Alpha Flow Screeds Limited, a trading name of the Donnelly family, is the latest innovation of the Co. Tyrone-based business that goes back three generations. The company has been entrusted to supply and lay floor screeds right across Ireland in some of the most iconic and important public and private buildings.
These are exciting times for Alpha Flow Screeds which recently relocated to a new office in Derryloran Industrial Estate, Cookstown Co Tyrone and has expanded its Transmix Mobile Screed Factory fleet from one to four within the past few years. In December 2020, the successful family business took delivery of its latest state-of-the-art Transmix Mobile Screed Factory which has a wide range of capabilities, the main one being able to mix materials on-site.
Fronted by father-and-son Angus and Mark Donnelly, and employing 16 members of staff, Alpha Flow Screeds also recently became suppliers of Mobicem Cemfloor by McGrath’s Limestone in Cong, Co. Mayo and is expanding rapidly into the Republic of Ireland market.
The floor screed is the final, major wet-trade to be carried out before second fix and subsequent finished works. It may be a simple sand-cement screed or, for some applications such as underfloor heating, be in liquid form in order to ensure that the system operates to its optimum efficiency.
Supply and fit packages offered with various floor screed include Traditional Sand Cement Screed, TLA Poured Floor Insulation, Mobicem Cemfloor, K-Screed, Quick Drying Screeds, Topcem, Concrete Sealed and Power Floated.
Sand Cement is the oldest and simplest screed used throughout the industry. It is most cost effective where the sole purpose is to create a level, strong surface for all types of floor coverings. Liquid Screed is extremely efficient where underfloor heating systems are used. This thin, high density screed has been a key part of Alpha Flow Screeds’ core business for over a decade.
One of the big advantages of the Mobicem Cemfloor Liquid Screed is that it fully encapsulates the heating pipes, ensuring direct, effective heat transfer. And as it’s only 50mm thick, heat moves quickly through the screed. These factors work in tandem with the high insulation in modern buildings, ensuring speedy heat-up times coupled with high heat retention in the property.
Alpha Flow Screeds has applied its enormous wealth of experience in flooring to TLA Insulation, which is a new concept in floor insulation. Laying insulation boards over subfloors can be a difficult and tedious task. Subfloors are often uneven and cutting round first-fix pipes is arduous and time consuming. Ensuring the boards are solidly supported by the subfloor can be difficult to achieve.
With Alpha Flow Screeds’ poured TLA insulation, however, these problems are completely eliminated. Insulation is poured directly around all pipes at subfloor level. TLA is not subject to settlement which often occurs where multiple layers of boards are used. Deep insulation with board products can settle to the extent of gaps appearing under skirting boards over time.
As a quality screeding company, the Alpha team leave the insulation at the proper level to accommodate the exact depth of liquid screed, therefore eliminating unexpected and costly extras of more material. TLA Insulation is extremely cost-effective. Building schedules can be speeded up as the time taken to cut and lay multiple layers of boards is removed. Insulation is poured in a way that covers all the spaces and gaps missing using conventional boards. To you this product may be new, but to us this is the only way forward!
Alpha Flow Screeds is continually investing in its fleet which now numbers four Mobile Screed Factories and numerous vans, including three new Ford Transits. Mobile Screed Factories are modern computer-controlled fully automatic batching vehicles that mix and pump screed and insulation from on-board dry materials directly at the building site. For the customer, this gives a number of important advantages which include: no prolonged waits as sometimes happens with conventional mixer lorries; you are given priority, with no mixer lorries having to be diverted between sites at times of high demand; no wastage, you pay for exactly what is required to complete your job to required levels.
Alpha Flow Screeds boasts an impressive portfolio of completed projects for a wide range of clients. These include Castlelinn Apartments for PRH Construction, Grace Women’s Centre for Derryleckagh Contracts, Dublin Airport, Ilac Shopping Centre and Frascati Shopping Centre, Blackrock, Dublin for DJ Kelly & Co and Braidside Primary School for Glasgiven Contracts. The company has also supplied and laid floor screeds in Foyleside Shopping Centre, Derry, Ulster Hospital, Davagh Forest Visitor Centre and Cnoc Ard Apartments in Letterkenny.
Current and upcoming projects include Greenpark Residential Care Home, Dundalk for Monami Construction, housing development in Ballycastle for McHenry Brothers, housing development for JWJ Porters, housing developments in Omagh and Enniskillen for Newpark Developments, new shop for Costcutters in Derry, new shop for Eurospar in Doagh and Shantallow Health Centre in Derry for P&K McKaigue.
“We’re extremely busy at the moment,” Alpha Flow Screeds office manager Kirsty Doyle explains.
“We’ve just signed a contract for Greenpark Residential Care Home in Dundalk which consists of the construction of a 130-bed residential care home over two stories. We’re currently working on 12 different housing developments throughout Ireland with various building contractors. We have a long-standing contract with McGaffin Contracts for Eurospar shop floors and have been working with DJ Kelly & Co throughout Dublin for the last 30 years. We’re making big inroads into the Republic of Ireland market and enjoy an excellent relationship with all of our clients.”
Kirsty continues: “We’re a vibrant, innovative and growing company with a young workforce and a young director in Mark Donnelly who is only 28. The business is going from strength to strength and we’re looking to 2021 with much optimism.”
Alpha Flow Screeds would like to take this opportunity to thank its clients and suppliers for their continued support.
Alpha Flow Screeds Ltd
Unit 3,
Derryloran Industrial Estate,
Cookstown,
Co. Tyrone,
BT80 9LU
Telephone: 028 86766868
Email: [email protected]
Alpha Flow Screeds can also be found on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, May, Vol 7 No 5
