The International Surfaces Event was much bigger than last year. It was almost a full-sized show. With the exception of the masking policy, it seemed like things were back to normal.
Tile Nation and GTP know how to party
Both Luke Miller’s Tile Nation and Jason McDaniel’s Global Tile Posse had events on separate nights. These are new and likely to repeat in the coming years.
Personally, I was only able to attend one of the two nights but all signs point to these being a huge hit.
New Tile Products Released
There were also some exciting new products released:
- Mapei has added a new foam backer board to their lineup
- They’ve also come out with a leveling system
- VersaBond Lite was featured by Custom Building Products
Mapei Mapeguard Board
Mapei has added a whole line of lightweight, foam tile backer board to their lineup that they are calling Mapeguard Board.
The board appears to come in 1/4, 1/2, 5/8, 1, and 2-inch thicknesses and is intended to be used for both floor and wall tile applications.
My own personal observation is that this board appears to be very similar to the old Durock foam board which USG discontinued when it no longer fit the new owner’s vision of the future.
Mapei Mapelevel tile leveling system
Also new is their new tile leveling system Mapei Mapelevel EASYWDG. This is a wedge system where the clips come in varying thicknesses so they can do double-duty as spacers also.
The advertising says “no pliers required” and there doesn’t appear to be any available either.
Custom VersaBond Lite
New from Custom Building Products is VersaBond Lite, a lightweight mortar that meets or exceeds ANSI 118.4HET and A118.11. The H=heavy, E=extended working time, and T=thixotropic or non-sag.
It would appear that this will be positioned as a more economical option to their popular Prolite mortar. I don’t see any additional data to link to about this product at this time.
So that’s what I saw at TISE 2022. Hopefully, we’ll see more manufacturers take part next year as well as at 2022 Coverings Las Vegas.
Love pro light!
There was also a new product launch for Russo Trading Company…. the One of a kind Block Double -sided Microfiber sponge was a Hit at our booth.