Tarkett Gooble Up Rhinofloor

We just received this letter from Armstrong:

It’s pretty clear from it that Tarkett, the huge vinyl manufacturer have decided, in their wisdom, to take on the Rhinofloor brand. Is it a risk? Well, Tarkett are huge and seemingly very successful, although the impending cuts might see a reduction in their commercial vinyl sales throughout Europe and that is an area of strength for them. They are surely counting on the brand awareness and hoping to use their size and strength to propel the Rhinofloor brand towards profit in the domestic market….easier said than done.

One rep told me not to dispose of my Rhinofloor sampling – whoops – too late. We do get so very many useless, unsuitable and redundant pattern books that a whole lot of them have to be skipped as soon as we work out that they are not useful. I had heard rumours of this move a couple of weeks ago, but I chose not to post it on here just in case somebody got upset at my posting of unsubstantiated rumours. I’m going soft.

Certainly Tarkett would do well to follow the lead of Armstrong, Leoline and so forth and produce a decent up to date website. That’s the minimum requirement these days – so very many of our customers come in armed with info from the internet and any manufacturer who fails to use it to their advantage is being extremely shortsighted.

Read Full Post »

Armstrong Popular Choice Vinyl

A parcel arrived this morning. A pleasantly logo-ed golden box containing new sample swatches of Armstrong’s relaunched ‘Popular Choice’ vinyl range. It’s branded as being ‘From the home of Rhinofloor’, which of cause it is, but many shops to erroneously claim that it is Rhinofloor. It”s not, you have to pay more money for Rhinofloor, but this range does have its plus points.

Popular Choice is broken down into three ranges: Gold, Silver and Bronze. Each range comes 2m, 3m and 4m wide and features R10 slip-resistance rating. Gold is guaranteed for 7 years, Silver and Bronze for 5 years each. Sadly I do not have the technical specs of them yet, but they do look there or thereabouts to their nearest Leolan/Domo etc competitors to the naked eye.

Ah, but what are the designs like I hear you ask. Well, I don’t think they’ve strayed too far from the norm with these. These ranges are intended to be a ‘middle of the road’ collection to cover all the popular bases. I really like one design in the Silver range, namely ‘Feinstein Metal Oxide’ which is a lovely sharp bronze shade tile – really stands out and should sell, as bronze really seems popular right now.

I’d reckon that all three ranges will go out for £12-£17 per square metre and it’s got to be pretty decent value at that price. Armstrong should do okay with them, but there is nothing different or interesting about them really – just standard vinyl fodder. Stockists will be given the usual advantage in taking rolls in I’m sure, so if you’re looking to cut a deal on these ranges as a customer, if you can find someone who actually stocks some of the ranges then you may be able to chop a few quid per metre from the price.

The samples we have received are small, but there is some logic in this as they are intended to complement Armstrong’s very nice in store stands rather than replace them. Swatches this size work well when you are out measuring for customers and you can’t exactly take a whole stand with you!

Read Full Post »

Ceramitex Vinyl by Gerflor

Gerflor make a lot of their ‘polyester textile backing’ on their range of vinyl flooring. They claim that, among other things, it can be laid on top of virtually any kind of subfloor without the need for the usual preparation. That’s a bold claim and I must confess that we do sell it where the subfloor is a little awry and the customer does not want the hassle and the expense of screeding or plywooding beforehand. However, I do think that it is important to explain to the customer that the job may well not be ‘perfect’.

The latest range I have come across is ‘Ceramitex’. As the name suggests, it is a tile based selection available either 2m, 3m or 4m wide and with GripX slip-resistance, felt-backing and comes 2.0mm thick with a wear layer of 0.20mm.

CEramitex Borie Dark Design

I do think that the designs stand up quite well and as seen below, they offer a good range of contemporary designs. We are certainly selling more tile than wood design now in vinyl and this is probably borne out by the amount of new tile ranges we are seeing.

Ceramitex Designs in Full

This should be a steady seller and while it is not at the top end of vinyl as regards quality, the felt-backing may well get you out of a hole, so it’s worth considering if your subfloor is slightly uneven. If it’s more than slightly dodgy then please rectify that before wasting your money on a vinyl floor.

This should go out at between £12 and £16 per square metre. Sadly not available as of yet on yourfloors, but your local supplier who deals with The Headlam Group will be able to supply it easily enough.

Read Full Post »

Leolan Vinyls

Fantazy: This is very much Leolan’s ‘fun’ vinyl. It comes with a paltry 5 year warranty, easily Leolan’s shortest! but this is a range that sells on its designs. Having said that, there is nothing wrong with the product. It is 3mm thick and, unusually these days, comes without an R10 slip-resistant badge.

