Stone Age, the experts in stone and porcelain have opened their latest showroom in Hertfordshire.  Located on the beautiful Boxted Farm business estate in Hemel Hempstead, the showroom gives customers – both consumer and trade – the chance to see the stone up close and in detail.  Ranging from marble to porcelain, natural stone to wood, the showroom will be staffed with industry experts able to give fantastic advice on what works best for their clients’ requirements.   

For small projects such as extensions, basements and garden rooms, where gravity flow from the new facilities like bathrooms, utility rooms, and kitchens is not possible, but the property has existing mains gravity drainage, the new Pump Technology Ltd, MiniMatic below ground sewage pumping station offers a reliable and affordable solution.

This pumping station collects waste water and sewage from the property. When the float activation level is reached the pump starts and discharges the waste up to the main sewer. When the level falls to the pre-set position the pump stops again. In the event of a pump failure, a high-level float triggers an alarm.

As most people spend 90% of their time indoors[i], our workplaces and homes have a significant impact on our lives.

A building – whatever its purpose – has the potential to be life-enhancing in how it supports our physical and mental health.

“There’s been lots of talk about healthy buildings but we’re determined to make 2019 the year of action,” says Adrian Judd, Steico director. “We’re all about the future of healthy buildings and Futurebuild 2019 is aligned with that.

Storage solutions are essential for bathrooms and washrooms of all sizes. They maximise space and efficiency of a room whilst providing interior design statements. Metlex provide a selection of wall mounted and free standing accessories that offer storage ideal for commercial, public, health and leisure facilities. Within professional bathrooms and commercial washrooms the demands on storage are even greater as products must not only enhance organisation but also be robust enough to sustain heightened usage. The Metlex collection caters for all possible requirements with a varied selection of not only product types but also compositions and finishes.

There’s a growing interest in environmentally friendly paints, but you don’t have to sacrifice performance or looks for environmental benefits.

Harmful ingredients

Conventional, acrylic based paints contain two potentially harmful components: volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and acrylic softeners. Both escape into the atmosphere during painting and for many years after application, contributing to greenhouse gases.

Pocket doors are a great way to free up spaces within rooms by removing the footprint created by traditional hinged doors. This allows you to realise the maximum potential of the available space. With a typical space saving of 2.6m² per door compared to hinged doors, pocket doors are fast becoming the ideal solution where space is at a premium.

Lancashire-based greenhouse and glasshouse manufacturer Hartley Botanic celebrated its 80^th anniversary this year – marking 80 years of making its stunning handmade, made-to-order greenhouses and glasshouses. Founded in 1938, the company is one of Britain’s oldest and most trusted greenhouse manufacturers and, was to their knowledge, the first to develop and make entirely aluminium structures, representing a new class of greenhouse building in terms of practicality and engineering design. Since then, Hartley Botanic has built a name and reputation amongst the horticultural elite synonymous with excellence, receiving commissions from some of the UK’s most eminent gardeners, designers and horticultural institutions. In February last year, The Royal Horticultural Society officially recognised the company’s enduring commitment to British craftsmanship by endorsing its entire product range[1].

Benif Interior Film manufactured by LG Hausys and distributed in the UK by leading surface material provider David Clouting, is an innovative self-adhesive, interior film that is growing in popularity, particularly for use in refurbishment applications.

Quick and easy to install, Benif Interior Film can be applied to almost any interior surface including: wood, metals, plasterboard, plastics and even melamine. This enables feature walls, office doors, furniture, skirting and architrave to be attractively and quickly refurbished at a fraction of replacement costs.

The main feature of these towel rails are the larger than normal gaps within the bar spacing. Of course with this added spacing comes further practicability should you require more than one bath sheet or within a larger family bathroom.  In fact, this rail very much marries practicability with the more minimalistic styling popular within design today.

Favored by developers in new build developments where the rails are utilized as a secondary source of heating, i.e. drying of the towel rails; these rails are competitively priced and extremely practical.  The baby of the range, the Cinder is also popular within kitchens, as it is small and compact.

Along with requests for more beds, more accessories and more lighting at the January Furniture Show (JFS), the organisers also received many requests for companies who supply contract furniture and furnishings to be identified.

The organisers listened and acted.  JFS in 2019, which takes place at the NEC in Birmingham from 20^th-23^rd January 2019, will introduce its new Contract Trail.  It is the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle to fulfil all of the major requests received from visitors and it will identify all of the 150+ exhibitors who either regularly, or occasionally supply contract orders.

Rod Tate, Sales Director, gives an insider’s perspective on the UK ultra-slim sliding door market

Is this product good enough? It’s a question that glazing businesses should be asking themselves all the time – but far too many don’t. At Viiu, the products we offer must pass a very simple test: would I install it in my home? If the answer’s yes, we’ll sell it. If it’s no, no matter the price or the potential profitability, we won’t.

British hardware designers and manufacturers Croft, have introduced a new collection of finely textured door and cabinet furniture to their range.

We are delighted to announce our official partnership with The Smart Home Expo, the UK’s ultimate event for the smart technologies revolutionising the way we live, coming to the NEC Birmingham on the 26th & 27th of March 2019.

Natural stone and terrazzo specialist Diespeker & Co has relaunched its range of porcelain tiles with updated contemporary design options suitable for both commercial and residential clients.

InSinkErator® has won the Best Online/Social Media Campaign award at the third annual ek&bbusiness Awards & Review 2018, for its 4N1 Touch taps launch campaign.

The Christmas themed ek&bbusiness Awards & Review was hosted by football commentator, Clive Tyldesley and held at The Brewery, Chiswell Lane, London on 29th November 2018. The 2018 industry review was delivered to the 500 guests by former KBSA CEO Graham Hayden and there were live performances from pop violin act Ember Trio, dance act Frobacks and comedian Ed Byrne.

Floorstock are delighted to now offer the brand new Junckers twin herringbone range of solid parquet flooring.

Not only does this combine the superb quality associated with the Junckers solid two strip and wide plank flooring, it also means that an entirely new range of design options are available, meeting todays growing demand for more traditional herringbone flooring.