Floor Base Solutions, a new distribution company formed in Atlanta, signed on to become the first Elastilon distributor in the U.S. professional flooring market. Its first shipment of the product is slated to arrive from the Netherlands in late June.
The product was invented and introduced in Holland 26 years ago, and since then 30 countries have been using Elastilon, says Suntup, a longtime importer and distributor of the product in his native South Africa. Suntup became the representative for Elastilon in the U.S. in January.
"One thing I'm very passionate about is wood flooring, and I’m very passionate about Elastilon,” says Suntup, a former chairman of the Southern African Wood, Laminate and Flooring Association. The product is a VOC-free, closed-cell foam mat made from virgin material that allows any tongue-and-groove wood flooring to be installed as a floating floor without glue in the tongue and groove. It has an IIC rating of 62 and an STC rating of 54.
Suntup says the U.S. can be a challenging market to introduce products into, but he saw a good amount of interest while traveling the country promoting Elastilon to distributors and retailers earlier this year—a trip that spanned 15,000 miles before he was stopped by the COVID-19 outbreak.
"It's been a trip, an adventure and a challenge of a lifetime,” he says.
Suntup can be contacted via email here or at (949) 386-9520. The U.S. website for Elastilon can be found here.
