News
Kährs Unveils New Designs
KÄHRS has introduced three new wood floor designs to its Artisan Collection with a rustic signature look. Each design has a gnarled, knotty character. All floors are said to be crafted in Sweden from sustainable European oak. New Kährs Oak Concrete has a grey-tinged natural oil finish, while Kährs Oak Saw Brown and Oak Saw White provide light and dark colour options. All come in a wide plank format with individual surface treatments. Kährs Artisan Collection floors feature a multi-layered construction, which is claimed to use...
read moreUFH ‘helps dispel dust mites’
STEVEN ROONEY, sales director of GAIA (formerly Devi Electroheat), claims underfloor heating (UFH) can make a substantial contribution to eradicating the house dust mite. ‘There are many benefits of UFH, including making the home more hygienic,’ he says. ‘Many people prefer carpet. However, it can provide the ideal habitat for dust mites. Below 40% humidity, they cannot survive. So by raising the floor temperature to 26degC it reduces the moisture content to a level where the dust mite cannot survive. As the moisture level at the...
read moreWholesalers’ Role Vital To Flooring Contractors
Richard Harris, marketing manager at F Ball and Co explains the key role of wholesalers in the contract flooring sector: A QUOTE frequently repeated many years ago was: ‘It’s not the job the contractor wants to do today, it’s the job he has to do.’ And it still holds true today. This comment helps to illustrate why the role of wholesalers is so important for the effective and efficient supply of products from manufacturers to contractors. In the above context it relates to the unpredictability of the construction industry, in...
read moreUK Firms Retreat From China
‘Many are now sourcing products from throughout Europe’ Alex Davidson, business development manager, Kahrs (UK), looks at why firms starting to source products from Europe rather than China and what the market implications are: A NUMBER of large UK distributors and suppliers have told me recently that they’re no longer sourcing the majority of their wood flooring products from China. Instead, many are ‘nearshoring’ or ‘reshoring’ – sourcing products from throughout Europe – including Eastern European regions. China...
read morePlant Thieves Can Leave You Out Of Pocket
John McDonald on hire insurance for contractors WHEN things go wrong, companies could find themselves liable for the full cost of hired plant. You hired it in. It’s gone. Now what? The most common terms of hire in use are those of the Construction Plant-hire Association and the Hire Association Europe. These conditions both make the hirer responsible for the costs of repair for damage to equipment, or for its value following loss. Many other conditions are available, but they almost all share this feature. Equipment is hired at the...
read moreFail To Prepare, Prepare To Fail
David Gatfield with golden rules on surface preparation FROM screeds to DPMs and smoothing compounds, here are the golden rules of subfloor preparation. Everyone knows, or at least should know, that correct preparation is key before successfully completing any task, whether it’s DIY at home or the smoothing and levelling of a subfloor before installing a floorcovering. All subfloors that are to receive vinyl, rubber, contract carpet or linoleum must be prepared to a good standard if problems are to be avoided. There are a few things to...
read moreFor A Floor That Is A Corker, Simply Use Cork
Craig Pawson on trends for 2014 THIS month I will divulge some positive flooring industry news and look forward to the new trends. The Office for National Statistics’ family spending report reveals that consumers spent £4.368bn on flooring last year. This is great news for the industry, which was hit hard during the economic recession. It’s no secret that the flooring industry saw a decline in sales as a result of households limiting their spending due to lack of disposable income. However, as the housing market picks up, we are...
read moreEngineered Is Not Immune To Moisture
Sid Bourne on engineered wood flooring THE wood flooring industry has changed immensely over the years with engineered flooring ruling the roost. My concern is how many times I go to site and find that there is a complete misunderstanding on the product. So I have decided to put my teacher’s hat on and try and educate people on how engineered wood flooring works and how to avoid problems. Engineered wood flooring has gained in popularity because it is seen as a product that can be installed to a multitude of surfaces and locations....
read moreFor All You New Kids On The Block
Terry Guilford on wood block flooring One of the things that surprises me about the wood flooring industry is the lack of interest in installing new wood block flooring. We are all used to seeing wood block in old public buildings (schools being the primary example) and any estate agent will tell you that a property with a beautiful floor of this type will sell quicker and at a higher price, add to this that technically, a wood block floor suits modern living better than any other type of solid wood floor and the mystery deepens. Part of...
read moreHow To Stop That Creaking & Groaning
Jim Coulson on noisy floors WE have all experienced it at some time or another: A creaky, squeaky floor that always seems to ‘go’ in the same place, every time someone walks over it. Even if you’re lucky enough not to have such a problem in your own house (or your place of work maybe), then you will have almost certainly been somewhere that does have that annoying ‘rasp’ at a certain spot. So what causes noisy floors, and how can you cure it? The causes are twofold: Although they are both due to (unwanted) friction, either...
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