"ceraclic original" - innovative product of the year

Witex: “ceraclic original”
innovative product of the year

Readers of the specialist journal “eurodecor” voted Witex's “ceraclic original” floor covering as Innovative Product of the Year 2006. The survey, which was first published in eurodecor, contained twelve categories for assessment. The traders, handcraft workers and interior decorators surveyed chose Witex's flooring revolution in the category for “Best Innovation of the Year”. They also chose “ceraclic original” as the Top Product of 2006.
Witex first launched “ceraclic original” in January 2006. Since then, the Witex floor covering has achieved product acceptance and is mainly used by architects and handcraft workers as a real alternative to installing traditional ceramic or stone floors. This can be clearly seen in its popularity in the business market. Since it became fully available from the middle of 2006 onwards, it became possible to install “ceraclic original” in numerous well-known areas. Some examples include the showroom for the new Porsche Targa4 in the Porsche dealership, Bielefeld, the showrooms and salesrooms in the Stuttgart Stilwerk section of the furniture manufacturer Flötotto and the MOW Light Cooking Studios exhibition. The range of usage and enormous market potential still associated with this floor covering, developed along with Knauf Integral and Resopal under the aegis of Witex in the business and in the private housing industry, is demonstrated by the Augustdorf based think tank at Domotex and BAU in studies on entirely new surfaces. The “ceraclic stone” study based on a “ceraclic” coreboard with a genuine stone surface only a few millimetres thick. The second study, “ceraclic color”, has a highly skid-resistant (up to R14), coated high-gloss surface made out of modified epoxy resins.

Facts on the innovative product “ceraclic original”
“ceraclic original” is an entirely new generation of floor covering that comes in a handy panel format. The high-quality X-Protect surface (by Resopal) gives the flooring a stone finish. “ceraclic original” is impact-, scratch- and abrasion resistant, suitable for rolling chairs as well as being hygenic and easy to clean. The sheer size and thickness of the stone comes from the product's mineral coreboard (by Knauf Integral). “ceraclic original” has also been certified with regards to indoor climate, soundproofing and fire prevention. It is also climate- and moisture regulating, inflammable and free from emissions.

Time and cost savings for planners, handcraft workers and traders
Installing the practical panel formats (600 mm x 393 mm) with the patented LocTecPro locking system reduces the amount of handling required by object planners, traders and handcraft workers and represent a considerable saving in terms of time and money when compared with the installation of traditional ceramic and stone floorings. “ceraclic original” floor covering panels are 13.6 mm thick and are produced in Witex's main factory in Augustdorf. The fact that the mineral coreboard is of the same thickness in all the floorboards means that the materials can be effortlessly dealt with during installation - profiling, sawing and boring can be carried out with standard tools. “ceraclic original” comes with two different types of joint: with an ex-factory “style” joint, that people can walk on immediately after installation, and with a “structure” joint, created on-site, that prevents moisture from penetrating the floor surface after allowing the filler to dry for a short period of time. This means that “ceraclic original” can also be installed in rooms where it will be exposed to moisture. The subfloor does not need to be prepared in any special way before “ceraclic original” is installed. Standard quality glue suffices as a base for installing a floating floor. “ceraclic original” floor covering panels are available in 18 attractive natural stone décors.
Ranges of application
In commercial building, “ceraclic original” can be used as an alternative, time-saving product in any rooms in which natural stone slabs or tiles would otherwise be used, as there is no need to wait for the installation mortar or glue to dry. In the private building sector, “ceraclic original” offers a cost-effective alternative to natural stone floors, such as marmor, granite and similar floors. As it's easy to install (including removal of the ceraclic “style” version), “ceraclic original” is even suited to use in the construction of trade fair stands and in shop fitting.

Product properties of the mineral coreboard
The mineral coreboard in “ceraclic original” is a purely natural product, that is moisture-regulating, free from emissions and recyclable. Due to its highly specific weight, impact noise is reduced and the inflammable coreboard (fire class A-1) is extremely stable. The flooring suffers from very little swelling and shrinkage (deviations of under 1 % after 24 hours). Despite its high mechanical resilience (high point-/compressive loading) the mineral core is easy to work with and is suited to underfloor heating due to its high thermal conductivity.

Surface product properties
The surface of “ceraclic original” (X-Protect Surface) consists of a 0.8 mm thick laminated plastic layer (special overlay, décor paper and several layers of kraft paper), that is impact- and highly abrasion resistant and that been placed in usage class 33. The natural stone décors are barely distinguishable from natural stone, but are skid-resistant, breakage-resistant and warm on the feet unlike genuine stone. The robust surface appears natural as it contains wide, bevelled edges.

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Contact:
Witex International Flooring GmbH
Marketing and PR Department
Nord-West-Ring 21
32832 Augustdorf
Tel: +49 (0)5237 / 609 -343
Fax:+49 (0)5237 / 609 -309
E-mail: pr@witex.com
Internet: www.witex.com