must be able to cope with whatever the site conditions dictate and if a 25 year guarantee is
offered then this must warranty that the system is going to work, without leaking, for that period of time and beyond.
Our quality and fabrication expertise means we are content with our promises.
www.gutterliners.com