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Trend News on the Trade Shows for Floor Coverings
Innovations and trends surrounding the DOMOTEX in Hannover and the BAU in Munich
What trends and innovations are there with regard to colour, texture, surface, finish, wood species and installation methods?
The parquet sector shows two opposite trends. On the one hand, there is an ongoing demand for dark wood species. For ecological reasons, alternative wood types displaying warm, darkish colours, such as Smoked Oak or African Oak, are increasingly becoming established. On the other hand, tastes are also shifting towards white oiled flooring. Besides oak and beech wood, many other different wood species treated with white pigmented oils are now being offered.
As to the surface finishes, the matt look continues to be very popular with consumers. Manufacturers thus are reducing the degree of gloss of their finishes. A niche market has been opened up by flooring with a vintage, “time-worn” look. These are floorboards which have been treated mechanically, by staining or by leaching to make them look as though they have been there for generations. Installation-wise, glueless systems have gained widespread acceptance and are increasingly superseding the tongue and groove joint. Two glueless installation systems exist in the market: The horizontally engaged and the angle engaged system. Hamberger has been the market leader in Germany with its Clic Connect system since the year 2000.
Where are the trends for private homes leading?
Interior design in private homes distinguishes two main groups of consumers: The first buys by price and looks for the cheapest bargains, while the second prefers exclusive and extraordinary floor coverings. The consumers of the second group want to distinguish themselves by unusual designs and accessories and can afford this buying behaviour due to a higher net household income.
Where are the trends for commercial and public applications heading?
Building planners increasingly choose livelier grade mixes for strip parquet flooring, which may also contain knots, heartwood or sapwood. New developments, such as the Haro Flexible Glue, enhance the efficiency of glue-down installation and subfloor preparation.
Laminate flooring is also enjoying a growing popularity in commercial applications, first of all because it is maintenance-friendly and durable, which is of key importance in high-traffic areas. The second reason is that technical developments for laminate flooring, such as embossed authentic surfaces, have succeeded in emulating real parquet flooring with increasing accuracy. Meanwhile there are even laminate strips that can be installed in a classical herringbone pattern. This was previously only possible with parquet. In our fast-moving times, it has become common practice to completely renew the flooring in shops and offices every few years. With a floating laminate floor and a glueless installation system, this has become very quick and easy to do.
What are the growth prospects for parquet et al.?
Hard surface floor coverings continue to offer the possibility of reaching new clienteles that have so far preferred other floor coverings. Their natural appearance, their easy care and their general appeal and value make them very popular. In the parquet sector, Haro can currently also address prospective buyers with niche products, such as hand-worked and/or stained parquet surfaces that are custom made in the Haro Parquet Works.
How about parquet in the kitchen?
There's nothing to be said against installing parquet flooring in the kitchen. A few things need to be observed, however, to protect the beauty of the floor. The parquet should have a varnished surface to facilitate the removal of grease spots, for example. Standing water must be avoided under any circumstances, so that spills should be wiped up immediately. When properly treated with the recommended floor care products, varnished parquet flooring can perfectly well meet the requirements that are placed on a kitchen floor.
New trend in the home: Custom made floors with special features, such as bevelled edges and hand-worked surfaces. Here, rough-planed plank 1-strip Oak with bevelled edges on all four sides and bioTec oil/wax finish from the Haro Parquet Works.
Photo: HARO – Quality Flooring |
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