Corques Liquid Lino system makes North American debut
October 23/30, 2017: Volume 32, Issue 10
By Reginald Tucker
Dallas—It pours like creamy buttermilk pancake batter, but dries like solid linoleum.
That’s how several people who were on hand here earlier this month to witness the first U.S. demonstration of Duracryl’s Corques Liquid Lino (CLL) describe how it goes down on the job site. Already in widespread use in Europe—particularly the Netherlands—CLL is billed as the first ever applied liquid linoleum floor covering product for North America.
How it works: CLL is applied as a seamless, wall-to-wall, self-levelling liquid mixed with a biopolymer binder and is rolled on the substrate. When fully dried, the product cures to a total thickness of about 2–2.5 mil. Designed for both residential and commercial applications, CLL—which is packaged in buckets—is manufactured from a combination of natural products including resins, linseed oil, wood, cork flour, limestone and natural pigments. CLL is essentially a mixture of the same ingredients as linoleum, but it has different characteristics than the traditional product.
Extremely durable, chemical resistant and elastic, CLL is suitable for use in many different applications including schools, hospitals, retail outlets, offices, museums, homes and apartments. According to Duracryl, the product is particularly suited to high-traffic areas where a hygienic, seamless floor covering with a natural look and feel is required.
“This is a great alternative to sheet products,” Jeroen van den Berg, Duracryl’s managing director, told about 40 distributors, retailers, architects and designers who were on hand for the first-ever U.S. demonstration. “We started with the first liquid-applied flooring in the 1950s, and with the knowledge we gained over the decades we saw this as a direct path to develop liquid-applied systems.”
CLL is far from an untested product. Duracryl reports CLL has been installed in the Netherlands for nearly 10 years in high-traffic installations such as hospitals, hotels, educational facilities and retail applications. Given that track record and the product’s documented performance in Europe, the company’s marketing partners are confident CLL will quickly gain traction in the U.S.
Dallas-based InstaFloor, which has formed a strategic alliance with Duracryl to facilitate CLL’s entry into the U.S. market, is a believer. “Some of what you’re hearing and seeing here today may be too good to be true,” Bas van Genderen, managing director of InstaFloor, told attendees during the dazzling product demonstration. “We’ve heard that before when we introduced our InstaLay underlayment line, and that product also proved to live up to high expectations.”
Duracryl and InstaFloor are not at all shy about the product’s claims. From an installation standpoint, they claim CLL offers several advantages over traditional sheet goods. Compared to rolled linoleum, for example, Duracryl claims there is a 50% reduction in installation time. In addition, there are no seams so there is no welding or welding materials required on the job site, thereby saving cost and installation time. And once the product fully cures, a special surface wearlayer, Protecshield, can be applied via roller to provide additional protection.
“Traditional linoleum, which is delivered in fixed rolls or tiles, is expensive to transport and heavy for the installer to carry,” van den Berg explained. “It’s just not ideal for transport. The sheet has to be cut, glued, welded, etc. With our product, there are no seams.”
Other key attributes of CLL: There is no cutting loss, no pattern direction instructions required for installation and no need for pre-application of adhesives, as the product is self-adhering. More importantly, the product is suitable for installation over existing resilient, tile and even some hardwood floors, provided the proper subfloor preparation steps are followed. And when combined with InstaFloor’s InstaLay underlayment, the result is a durable floor that’s both quiet and comfortable underfoot. CLL also scores high marks on the environmental front. According to Duracryl, it produces no VOCs and is formaldehyde free, making it one of the most environmentally friendly and hygienic floor covering products available on the market today.
Seeing is believing
Many of the distributors, retailers and designers in attendance were impressed with the CLL demonstration. “It’s not every day that a product like this comes along,” said Paul Clark, territory manager with Jaeckle Wholesale. “CLL offers several installation advantages. You really don’t need someone skilled at welding seams to do this. We see a lot of potential for this in the commercial market. It’s very exciting.”
Candee Smith, account manager with Dallas Corp. Flooring, an architectural firm, agreed. “I’ve been in the business since 1976, and I haven’t seen anything like [CLL]. Our clients want custom products, not something from a spec book. I think they will be excited about it. And when designers are excited, the product is going to move.”
Pamela Bolton, president and CEO of Creative Flooring Solutions, Addison, Texas, is another believer. She sees the product being used in retail, hospitality and senior care facilities. “It’s such a beautiful floor. It’s impervious to all chemicals in medical arenas, slip resistant and sustainable. It’s an amazing product, and we’re very excited to have it on the market in the U.S.”