Owens Corning Develops New Laminate Reinforcement

Paris, France, April 1, 2008--Owens Corning has introduced the first non-woven glass tissue reinforcement for direct pressure laminate flooring (DPL), which raises fire resistance and impact performance to commercial standards.

While DPL has long been popular in the residential market, manufacturers will now be able to broaden their DPL product offerings to architects and specifiers for commercial applications such as hotels, restaurants, shops and stores.

The new reinforcement was developed by Owens Corning in partnership with Hans Schmid KG, Gronau, Germany, Europe's leading independent impregnation company.

"Inherent design flexibility, dimensional stability, superior textured finishing and shorter production times, compared to HPL products, characterize DPL flooring systems," says Russell Evans, marketing manager, OCV Non-Woven Technologies.

"Now, with the introduction of Owens Corning's unique glass non-woven reinforcement, these advantages can be combined with higher fire, impact and wear performance to make DPL products a highly attractive alternative for manufacturers and end users in the demanding contract flooring environment."