Semiprecious stones on the walls, mosaics from Italy, elaborate carved wood – the Kristall trimini family spa in Kochel am See has become a wellness oasis with a touch of Neuschwanstein. That is no accident: from the thermal baths, visitors have a direct view of the Herzogstand, where King Ludwig II once had his Königshaus built. In addition to magnificent furnishings, the top priority of Kristall Bäder AG was secure, high-quality tiling. The company has decades of experience with the construction and operation of thermal baths and the group has a total of 12 spas. The latest facility, Kristall trimini, was added in May 2011 and has now been expanded to form an impressive complex of sauna and wellness baths, with seven saunas on 450 square metres. The leisure pool has also been entirely renovated.

Safe construction

Waterproofing and tiling in swimming pools calls for special knowledge and products which are suitable for permanently wet areas. “We have been using PCI products to construct and refurbish our thermal baths for decades,” says Gerd Bittermann, CEO of Kristall Bäder AG. He explains the company’s decision in favour of PCI products as follows: “We want to offer our guests an exclusive, luxurious atmosphere. We want them to feel comfortable in our facilities. However, the underlying products are just as important. Nothing can be as annoying and cost-intensive as leaky pools or faulty tiling. This is why we place our trust in PCI. These products offer long-term reliability. Our experience with them has always been very good.”

Durable waterproofing

At Kristall trimini, PCI Seccoral 2K Rapid fast-setting special waterproofing slurry was used for waterproofing the pool bar and the walls and floors of all areas exposed to moisture. PCI Seccoral 2K Rapid is suitable for exposure classes A and B in accordance with building standard list A, part 2/1.10 and for water exposure classes W0-I, W1-I, W2-I, W3-I in accordance with the new waterproofing standard DIN 18534 (waterproofing for indoor applications). Swimming pools and tanks are subject to DIN 18535. Like all PCI waterproofing products, PCI Seccoral 2K Rapid complies with the requirements of the new standards. The bonded waterproofing has isolating, stress-relieving and crack-bridging properties and therefore offers considerable security even if cracks occur at a later date. In hot tubs and other pools filled with water with added sodium bicarbonate, glass-fibre-reinforced plastic was used for waterproofing. In addition to the waterproofing work itself, it was necessary to ensure that the concrete covering reinforcement steel in the pool bar offered effective protection against corrosion. Where necessary, the thickness of the concrete was increased to the level required using PCI Nanocret R3 multi-use repair mortar.

Laying mosaic tiling and natural stone coverings

Mosaic tiling can only be laid on a substrate which has been properly prepared and is absolutely level. Initially, PCI carried out an adhesive tensile test to assess the strength of the concrete before it was approved for further work. After the surfaces had been cleaned using pressure cleaners, the tilers levelled the surfaces using PCI Pericret levelling compound. Mosaic tiling in the pool bar pool and tiles in all areas exposed to moisture were laid with PCI FT Klebemörtel mixed with PCI Lastoflex polymer-modified additive. The exclusive natural stone coverings in the sauna and wellness area were installed with PCI Carraflex flexible thin-based mortar which does not cause staining, even on sensitive marble. Tiling in the pools waterproofed with glass-fibre-reinforced plastic was laid with PCI Durapox NT reaction resin mortar.

Joint grouting in permanently wet areas

The pools at Kristall trimini were grouted with PCI Durapox NT: this reaction resin mortar is especially well-suited for tiling exposed to chemicals, is wear-resistant, strong and insensitive to attack by swimming pool chemicals. Areas outside the pools were also grouted with PCI Durafug NT. The dense mortar structure of this special cementitious joint grout minimises the penetration depth of pollutants and ensures high strength. Thanks to Nanofill technology, PCI Durafug NT offers high resistance to mechanical stress and is also less vulnerable to attack by acidic cleaning products than conventional cementitious joint grouts. PCI Durafug NT is an element in PCI’s tried and tested swimming pool system – like the other products used at Kristall trimini.

A Royal spa

The alteration and extension work was completed to schedule after 21 months and Kristall trimini opened in March 2017. About €32 million were invested in the project, a public-private partnership. The result is a magnificent spa with “the very best equipment and systems”, according to Günter Beckstein. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Kristall Bäder AG expected up to 400,000 visitors per year when the facility was opened. This was quite a good forecast as more than 250,000 people visited the spa on the Kochelsee in the first six months.