November 7/14, 2016: Volume 31, Number 11
By Lindsay Baillie
Moldings do much more than complement a flooring installation; they also provide valuable add-on opportunities for retailers. To that end, molding manufacturers are adapting to the changing trends within the flooring industry by creating products that coordinate with the bevy of new products, colors, styles and formats available today. Specifically, moldings manufacturers are employing advanced technology for color production and programs for inventory.
Following are highlights from some of the leading manufacturers.
Moldings Online
Moldings Online is currently in the final stages of developing Water Proof Core (WPC) flooring accessories. This new product is “perfect for WPC, LVT and LVP flooring lines, but can also be used with traditional hardwood,” said Angie Feldhege, marketing coordinator. “It provides high-performance durability with four layers of production, eliminates the chance of moisture absorption, is stainable and can be blended to virtually any flooring line—just like our traditional hardwood accessories.”
The WPC is created with quality materials that are combined using a thermoplastic, injection molding process. “Using our nanotechnology and ultraviolet curing process, the highly water-resistant finish and exclusive top coat is created,” Feldhege explained. “Its resilience against liquids creates a reliable barrier, shielding the entire product.”
Moldings Online’s new WPC line will make its debut at TISE 2017 in Las Vegas, Feldhege said.
Pennwood
Pennwood’s focus on quality and color match can be seen in its RetroTread, which is designed to fit over original stairs and mimic original stair geometry. “For our RetroTreads we partnered with Young Manufacturing based in Kentucky,” said Kraig Coxon, executive vice president. “We buy their solid hardwood and then stain and finish it to match the floors.”
Quality is also seen in the company’s production cycle. “We control every aspect [of production] and we’re very particular,” Coxon said. “We take control of everything from the lumber all the way through to the box [the product is in]. It’s unique because we quality control everything.”
To date, Pennwood runs about 40 species of wood and about four thousand colors and stains. “We’re doing whatever we have to do to match the floors,” Coxon said. “Whatever the process is for the wood floors we will figure out how to do it for our moldings. We have the ability to produce exact patterns.”
Versatrim
Versatrim utilizes its Match All Floors program to coordinate its various moldings with major brand floors. “The Match All Floors program is where we approach [flooring] manufacturers and try to match [the colors of] their floors with our products,” said Tina Emery, office and sales manager. Manufacturers such as Beauflor, Happy Feet, Home Legend, IVC, Karndean, Mohawk and Shaw—to name a few—are already involved in this growing program. “Versatrim hopes to connect with more manufacturers at Surfaces,” Emery said.
Versatrim offers a variety of moldings to accompany applications for vinyl, laminate, engineered wood and solid wood. Its list of profiles includes two new PVC moldings for LVT floors and its standard laminate T-molding, reducer, end cap, stair nose, wall base and quarter round.
Seneca
Seneca’s SignatureFlex, a flexible molding designed to help the flooring contractor tackle radius issues, is being billed as the only product of its kind. “Seneca supplies a very unique product to the industry,” said Mark Pacacha, national sales manager. “SignatureFlex is a polyurethane product that is proprietary. The polyurethane is poured into molds to manufacture the product. You can use gel stain or paint on the product and it can be used indoors and outdoors.”
SignatureFlex is available in a smooth and textured option, and is made in the U.S. It is water resistant and will not rot or swell, according to Seneca, and can be applied using adhesive, mastic or resin epoxy glue. SignatureFlex is designed for curved architecture and is available in 12-foot lengths and in straight or pre-curved styles. Custom profiles are also available when profiles for the mold are provided.
Pedross
Over the past couple of months Pedross has changed its production plant from Arkansas to the North Carolina/Virginia border. This move will allow the company to continue servicing the U.S. and Canada with daily shipments and inventory provisions for its partners. “The new production plant has much higher output capabilities,” said Daniel Oberrauch, general manager. “We grew very rapidly in the last three years and we had to look for a plant with a higher production output. We want to be proactive in order to better serve all of our current and future customers.”
In addition to the new plant, Oberrauch said the products the company offers help differentiate Pedross from other moldings companies. “We use solid core, which can be oak or other hardwood material,” he explained. “Then we put this wood through a scanner to determine its blemishes. After that we remove the blemishes, cut [the wood] into little pieces and finger joint them together with formaldehyde-free glue.” After the core is formed it is wrapped with real wood veneer.
Zamma
Zamma’s newest product takes into account new trends in WPC. “We have just created a new line of PVC extrusions for the large WPC thick water-proof core flooring,” said Peter Spielman, president. “It seems the trend in WPC is going from 5 mm to 10 mm and possibly beyond. We’ve developed this product line to encompass those changes in WPC.”
Zamma also has a unique process to color match its products with top flooring brands. “On an exclusive basis we match top flooring manufacturers,” Spielman said. “[Manufacturers] supply us with the same decorative material that’s being used on their floors. We take the exact same layers of PVC on the floors—the top two layers, decorative and clear wear layer—and we thermally fuse in our facilities those two layers together.”
In addition to extruding its own products, Zamma also makes all of it own laminates for laminate flooring. “Every week we produce in the neighborhood of 2 million feet of product: wood, laminate and PVC.”