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The Abpure Infinity Collection from American Biltrite. Custom designed porcelain tile from Flesher Marble & Tile 1910 Ltd. M A R C H 2 0 2 4 | 53 Hard Surface Flooring R EN D ER I N G CO U RT E S Y A M ER I C A N B I LT R I T E; P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U RT E S Y F L E S H ER M A R B L E & T I L E 1910 LT D. versatile, and can be applied both indoors and outdoors, interpreting the most contemporary and minimal designs as well as more sophisticated and elegant tastes" Goetz-Turner explains. "It's also technically sound being a through-body porcelain tile suited for residential and heavy commercial applications." Goetz-Turner says Vibes has the beauty of stone, in a stunning natural colour palette, that lends character and depth to any space. "This line brings a harmo- nious and primordial style that interprets minimalism not as a sacrifice, but as a perfect balance in our way of life. Inspired by nature with the usability of por- celain makes this line a great option for residential and commercial projects." Tri-Con Concrete Finishing offers products that fulfill the needs of indus- trial clients, such as high loading, high wearing, flat, multi-functional custom concrete floors with joint-free options that also apply to commercial concrete floors with joint-free flooring, as well as polished concrete flooring that creates architecturally stunning designs with custom colours and imbedded logos for branding. "An important consideration for the industrial commercial client are structural features and the flatness of the concrete floor for racking mobility and support loading on the racks," says Frank Guida, president. Guida says Tri-Con has been using steel fibre technology in concrete since 1982 to replace conventional reinforcing and to widen joint spacing with crack control. "Previously, rebar was used for stability. Steel fibres used to go from 20 kilograms to 40 kilograms per cubic metre, depending on the strength needed to support the load. If we are doing a joint-free floor, they are seamless and as such much smoother. This is important in areas like warehouses because the machines running over the concrete can go faster without bumps in the floor or concrete joint breakdowns. It's all done in conjunction – you start off with the loading, and design the concrete slab including the centre with optimized steel fibres for a joint-free floor. Then there are recommended custom additions like the Cosinus armoured metal joints at the end of the pour." For the more architectural look to floors, Guida says they can make concrete look like Terrazzo. "We can use a polishing process, with or without colour, and depending on the type of aggregate, we can use different grinders to expose the aggregates. One method is called the salt and pepper look, because only the fine aggregates on the surface are revealed. It can be polished to a high shine, or, using products that are embedded into the concrete, can create a look and feel like polished marble." Olympia Tile + Stone has introduced two new Italian lines for their 2024 selection. "Unica is a beautiful onyx look with exquisite depth and character," says Oren Gal, sales manager, builders and commercial divisions. "We stock it in three colours – Cloud Gray, which is a white/grey blend, Green, and Deep Dark, which is black. It's available in two large format sizes: 35-inch by 35-inch and 30-inch by 60-inch in a polished finish." The tiles are chemical resistant and stain resistant. The second selection from Olympia Tile is Moon. "This glazed porcelain tile is a replica of the London Brick in two-inch by nine-inch size, and we stock it in six colours, as well as an imprinted décor for each colour," Gal explains. "The tiles are variegated and textured to enhance the authenticity of the products." Colour options include Bianco Minerale, Argilla Naturale, Bruno Bistro, Nero Fumo, Verde Muschio, and Rosso Mattone. Brent Fisher, manager of Flesher Marble & Tile 1910 Ltd., explains that porce- lain tile is a very versatile product. "We all know that it is extremely durable, but the product can be configured in many ways to offer interesting design impacts. These designs tend to be limited to boxed shapes, but the shapes can be custom- ized a variety of ways. We recently did a high-end restaurant whose designer was looking for something unique." He says the porcelain tile selected for this project was beautiful, yet not overly expensive. "The designer carefully selected four colours of 24-inch by 48-inch tile that formed the basis of design. Three of the colours are an obvious combi- nation but the addition of a deep green to the mix was an interesting choice that simply set the design apart." Fisher notes the original design had many different random shapes that created a logistical problem with the project execution. "Because the shapes were random the only option would be to treat each piece individually and cut by hand with a tile cutter. This would require the skills of a master tile installer with incredible patience. It would make the installation very inefficient and ultimately effect the project schedule. "We went back to the designer and suggested that we needed to establish standardized shapes so that we could approach the cutting another way. The shapes were ultimately re-worked and went from over 40 different shapes to six shapes. With standardized shapes, that would also have standardized opposing pieces, we could now have the pieces cut precisely by cutting them with a waterjet cutting supplier. Not only did we get accurately dimensioned cuts, but we were able to man- age our waste efficiently." Fisher says a collaboration between trades and designer produced the nicest looking restaurant floor in town and maintained the budget.

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