Latest products, expansions taking company to new heights
by Melissa McGuire
Every day, each American adult creates five pounds of waste that eventually finds its way into a landfill.
This statistic was staggering to Jack Boesch, director of marketing for MP Global, a leading underlayment producer. And because of it, “we’ve become an environmentally friendly problem solver by recycling waste that would have normally ended up in landfills. We don’t just ‘talk’ a green story. We turn waste into products that can improve lives. Our company strives to be green in our raw materials, our manufacturing process and our packaging.”
Sustainability is at the heart of MP Global’s business philosophy, and one way the company works to achieve this is by contracting Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), which audits the amount of recycled materials that are both in and out of the company’s plant. “We proudly display the SCS certification seal on our packaging and marketing materials, and promote it to our customers,” Boesch said.
MP Global’s success has risen through its underlayment products. “We receive weekly inquiries from architects, de-signers and condominium associations looking for specific acoustic test scores for products to be used in multi-family building projects,” he noted. “Our products meet or exceed most acoustic requirements for these types of projects.”
Boesch advises people to always ask for documentation as proof of acoustical scores. “Unfortunately, it’s been a liar’s market among competitors in recent years, and experts need to read the fine print on how certain tests were set up. Too many tests have beefed up assemblies that can skew results.”
The company continues to gain market share, which Boesch says is a testament to its personnel as well as its customers. “We are still excited about our flooring underlayment products because that volume continues to grow for us. We’ve been a leader in this category for several years, and this growth underscores the quality and value of our products.”
Another factor contributing to the success of the company is its interaction with distributors, retailers, manufacturers and industry organizations. “We were the very first underlayment company to join the North American Laminate Flooring Association (NALFA), and we work together with the many flooring manufacturer members to come up with specifications on what is needed in an underlayment for floating floors in general,” he explained. “That partnership with the real experts in the industry has been invaluable to us.”
Product lineup
MP Global offers a range of underlayment solutions for home, office or multi-family. They include:
•Quiet Walk acoustic and insulating laminate and floating wood floor underlayment, which flattens subfloor imperfections while quieting impact sound and floor to ceiling noise. Its patented manufacturing process and recycled fiber composition create a moisture management system to protect the overlying flooring from harmful water vapor.
•VersaWalk universal underlayment, engineered for maximum performance under wood, laminate and LVT, is composed of at least 94% pre-consumer recycled fibers. It can be installed under nail-down, glue-down and floated flooring.
•Insulayment, made from 100% recycled pre-consumer textiles with randomly air-laid filaments, which create a capillary effect to cushion the floor and absorb impact sound.
•UltraLayer, made from 100% pre-consumer recycled fibers, insulates ceramic, porcelain and natural stone floors to help keep them warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
•UltraLayer Peel & Stick, which installs onto concrete subfloors without the use of thinset mortar. It helps absorb impact sound so it won’t transfer to lower level rooms and also suppresses lateral cracks.
•QuiteWarmth combines the superior acoustical and insulating technology of QuietWalk with ThermoSoft FiberThermics heating elements to create a supplemental radiant heat and underlayment system.
Although the company’s strength has always been in the flooring industry, it recently expanded into packaging with its ThermoPod division, and into ceiling products with its ZipUp product line (FCNews, Jan. 21/28.)