By Sarah Zimmerman
A floor’s performance is, more often than not, based on two crucial aspects: installation and maintenance. And, it’s these two categories that usually pull attendees downstairs at the Sands Expo and Convention Center during Surfaces year after year. Needless to say, 2009 was no different as the show’s basement floor maintained its unique appeal offering a sea of smaller booths featuring fresh ideas, new technologies and performance-enhancing innovations.

Interestingly enough, a few floaters were found on the main show floor this year as well, and FCNews waded through the sea of new-fangled offerings and compiled some highlights across several categories.

Tools

Whether hiring a professional installer or taking on a DIY project, the correct tools play a huge role in properly getting the job done across all categories. So, here are a few innovative players helping installers across the industry:

• Accu-cut by Brockie International’s big sellers continue to be the Q7 and J5 models. Both offering one-person operation, user-friendly controls, beltless load cradles, reverse roll and cut piece removal, the Q7 provides a circular cutter while the J5 offers fast, straight cuts, said Trevor Brockie, vice president of sales.

Featuring all models at Sufaces ’09, Brockie said the ability to give one-on-one demonstrations was a hit. “This is just an example of the support Accu-cut offers customers,” he explained. “We include personal training upon delivery with each machine sold allowing buyers to utilize the machines to their fullest potential.”

The company also offers free 24/7 tech-support and is currently offering 4.9% financing on all models.

For more information, visit www.accu-cut.com.

• Gundlach, known for providing “quality installation products” across nearly every category, showcased several new-and-improved products during the show, including undercut and toe-kick saws, TAVY tile spacers, resilient floor tile cutters, Versablade trowel system, tile saws, ceramic tile cutters and the carpet installers tool kit.

The new Super Saw Kit includes a completely redesigned Super Saw with “unmatched features and power,” the company said. The saw can fully undercut inside corners and doors as thick as 1¾ inches and has a dual angle depth gauge allowing for straight or angled cutting. Cleanup is also a breeze, as the kit comes with a vacuum fitting for a 1¼-inch hose for dust control (vacuum not included).

In a different arena, the TAVY tile spacers feature a two-sided design—cross edge and straight edge—and are available in seven color-coded sizes. Some features include: tough molded plastic meaning continued use; circular centers to prevent bottoming in mortar; easy removal via sweeping or kicking out, and advanced time and cost effectiveness replacing four standard tile spacers with one.

For more information, visit www.benojgundlachco.com.

• FEIN’s latest innovation is the MultiMaster Generation, which features 40 years of oscillation technology and provides tools for several professional and DIY jobs. Three standout capabilities are its interior fittings work, ceramic tile restoration and floor covering installer.

Working level with its surface, the FEIN MultiMaster cuts protruding nails, screws or pipes completely flush. When replacing individually damaged tiles, it creates minor dust and helps easily remove old adhesive. And, requiring little strength to operate, the MultiMaster removes old flooring, cutting parquet or laminate and undercutting boards and doorframes.

For more information, visit www.feinus.com.

• Lam-Hammer debuted at Surfaces 2005 after founder Jeff Van Horne became frustrated installing laminate flooring in his own home. Working on the basis of a dent puller, “Lam- Hammer pulls the last board in place with very little effort and no damage to walls, cabinets or the new flooring,” Van Horne said.

Since its introduction, the line has expanded to include the original Standard, which works best on laminate flooring; the Atlas, which is for engineered woods and hardwoods; the Titan, a special-order tool for unusually difficult floors, and most recently, the Lam- Hammer Jr., which was developed for DIYers.

“Junior is smaller, lighter and less expensive, but works exactly the same way the professional models do,” Van Horne explained, “making it easier for the average DIYer to install a job himself.”

The Lam-Hammer Jr. is for laminates that are less than 7/16 inches thick.

For more information, visit www.lam-hammer.com.

Maintenance

After proper installation, flooring’s performance coincides with its routine maintenance. Maintaining a floor, depending on the category, can range from proper and timely vacuuming to grout renewal to spot cleaning. The following are some newfound innovations to help flooring fulfill its promise:

• Custom Building Products showcased its new biodegradable Aqua Mix cleaners and sealers at Surfaces ’09. The non-toxic, water-based tile care products were upgraded to increase effectiveness while reducing environmental impact, said Jeremy Gorr, senior channel manager.

“As the first professional quality, water-based tile care products in the industry, Aqua Mix has a long and welldeserved reputation for clean and environmentally sound formulas,” he noted.

Created specifically for stone, tile and grout, the Aqua Mix line delivers the power ofprofessional results of traditional cleaners without solvents or phosphates. Select products also work as sealers, protecting stone, tile and grout with little or no VOCs.

