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Sterling Supplies supply and fit matting, tactile indicators, stair nosing and carpark safety products in most capital cities in Australia.
We perform the complete process from measure through to install to suit your requirements. With over 30 years of experience in the flooring field, we strive to make the process as seamless as possible.
I guess most people with the necessary tools and some experience could install the products we supply and install, but where it all gets a bit tricky is the compliance area.
While there are plenty of suppliers of stair nosing and tactile indicators for instance, some of these do not comply.
Due to changes in legislation in the last few years there are some companies left with product that does not actually comply to the current building code which they are keen to get rid of!
The other issue is that there are still products appearing in specifications that are non-compliant, and, in some areas, it does depend very much on the building surveyor as to whether he will allow or reject the product.
Due to the fact that the installation cost is a fair percentage of the total installed product cost nobody wants to be replacing stair nosing or tactiles indicators after they have been installed.
While none of this is rocket science there is also the issue of luminous contrast and the recommended difference between the item being installed and the substrate.
The other little point that can cause issues is that in an outdoor environment moisture can change the luminous contrast considerably so a Dry and Wet contrast value is required.
In some cases finding a balance between a good looking installation which still has a compliant contrast and what the architect envisaged originally can be a challenge but with our wide range of products we can normally find a solution to keep everybody happy.
In any building the longevity of the installation is a key factor and there are certain things that will influence this, one being the quality of the product being installed, the surface it is being installed on and then the other obvious one is the installation process.
If we take stair nosing as a starting point we have found over the years that while some of our stair nosing are of a heavier gauge than our competitors, this has certain advantages.
If the stair nosing can twist and distort with the weight of traffic on it this can lead to the loosening of the fixings and or adhesive and eventually lead to the nosing coming loose and being more of a hazard than no nosing.
We recently had some new installers come to work for us who had been in the trade for many years, they both made the comment that our stair nosing, matting and accessories were of superior quality and heavier duty than anything they had installed previously which made them easier to install and ensured there were no call backs for defects.
One of the very good points of using experienced installers for tactile indicators, stair nosing and carpark safety products apart from getting a professional installation, is the fact that they can often save the builder/owner money as they will often pick up areas where less tactiles need to be used that may not have been realized in the design phase.