To the designs, not all are funky and quirky by any means. They have the ‘chessboard’ Alicante design as well as the plain marble Avalon design to cater for the more mainstream customer, but if you are looking for something a little different then Fantazy is a good bet. We’ve seen people use it in kids’ playrooms, bedrooms and home offices.

The ultimate in little boys’ flooring choice has to be this:

Route 66?

 There is also a cracking ‘jigsaw puzzle’ design in there and a very ‘girl-friendly’ design called ‘Flower’:

Flower Power

 On top of that, the ‘Drops’ and ‘Gobi’ designs are very usable in bathrooms and ensuites, regardless of their lack of slip-resistance. It might be preferable to avoid them for anyone who has mobility issues though. Anyway , all are available on Yourfloors and you will probably pay £15-£20 per square metre for them.

Steps: A lower-end vinyl – this one from Leolan once again comes without slip-resistance, but I think I am right in saying that only this and Fantazy are the only ones within their ranges that do not feature this.

I do find Steps useful though. Technically it is 2.5mm thick and has a wear layer of 0.2mm, so it’s not going to compete as far as wear goes with Leolan’s higher spec (and price) products. Having said that though, it does not feel or look cheap and nasty and I have no qualms about supplying and fitting it. Like all Leolan’s products, it is a long time since we had any kind of problem with them.

The reason I often show Steps to customers is that they offer a large green and blue simple square tile, and that is hard to find these days. Once this kind of design was commonplace, but now Leolan’s Vigo design is one of very few:

VIgo 025 DesignVigo 075

Once we get past that the designs are nothing out of the ordinary, but are all steady and solid sellers. You can view them here, but a word of warning in that not all of those designs will be distributed in the UK within that range at least. Some of the designs will be available in other ranges though.

You can expect to pay £12-£15 per square metre for this product.

THIS POST WILL BE UPDATED WITH MORE INFORMATION VERY SOON!

Nairn Cushionflor – New Ranges

Nairn are a top manufacturer of cushioned vinyl flooring in the UK and owner of the ‘Cushionflor’ brand. ‘Cushionflor’ has become the generic name now for cushioned vinyl floorcovering thanks to them.

I’ve been having a look through some of their new ranges lately. I haven’t got my hands on all of them just yet, but it’s always interesting to see what they come up with.

Their budget range is Cushionflor Classic and is 2.4mm thick with a wear layer of 0.2mm – those specs put it firmly at the budget end of the market, but it’s not a bad product at all. I do quite like the small mosaic ‘Roland’ design shown here:

 

Ideal for Bathroom

They also have a tiny mosaic design in ‘Mosaico’, which have already sold a bit of shown here:

 

Even Smaller Tile

Aside from that it’s wood planks and some bog standard tile designs. Expect to pay around £11-£15 square metre for this product.

A more upmarket range they do is ‘Cushionflor Reflections’, which is a high gloss vinyl and there are not many of those around right now. Maybe 7 years ago or so we sold a lot of these and then they went spectactularly out of fashion, so it’s good to see a limited amount re-introduced. Reflections is again 2.4mm thick and has a slightly improved wear-layer of 0.25mm. You’re paying for design as opposed to heavy wear  with this one in my opinion, but there’s nothing wrong in that – how long do you want to have your bathroom flooring down? In my experience, people change more regularly now than ever. Expect to pay £16-£21 per metre for it.

Anyway, to the designs and here is where Nairn score some big bonus points. The ‘Roman’ small mosaic tile design shown below is stunning when seen close up. This pic does not do it justice, but Nairn will send you samples should you wish.

 

The Gloss is More Noticeable Up Close

I also really like the plain marble ‘Pantheon’ design (once more the image here cannot replicate how good it looks):

 

Great Colour, Great Design

I do hope Nairn don’t mind me linking to their images like this, but nobody else seems to review flooring impartially, so what harm can it do? You can buy ‘Cushionflor Classic’ on Yourfloors, but not ‘Reflections’ so far.

One note of irritation though Nairn, your new sample books are poor. They are plit down the middle and the way they have been done makes them look like they are falling to bits.

Read Full Post »

New Leolan Vinyl – Stones SR

I’ve just got hold of a new range from Leolan that we buy via Headlam Group – Stones SR.

It’s pretty impressive and at the top end of their range with its 15 year guarantee. There are some old favourite designs there, like the ever popular Mikado 35, but they have added some interesting new ones as tile designs seem to become more popular than ever.

 

Mikado 35 Leolan Stones SR

 

They also have the small mosaic, Orvieto design in there but also some larger ones along the lines of Rhinofloor’s Antique Tiles range.

You’ll probably sell it at between £19-£25 per metre, but I won’t give out trade prices on here. It isn’t currently on Yourfloors, but it will be in time I’m certain. If your rep offers you a sample book I’d take it and I daresay it will be updated onto the Leolan stands pretty soon.

Read Full Post »