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Metroflor2

Fast Flooring Attachments are Ideal for Flexible Spaces

June 13, 2019

As floor companies move away from liquid adhesives—to improve air quality and reduce installation time—two companies at NeoCon show of their solutions that involve high-strength tape and magnetic technology.

Flooring companies are moving away from liquid adhesives when installing their products. When it comes to liquid adhesives, the installation time, coupled with the smell, often means the spaces can’t be occupied or used for a longer period of time.

At NeoCon 2019 in Chicago, two flooring companies showed off their innovative solutions to this problem by using fast-attachment methods that require no glue or other liquid adhesives.

Tarkett & Tape

On the show floor, Terry Mowers, Tarkett’s vice president of design for North America, walked BUILDINGS editor-in-chief Janelle Penny through Tarkett’s Tatami System—which received a Grand Prize for Product Innovations 2019—and why it’s ideal for the changing office.

“We believe that the floor or carpeting needs to reconfigure or change as the work requirements change,” Mowers says. “We’re taking traditional woven or tufted [carpeting] and cutting them and finishing them in prescribed module sizes that can easily configure.”

The modules are connected through Tarkett’s patented PowerTape, a high-strength, specially formulated, scrim reinforced adhesive tape system.

The modules are connected to each other so they can stay in place and not move—but can still be easily reconfigured or re-taped as the workspace needs change.

[On topic: Open Plan Overhaul: Helping Companies Fit As They Grow]

Metroflor & Magnets

Also on the NeoCon 2019 show floor, Russ Rogg, president and CEO of Metroflor, discussed the company’s Metroforms with Attraxion Magnet Attachment Technology, which also won a Merit Award for Product Innovations 2019.

The product couples magnetic technology with Metroforms’ pre-cut designs. A sheet of magnetic material—3-by-33.3 feet—that can cover 100 square feet can be laid out on an existing subfloor.

There’s no need for glue once you have that in place. Metroflor’s luxury vinyl tiles will adhere to the metal material.

“The beauty behind this is that it takes what would otherwise be an extremely complex installation process and allows just about anybody to achieve the installation,” Rogg says.

“If you misalign a section, you can lift it up, slide it to the correct location and put it back down again—versus glue, which would typically be the method of installation. If you glue the floor down and it’s misaligned, you really have a difficult time trying to move it,” he continues.

Metroflor offers 10 unique shapes chosen from a number of designs—comprising 38 options of different colors and textures.

Easy Installation

At NeoCon 2019, it was evident that flooring companies are continually looking for ways to make product installation easier and less time-consuming. And when it comes to adhesives that can negatively affect air quality, solutions are incorporating alternatives to glue.

More NeoCon 2019 Coverage:

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