Dalton—USFloors has launchedCOREtec Stone—a different approach to stone flooring. Unveiling a new type of core, COREtec Stone is waterproof, crack proof and indentation proof. What’s more, according to USFloors, COREtec Stone’s ease of installation surpasses that of tile.
“As the industry-leader of resilient products, we have engineered COREtec Stone as an uncompromising answer to the consumer’s desire for beautiful tile and a solution to the industry’s installation issues,” said Piet Dossche, executive vice president of hard surface of Shaw Industries and president of USFloors. “This revolutionary product combines the elegance of a stone visual with the performance consumers expect from a COREtec product. It’s the way COREtec would do tile and stone, because now, we do.”
Chief among COREtec Stone’s innovative achievements is a new, rigid mineral core, free of PVC and plasticizers. The rigid mineral core offers indentation resistance with dimensional stability, allowing the product to offer an industry-best 18 x 36-inch platform among its array of design-forward aesthetics and formats suitable for commercial or residential use. The rigid mineral core offers greater dimensional stability than WPC and SPC, making COREtec stone ideal for large spaces without using transition pieces, rooms with high temperatures and areas where cabinets, appliances and islands will be set upon the floor. According to USFloors, moisture from the top or bottom will have no effect on COREtec Stone as its rigid mineral core is waterproof. A limited lifetime structural warranty ensures an unmatched degree of dent and crack resistance.
COREtec Stone debuts with 40 SKUs and features realistic, desirable stone visuals—including granite, travertine and marble—in polished and matte options. By pairing natural elements with its enhanced COREtec technology, the brand created its visuals by incorporating characteristics of the most popular stones. The product has an easy-to-understand system of textures, colors and widths. The 40 new SKUs come in four sizes: 6 x 48 inches, 12 x 24 inches, 18 x 24 inches and 18 x 36 inches.
A protective, thermo-resin layer on top of the tile ensures the surface of COREtec Stone has best-in-class scratch resistance. The rigid mineral core and cork underlayment mitigate noise from footsteps and provide comfort underfoot that tile cannot.
According to USFloors, integrated grout lines eliminate mess and provide a shorter installation time in comparison to tile. The attached cork underlayment and integrated grout lines mean tiles can be installed through a floating application with no acclimation time needed. Consumers can buy, install and walk upon their COREtec Stone floor in a single day. “We’ve engineered COREtec Stone to be as simple to install as possible,” Dossche said. “Tile could never dream of an installation process this easy. And if it is installed easily, it can be uninstalled easily—COREtec Stone also eliminates the hassle and disruption of tile demolition.”