FOCUS ON VINYL & LVT The New Kid On The Block
What is PRO-TEK WPC and what makes it different to LVT? The company’s experts are here to tell us more about the product set to change the UK vinyl game, having already taken the USA by storm.
It’s almost a year since The Flooring Show hosted the launch of a new type of engineered vinyl flooring, PRO-TEK WPC. Although the event plays host to plenty of new designs, finishes, and reinventions of previous innovations each year, this was something different…
Before Harrogate’s doors even opened, PRO-TEK WPC received a Flooring Innovation Award and, since then, it has firmly established itself as a popular new flooring option. But what is it that makes PRO-TEK WPC different, and how does it compare to traditional LVT and other composite constructions like stone plastic composite (SPC)?
Whilst wood plastic composite (WPC) flooring is still a fairly new concept in the UK, it is one of the fastest-growing surface sectors in the US, where it’s offered as an alternative to LVT and laminate. In essence, PRO-TEK WPC combines an authentic registered embossed vinyl finish with two additional layers - a waterproof, jointed core and an attached acoustic underlay base. These extra layers provide specific features and benefits to the specifier, flooring contactor and end-user.
In terms of actual feel, the additional layers give PRO-TEK WPC its robustness and enhance its performance on uneven floors. Issues like telegraphing are eliminated, where subfloor irregularities can mirror through to the surface of a thinner vinyl product. But, whilst the floor has a substantial feel, it is much lighter, more pliable and easier to cut than SPC designs, which have a heavier stone plastic composite core.
During installation, the product’s integral underlay base, which is made from premium IXPE foam, speeds installation and reduces the amount of floor preparation needed. It also provides acoustic sound performance up to 24db. The product’s glueless joint, the Unilin Unifit, then offers the best
12 | Tomorrow’s Retail Floors
technical performance of all ‘fold-down’ locking systems. Installation is fast and easy in all respects - angling, folding down and snapping - without the need for adhesive.
Underfoot, the combination of the foam underlay and wood- based core provide a softer, more comfortable feel compared to hard materials, like natural stone and SPCs, which are harder and noisier underfoot. All materials used are also 100% recyclable and phthalate-free.
Visually, PRO-TEK WPC’s natural look is achieved using a registered emboss technique, where the surface texture mirrors the vinyl’s grain pattern, creating depth and authenticity. This technique is used across the range, to create 40 individual floor designs in a variety of finishes, colours and formats. Wood effects are divided into four collections: ‘Excel’ rustic planks; ‘Distressed’ vintage designs; ‘Excel Long Plank’, which includes wider, longer boards; and ‘Essential’ –a range designed for new-build homes, refurbishment and student accommodation. The fifth collection, ‘Excel Tile’, includes eight designs in marble, slate and travertine effects. A complementary WPC accessory range also includes five profile designs, with a colour and décor-matched option for every floor.
PRO-TEK WPC’s construction, combined with its design breadth and eco credentials, provides a different type of flooring option- one that is neither an LVT nor a laminate, but something else entirely. For both the commercial and domestic sectors, it brings together the features of other materials and offers them in one package. This new floor, with its unique layered construction, provides benefits that literally stack up.
www.pro-tek-flooring.com
www.tomorrowsretailfloors.com
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