September 11/18, 2017: Volume 32, Issue 7
By Ken Ryan
The kids are back to school and the fall selling season is upon us.
To take advantage of this most crucial season, flooring manufacturers are taking the wraps off new products or line extensions, hoping to finish off 2017 on a high note.
Ardex: X 90 Outdoor
90 Outdoor is a MicroteC3 rapid set, flexible tile and stone mortar. Featuring weather-proof innovation in mortar technology, Ardex X 90 Outdoor is formulated with specialty, high-performance Ardex cements, polymers and microfibers. It delivers maximum protection against the harshest weather conditions and provides the highest levels of efflorescence resistance for exterior tile and stone installations.
Armstrong Flooring: Pryzm
Pryzm offers the waterproof, rigid performance that has made WPC so popular and adds a commercial-grade VisionGuard AC4 wear layer that resists scratches and abrasion better than vinyl. It offers the ultimate protection from dents, water, scratches and stains.
Columbia: Enhanced engineered
The latest Columbia Wood launch features five new character collections: Branson, Carver, Holden, Warren and Emery. The lines feature a mix of wire-brushed, soft scraped chatter marks and sandblasted textures. Available species include oak, hickory and satin walnut. All products feature NaturaFinish treatment, a rich matte oil-look finish without the maintenance. The collection is included in Columbia’s enhanced engineered platform and can be glued, floated or stapled.
DriTac: 8301/8302 underlayment
DriTac Flooring Products has introduced a line of eco-friendly, acoustical abatement underlayment for residential and commercial flooring applications: DriTac 8301 Impact 1mm for resilient flooring installations and DriTac 8302 Double Impact 2mm for wood and laminate flooring installations. These lightweight flooring underlayments incorporate DriTac’s Total Sound Reduction System (SRS) complete with a lifetime warranty.
DuChâteau: Vinyl DeLuxe Grand
Featuring LuxCor construction, DuChâteau Vinyl DeLuxe Grand collection authors a new chapter in the story of the company’s luxury resilient click flooring. Offered in 22 colors, this ultra-resistant vinyl flooring features a hard-wearing, ceramic-reinforced polyurethane finish and a 20-year residential and a 10-year commercial warranty. The line utilizes a LuxCor engineered construction for a 100% waterproof floor.
EarthWerks: Core
The Core collection encompasses EarthWerks’ waterproof, multi-layer clic products. With this new categorization, the company will put all of its WPC and HDC (high-density clic) items in the same waterproof segment. New to the collection this fall is Noble Classic Plus, a 12-SKU assortment of EIR, high-density clic products. The color range boasts a vast array of high-dimension oak patterns in 8 x 48 or 9.5 x 60-inch planks.
Engineered Floors: Pentz
The Pentz collection offers technologically advanced commercial products in broadloom or modular tiles. Revival and Revolution feature the company’s Apex SDP commercial polyester, which offers proven stain protection and durability at an affordable price.
Forbo: Flotex
Forbo Flooring Systems has introduced a new collection of high-performance Flotex modular tile, creating a new era for interior design in commercial and residential interior environments. Flotex modular tile combines the function and durability of a washable, waterproof, stain-resistant carpet with the beauty and versatility of a 10 x 40 modular tile. Flotex is available in a wide range of organic and contemporary designs.
Inhaus: SONO
Inhaus’ SONO is the German-made innovation in waterproof, dimensionally stable flooring. It features HD direct-to-core digitally printed visuals and a ceramic composite core that’s free of PVC, formaldehyde, phthalates and plasticizers. SONO’s homogeneous makeup ensures dimensionally stability even in extreme indoor environments. The ceramic composite core allows for large room installations without transitional moldings.
Johnson Hardwood Flooring: Jockey Hollow
Johnson’s Jockey Hollow series features six distinctive, wide-width European Oak floors that capture the look and feel of an early American floor. Using a variety of surface treatments including hand sawn surfaces, open grain brushing, and subtle water marks, each Jockey Hollow floor is unique and one of a kind. The look of yesteryear built with today’s technology.
Johnsonite: I.D. Inspiration
The update to Johnsonite’s well-received LVT includes 30 colors and 24 new wood plank designs from a classically trained European woodworker, as well as six new tiles. The six tiles feature all-new designs, bringing abstract, stone and woven patterns to the once all-woods collection. Tarkett’s advanced engraving technique used to make the LVT film and embossing provides realistic design, texture and color.
Karndean: Korlok
Karndean Designflooring introduces Korlok, the premier rigid-core locking floor that hides subfloor imperfections. Korlok features a 5G vertical locking mechanism, a proprietary, waterproof K-Core technology that allows for installation over most existing hard floors, and a pre-attached acoustic foam backing that reduces noise transfer to rooms below.
Mercier: Element
Beauty can be found even in imperfection, and each board can be unique. That’s what Mercier had in mind while creating Element. Inspired by major design trends, Mercier Wood Flooring’s 2017 introductions are meant to evoke style, character and softness.
Mercier’s Element products offered in hard maple and hickory are rich and full of personality. The black and blonde nuances add depth and dimension.
Mohawk: Boardwalk Collective
Mohawk’s Boardwalk Collective laminate flooring features the beauty of wood designed to endure by capturing on-trend, high-styled visuals inspired by the natural characteristics of hardwood. The company’s new products lend the freedom to bring inspiration into the home by featuring color palettes with high shade variations and the dramatic craftsmanship of textures to showcase the home’s true creativity.
Mullican: Wexford Engineered
Inspired by the great castles and villas of Europe, Wexford offers a classic, wide-plank farmhouse style in a 7-inch thickness with a low-gloss finish. The EuroSawn process combines the best of the three traditional North American sawing techniques. The result is a wider plank with a plain-sawn look near the center, flanked by unique rift and quarter sawn on the edges.
Phenix: Cleaner Home
Phenix Flooring’s Cleaner Home collection is a new assortment of “smarter carpets” crafted to target consumers who want a cleaner home to support a healthy lifestyle. The collection features built-in Microban antimicrobial technology providing 24/7 protection against the growth of stain- and odor-causing bacteria.
Quick-Step: Matrix
The Quick-Step Matrix module is the ultimate multi-product merchandising platform. This display allows flexibility in showcasing laminate LVT and hardwood specific to the retailer’s desire: single, double or tri-module. They can focus on laminate, LVF, Q-Wood or a combination of these. Moving forward, this display is adaptable to new launches and combinations of product features.
Shaw: Floorté PRO
Shaw’s new patent-pending Floorté PRO collection boasts the industry’s first direct-glue rigid product with attached Soft Silence acoustical pad for a healthy dose of noise reduction. Its superior dimensional stability reduces telegraphing, solves the issues of expansion and contraction and is twice as dent resistant as traditional LVT. Floorté PRO provides expected dependability engineered for higher performance and high style.
Tandus Centiva: Area Rug
Tandus Centiva’s take on woven area rugs is anything but ordinary; the refined woven area rugs add regality and luxury to any interior. Area rugs by Tandus Centiva allow an area to be reconfigured over time, allowing the space’s design to be changed at will. When trends or tastes change, these area rugs provide the classic touches that unify any on-trend pieces that enter the designed room.
USFloors: COREtec Plus Enhanced
COREtec Plus Enhanced planks deliver the next revolution in WPC. These enhanced visuals feature a four-sided painted bevel for added realism. COREtec Plus Enhanced floors can be installed in wet areas and will never swell when exposed to water. Each COREtec Plus Enhanced plank or tile has an attached cork underlayment for a quieter, warmer vinyl floor that is naturally resistant to odor-causing mold and mildew.