I’m planning to relaunch this blog into a fully fledged review site in the very near future. I’ll also begin to take a look at the world of LVT (luxury vinyl tile – Karndean et al).
While I’ve been AWOL much has happened in the wonderful world of floorcoverings. Brinton’s have secured foreign investment and looked to Indian and Chinese plants for the future, Victoria Carpets have shot themselves in the foot by teaming up with Tesco to sell carpets direct to the public (a big no-no in the trade), the recession has taken a chunk out of more high street names than you can shake a stick of gripper at and Carpet Right has announced that it will very likely be closing a significant number of stores in order to focus on more online activity. Oh and some rioters burned one of their shops down in London.
Whilst I have had some animated discussions with customers over the years, none have actually torched the shop (yet), although one guy did threaten this once. Oh and possibly the most worrying news of all is that wool now seems to cost as much as gold – in fact I’m expecting ‘cash for wool’ shops opening on high streets very soon.
I’m also continually asked about which is better, Balterio or Quickstep? It’s largely a matter of opinion – Quickstep has the better joint (in my humble opinion) and Balterio has the better design. Ignore the warranties and claims of super duper scratch and or water resistance. Buy the best one you can afford that you like the look of and you won’t go far wrong. Neither company makes a bad product and you won’t wear them out. I have some Balterio fitted at home – been down 7 years and looks exactly as it did when I put it down.
UK Flooring Blog 