March 14/21, 2016; Volume 30, Number 19
By Nadia Ramlakhan
Protect-All Flooring, which specializes in recycled commercial vinyl flooring, recently launched Rapid Weld, a chemical welding system designed to reduce installation time up to 70%.
Manufactured in the United States, Rapid Weld boasts advantages over grout; while grout can sometimes draw in bacteria, Rapid Weld is not porous so bacteria cannot penetrate it. Another plus: No grout means installers don’t have to regrout the floors every few years. But what tends to resonate most with end users is its environmentally friendly aspect.
“It’s kind of a cool story,” said Jenny Bruzewski, marketing communications manager for Duro-Last, Protect-All’s sister company that manufactures PVC roofing membranes. “Duro-Last found a way to recycle the scrap from the manufacturing process. So we grind it all up and put it through an extruder and make the flooring from that; it’s very unique.”
Several other features of Protect-All flooring include its slip resistance, durability and comfort. “It’s actually more slip resistant when it’s wet [versus] dry, which makes it a really good fit for commercial kitchens and spaces where things are always on the floor,” Bruzewski explained. “It also has a little bit of give to it so it’s more comfortable for people who are standing on it all day. With this floor, they don’t necessarily need the mats that are typically used in commercial kitchens.”
In addition to commercial kitchen applications, Protect-All is ideal for gyms, fitness centers, weight rooms and the like. Due to the floor’s ease of maintenance and cleanability features, the company is expanding into health care facilities as well. “We are starting to branch out into other areas like health care—anywhere you need a watertight, clean, even floor,” Bruzewski explained. “It’s so easy to clean; you spray it down, use a simple solution and scrub, then spray it down again and squeegee it to the drain.”
Protect-All comes in 5 x 8 sheets in a variety of colors with gloss or matte finish options.