Laminate flooring on a roll in Vegas.

As the size of the North American laminate flooring pie expands, the battle for market share heats up, as evidenced by the new products and players making their introductions at Surfaces '99 in Las Vegas.

Since laminate flooring made its big splashy debut at Surfaces '96, annual U.S. sales have grown from practically nothing to about $500 million. With double-digit annual growth projected to continue for at least the next several years, some 30 manufacturers and distributors of laminate flooring seized Surfaces '99 as a prime opportunity to stake a bigger claim on the retail market.

Their tuning could not have been better. A record attendance of more than 32,000 retailers, contractors and installers - up 25 percent from Surfaces '98 - scoured the 400,000 square feet of exhibits, including hardwood and laminate flooring, carpeting, stone and tile. The event was held Jan. 27-29 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center.

Stow lines emerging in the laminate category at Surfaces '99 include:

* The continuing controversy over whether or not laminate flooring is suitable for bathroom installation. Witex joined Formica and Wilsonart in offering a warranty against water damage to its laminate flooring products.

* Woodgrain planks still rule, but several companies including Formica, Unibord and Columbia Flooring introduced tiles replete with grout lines designed into their offerings.

* The popularity of laminate flooring price points, installation ease and the floating floor concept has led several companies, including Unibord, Columbia, Bruce and Anderson to develop "engineered wood floors" featuring laminate-like wear layers over veneered planks.

* Carpeting specialists Shaw Ind., Mohawk and Catalina Carpet displayed laminate flooring lines for the first time, while several established European laminate flooring manufacturers, including SVEA, made their Surfaces debut.

Company Highlights

Following are some of the individual company highlights surfacing at Surfaces '99.

Mannington Mills Inc. of Salem, NJ, created a stir when it announced in December that it plans to begin production of laminate flooring at a site being purchased in High Point, NC. One of North America's largest flooring companies, Mannington joined the laminate flooring fray two years ago, when it contracted Witex AG of Germany to manufacture its exclusive Historic Collection. Mannington says it will continue its "strategic alliance" with Witex for technical expertise and manufacturing support.

At Surfaces '99, Mannington expanded its product line to include The Exotic Collection comprised of several varieties of Australian cypress and Brazilian cherry. The company also introduced Hush Sound Control Underlayment, available in 300-square-foot rolls, which it says, "solves the problem of the hollow sounds associated with laminate flooring."

Witex, meanwhile, made some headlines of its own in announcing its intentions to build a manufacturing complex in the United States. The complex, which will most likely be built in the Carolinas and be up and running by spring of 2001, is to consist of a medium density fiberboard plant, a laminate flooring manufacturing plant, and a factory dedicated to manufacturing value-added panel components for the kitchen cabinet industry.

At Surfaces '99, Witex, which has an office in Kennesaw, GA, unveiled its AquaProtect System, backed by a 20-year water damage warranty. To illustrate how its product resists swelling, Witex submerged a sample of raw Aqua Protect coreboard into a fish tank.

Formica Flooring of Cincinnati, OH, once again used an overflowing bathtub to demonstrate how its flooring will hold up to water. The company was the first to issue a water damage guarantee in mid-1997, which today stands at 15 years. Formica credits its product's water-resistant attributes to "the combination of a high density core impregnated with melamine resin, precise milling, an exclusive water-resistant glue and proper installation."

At Surfaces '99, Formica added Tumbled Marble to its Ceramix Collection of laminate tiles. It is a traditional stone design with "authentic-looking grout lines;" 20 4-inch by 4-inch tries compose a 24-inch by 24-inch module.

Wilsonart of Temple, TX, boasts that its Performance Flooring line, introduced at Surfaces '99, "features the first-ever waterproof synthetic core." The new "ProFX Core Technology" is a 1/4-inch substrate made of engineer-grade recycled plastic. The Performance series features a 25-year residential wear, stain, fade and water damage warranty.

Perstorp Flooring, the world wide leader in laminate flooring manufacturing, recently doubled the production capacity of its plant in Garner, NC. At Surfaces '99, Perstorp unveiled a new generation of Pergo Publiq, which the company says incorporates several new performance enhancements to "increase its durability up to 50 percent more than other contract laminate flooring products." Those enhancements relate to a "more precise" tongue and groove construction and newly formulated surface wear protection. The product is sold exclusively through DuPont Flooring Systems' distribution network.

In addition, Perstorp took its residential product to higher and lower price points with the respective introductions of Pergo Select and Pergo Living. Pergo Select is a 1/2-inch-thick product with enhanced wear resistance, while Pergo Living is a 1/4-inch-thick product. Sandwiched between the two new lines is Pergo Original at 1/3 inch thick.

BHK of America also is seeking a slice of the small, but huge growth-potential commercial market. The Central Valley, NY-based company introduced its Majestic Commercial Laminate Flooring line that is available in 10 colors. The line features BHK's unique UNICLIC glueless laminate flooring system introduced at Surfaces '98. BHK also added 10 new colors to its BHK Steps and UNICLIC laminate flooring lines.

When Columbia Flooring of Thomasville, NC, began manufacturing laminate flooring two years ago, it represented parent company Columbia Forest Products' initial foray into the flooring industry. At Surfaces '99, CFP, with headquarters in Portland, OR, reaffirmed its commitment to its flooring division by introducing a new line of engineered wood floors to be manufactured in Danville, VA. The engineered wood floors, to be sold with a "comprehensive" 15-year warranty, will be produced in 2 1/4- and 3-inch-wide planks and feature rotary-cut veneers in a variety of species such as northern red oak, southern white oak, maple, pine, cherry and pecan.

On the laminate side, Columbia announced a new lifetime warranty, guaranteeing its laminate flooring against fade, wear, stain and moisture. The company also introduced a new line of tile laminates in three designs, each available in four different colors.

CFP President and CEO Harry Demorest says the anticipated growth of the company's flooring division combined with its core hardwood plywood operations puts Columbia on target to reach $1 billion in annual sales within the next three years.

Unibord Canada Inc. introduced its MultiLook laminate flooring collection made of planks and squares in woodgrain and tile designs. In the tile vein, Uniboard introduced Karella, complete with grout line. The company says, "New advances in our manufacturing process allow us to cut each tile perfectly and to even replicate the authentic look of grout."

Bruce Floors, a division of Triangle-Pacific Corp., Dallas, TX, expanded its plank collection of Traffic Zone laminate flooring planks to 32 with the addition of six new styles. The company, purchased by Armstrong World Industries last year, also expanded its Traffic Zone tile collection.

On the hardwood side, Bruce extended its Coastal Woodlands Floating Floor collection, which offers installers who like the floating floor concept an alternative to laminate products.

Clinton-SC-based Anderson Hardwood Floors' latest contribution to the engineered wood flooring bandwagon is its Elements Real Wood Laminate Flooring, which it touts as an alternative to laminate flooring. The product features wood veneer over 1/4-inch-thick high density fiberboard that is surface protected by an acrylic oxide/ceramic wear layer.

RELATED ARTICLE: Laminate Flooring Seminar Spotlights Technology

Approximately 50 people attended "The First International Symposium of Laminate Flooring Technology," held ont he final day of Surfaces '99.

The four-hour program featured presentations from representatives of eight companies including: Casco Impregnated papers, Homanit, Hueck Engraving, IMA America, Leuco Tool corp., Mead Specialty Paper Div., Wemhoner and Witex. Topics covered during the symposium ran the gamut from new developments in pressing and machining laminate flooring through product design.

For information bout the program, contact Mike Hawkins of IMA America Corp. in Raleigh, NC, [phone].