Company Announcement - The soaring demand for luxury vinyl tile in the South African flooring market, has prompted leading flooring supplier and installer, KBAC Flooring, to launch its own LVT brand. KBAC's Vanguard Collection, which will cater for both residential and commercial markets, has several innovative top-of-the-range features such as hand scraped embossing, and planks of up to 1,5 metres in length, says the company's Sales Director, Brandon Park."We have done extensive research of the local market's requirements and believe that we have come up with the ultimate LVT product for the South African market and conditions," he adds.

The Vanguard Collection features three ranges:

• Nature's Look - a heavy-duty residential LVT;
• Plantation - a heavy-duty commercial LVT; and
• Woodlands - upmarket heavy-duty LVTs, earmarked as KBAC's 'flagship' range.

The new range is made from virgin vinyl which, Park says, eliminates the potential health hazards of recycled PVC. "There are dangers in the  recycling of PVC because the plastic contains a large amount of chlorine. When recycled or remanufactured, it can lead to the release of highly dangerous toxins, so we have opted for the safer, virgin option."

Park says the Nature's Look residential range will feature eight colours, all with a natural wooden look. "Nature's Look, which is 2mm thick, will be available as a standard, non-registered embossed LVT with patterns on the wear (top) layers of the planks that imitate wood. This residential range features durable, robust wear layers of 0.3mm - the thickest yet available for this application from KBAC.  The planks, with a width of 230mm and length of 1.2 metres, are also substantially bigger than previously available from KBAC, which offers increased economy and a more realistic appearance," he explains.

The Vanguard Collection's heavy-duty commercial range, Plantation, is also available in eight wood colours and the planks are about 1.2 metres long and 189mm wide. All colours will feature registered embossing - another 'first' for KBAC in the heavy-duty commercial LVTs it offers. In registered  embossing the LVT wear layers follow the pattern of a wooden surface, to visually create a realistic, wood-grained  effect on the entire floor. To cope with the heavier traffic in commercial applications, Plantation has a 0.55mm thick wear layer. Finally, the top of the range Vanguard Collection offering is Woodlands, which has planks 230mm wide and 1.5m long."This undoubtedly gives KBAC a major competitive advantage in this upmarket commercial category as stocked LVTs of this length are rare in any market. Another major advantage of Woodlands is that the planks are available in 10 wood colours: four with standard, non-registered embossing; four with registered embossing; and two with a new, sought-after feature: hand scraped embossing. This stunning embossing effect dramatically resembles vintage, old growth wood with all its irregularities, indents and other imperfections."

Two colours of hand scraped embossed Woodlands are available: Charred Oak and Oregon. The Woodlands range - which is 2.5mm thick - features fibreglass reinforcement to maintain dimensional stability and has wear layers 0.55m thick. KBAC's Vanguard Collection can accommodate underfloor heating of up to 27 degrees Celsius, and is waterproof and  suitable for installation in 'wet' areas such as bathrooms and toilets. The LVTs carry ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification as well as the European Certificate of Approval. Abrasion-, slip-, and stain- and chemical-resistance are common features in all three ranges.
The residential range has a 15-year warranty; and the commercial ranges, a 10-year warranty - both subject to professional installation.

Vanguard Collection flooring comprise dry-back, glue down LVTs that require full bonding to a substrate.