special report
Flooring
"The porcelain tile being produced today
replicating natural wood is absolutely amazing.
It not only looks realistic, it feels realistic."
– Architect Michel St. Germain
clearly looked like ceramic tile trying to
be something else. But now, that is not
the case. Being a Canadian, like most of
my countrymen, I've been around wood
construction all my life. The porcelain tile
being produced today replicating natural
wood is absolutely amazing. It not only
looks realistic, it feels realistic. We used
the Florim product 'Ecowood' in a recent
project, and were 100-percent satisfied
with the specification for both aesthetic and
performance reasons."
The look becoming affordable
With the preponderance of more wood-look
porcelain being specified for the commercial marketplace, with more jobs being
completed with these materials, demand
increases, more products are being
produced, and ultimately, cost of goods
becomes more affordable.
"These materials can actually cost less
than real wood," Rabaioli says. "And remember, even though we are lobbying to have more
and more wood-look installations take place
in wet areas where the image of natural wood
is typically not seen, this product is ideal for
any high-traffic area where porcelain tile is
generally the flooring of choice. In other words,
any hotel opting for wood-look porcelain in its
guestrooms would also provide an ideal venue
for wood-look porcelain in its lobbies, restaurants, fitness centers, and more."
Rabaioli says porcelain tile, just like wood,
is a "green" product. "For example, our Ecowood materials are produced with 40-percent
recycled material. We're committed to producing
these tile ranges that not only look like natural
wood and perform like porcelain tile… we're
offering American-made tiles that garner
LEED credits, and, are manufactured with
environmentally-friendly techniques."