News
Trim & Proper
Profiles, trims and accessories are for essential many flooring installations: Atkinson & Kirby offers a comprehensive range of solid wood profiles, trims and accessories to match wooden floors and now also matching its LivLoc range of luxury click vinyl. At its Lancashire factory, Atkinson & Kirby produces a range of profiles and trims that can be used to create a seamless finish enhancing the inherent beauty of wooden floors, as well as doorways, fire places and radiator pipe covers. Available in various lengths and species, the...
read moreFloor Prep Tips
Barry Hodges, technical manager, Mapei UK, gives tips on floor preparation over previously covered areas: BEFORE carrying out any type of refurbishment, there are a number of factors that need to be considered: First, you need to identify the existing floorcoverings installed, to establish if they contain asbestos. You then need to determine what type of subfloor is present, so you know exactly what you’re dealing with and can select the correct preparatory materials required. Once this has been established, you’ll need to check...
read moreLVT – Now You Can Be Different
Julie Dempster, marketing manager at Forbo Flooring Systems, explain how luxury vinyl tiles are helping to achieve exclusive appearances: FLOORING is evolving – everything from construction and format, to colour, texture and design – with key manufacturers really pushing the boundaries. And so for contractors, keeping in touch with new trends and latest product developments will enable them to offer their clients something that sets them apart from the competition. One area to look out for is the luxury vinyl tile market, which has...
read moreMaking Good
A variety of different flooring is used in refurbishment: Axminster Carpets supplied carpets for the refurbishment of the Barbican in London. The Barbican has used Axminster Carpets since 2008 and the woven 8-pitch loom carpet in bespoke ‘Barbican blue’ recently laid on the stairs, stalls and foyer is reportedly an exact match for quality, style and colour as the Axminster carpet originally laid in the auditorium. Over 1.77m people visit the Barbican every year and luxurious Axminster carpet is designed to be durable enough to...
read moreFloor With A Phwoar
Decorative vinyl flooring and LVTs are attactive with loads of benefits. Here are some leading suppliers: Altro has launched new products designed to offer a holistic approach to interior design. They include safety flooring, smooth flooring, new acoustic flooring and wall cladding, with colour palettes designed to complement, mix and match. Altro Wood Safety is a wood-look, sparkle-free safety flooring that replaces Altro Timbersafe II. Wood Safety has a palette of 12 designs, said to enable a mood to vary from cool and classy for...
read moreVisit To Domotex
The CFA started 2014 with two main exhibitions in our diary. Harrogate with FITA features takes place in September. But the first one, Domotex in January, has just been held. In fact, as write this article, I have just returned from visiting the enormous Deutche Messe exhibition centre in Hannover. I usually travel to Germany to attend Domotex on Sunday (the second day of the show) and generally return late Tuesday, the day it closes. It is an annual pilgrimage and my two days at the exhibition are filled with appointments. I wasn’t...
read moreDon’t Let Safety Get Your Back Up
SOME flooring contractors view health & safety regulations as an annoyance, even as a waste of time or as simply a box-ticking or form-filling exercise. They are not alone. Even the Prime Minister, no less, pledged at the height of the recession to ‘kill off the health & safety culture for good’. Perhaps the relatives and friends of the 148 people who were killed on construction sites in 2012/13 or the many thousands who were seriously injured at work would beg to disagree with Mr Cameron about scrapping the safety rules. Construction...
read moreThe CFA Ready To Recruit A Training Manager
The chief executive officer: Richard Catt THE flurry of New Year activity has continued well into 2014 with exciting opportunities to work with the CFA being advertised within the appointments section of this month’s CFJ. Our first is as a senior member of the CFA team and role we have been working towards for some time: a training manager. The role naturally includes some responsibility for FITA, which in itself is a fantastic opportunity given the investment and successes that FITA has enjoyed over the past few years. Even in these...
read moreAdvice On Not Coming Unstuck
FLOORING and accessories Specialist GRADUS advises that care should be taken when selecting adhesives for flooring accessories, particularly PVC products such as skirting. If the adhesive is not compatible with the product being installed, then failure is likely to occur. This may not be immediately obvious – incompatibilities may not show for several months. The key to selecting adhesives is to make sure that they have been tested by the manufacturer and are backed by the manufacturer for use with the products in...
read moreSnickers Add More Layers
SNICKERS three-layer work clothes principle is about selecting garments according to work load and the temperature onsite. The first layer is for moisture transportation–Snickers underwear in wicking polyester is designed to keep the body warm and dry. Storing warm air close to the body is the primary task of the middle layer. Choose from a range of micro fleece, fleece, pile and quilt. The third layer is for wind and water protection–Snickers garments have been developed to be breathable with waterproof properties. The AIS Active...
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