For more, visit www.custombuildingproducts.com.

• König North America accelerates in touch-up and full flooring repair kits. Offering both complete kits and individual repair products, the company prides itself on maintenance, offering explicit instructions for DIY home flooring repair along with all necessary tools.

For example, König’s three stages of repair using its touchup products are: 1. Filling—the key to successful repairs is filling using Hard Wax PLUS. All colors of the hard-wearing filler can be mixed and it resists conventional cleaners and moist wiping. 2. Leveling and touching up—use the Special Applicator to level repair. The Acrylic Pigmented Market, Graining Pen or Touch-Up Paint Box can be used to fix slight color deviations. 3. Sealing— Clear Acrylic Lacquer sprays, which are available in four sheen levels, can be used for both an intermediate coat prior to touch-up and for final sealing of the repair.

For more, visit www.konigtouchup.com.

• Urine Off, a fast-growing pet product that literally eats away at the uric acid crystals which cause odor in pet urine. It was launched in 2003 to eliminate the stain and odor at the source rather than masking the problem like most products, said Matthew Greiner of Bio-Pro Research, developer of Urine Off.

Expanding in 2005, Bio-Pro Research introduced a full line of professional products in concentrated formulas, which featured new solutions to intractable problems such as urine that was never dealt with.

And, this year, Urine Off’s Revolutionary Urine Finder Inspection Light hit the marketplace. Using LED technology, the product is specially calibrated to detect biological substances such as urine, semen and other bodily fluids. “Using the LED Urine Finder Light, urine can be identified then eradicated with Urine Off products, leaving a clean, fresh smelling environment,” Greiner said.

For more information, visit www.urineoff.com.

Shower installations

An area closely related to flooring is tile shower installations. Usually featuring ceramic tile similar to that used on a bathroom floor, shower installers are faced with the hurdle of proper installation to prevent water damage. This problem, however, has been addressed and eradicated by several innovative water tight solution companies, including:

• Noble Co., committed to providing top-quality products and services to help design and construction professionals with watertight shower installations, continues adding to its line of inventive products. This year, Richard Maurer, director of marketing, said to look for several new additions: Pro-Slope, pre-slope for traditional shower waterproofing installations; Noble Niches, recesses for shower walls that are tile ready, waterproof and install in about 10 minutes; Noble Curbs, curb overlays and solid curbs eliminate the need to penetrate waterproofing membranes or install lath and mortar over traditional curbs; Chloraloy, premium shower waterproofing membrane made from CPE and guaranteed for life, and NobleSeal TS, thin bed waterproofing membrane suitable for walls, floors, steam rooms, curbless showers and more.

For more information, visit www.noblecompany.com.

• Tile Redi, a leader in pre-formed, one-piece shower pans for time and labor saving installations, launched a new water intrusion solution to its system this year— Redi-Flash. Eliminating the potential threat of shower water overflowing the splash wall or penetrating behind the finished tile work, Redi-Flash is an aluminum guard that sits on top of the shower pan resting flush against the substrate.

Easily installed by attaching to the company’s pre-formed shower module with metal studs and gluing the strip to the backerboard, Redi-Flash is available with each shower module upon request.

For more information, visit www.tileredi.com.

• Schlüter Systems recently introduced the newest members of its shower system: Schlüter-KERDI-SEAL-PS and -MV. The prefabricated seals are sections of the Schlüter-KERDI waterproofing membrane with over-molded rubber gaskets.

KERDI-PS is designed to seal pipe protrusions, while KERDIMV protects moisture-sensitive solid backing panels at the mixing valve. And, both eliminate the use of sealant at specified protrusions for clean and simple installation.

KERDI-PS comes with a pipe nipple opening diameter of ½- inch and ¾-inch, and KERDIMV is available with a mixing valve opening diameter of 4½ inches. Schlüter also launched two installation handbooks—Schlüter-DITRA Handbook, and Schlüter-Shower System Handbook— designed to help installers, architects and specifiers understand, install and properly specify the company’s systems.

For more information, visit www.schluter.com.

• Wedi Corp. revolutionized its prefabricated, tileable units with the Wedi Fundo Riolito. This new unit for wet rooms and bathrooms features a linear channel drain allowing water to drain away through the narrow gap between the cover plate and adjacent tiling. Its drainage rate is 16 gallons per minute, and it comes with a prefabricated slope of ¼-inch per foot.

The Riolito offers three cover plate options made from stainless steel and can be used with large-format tiles in the thin-bed process.

For more information, visit www.wedi.de/usa.