What is COREtec Flooring?

Let’s cut through the fluff. If you are about to spend a big chunk of money on your property investment you want facts not marketing materials. Here is a quick article about the history of COREtec®. We researched company information across many channels and did a deep dive into Patents and Trademark registration timelines for you.

You might be aware of the product through the showrooms and marketing brochures but we want to offer you a deeper understanding of how and why it was created. We will walk through a timeline of inception and offer narration from the product’s creators. The take away will be a deeper understanding of what the product is and why it is so popular.

As a product class, COREtec® is Luxury Vinyl Tile LVT, it is manufactured as planks or tiles that can be laid down in a tile-like fashion, hence - LVT. It's revolutionary because of the manufacturing process which renders a high-quality wood simulation that is waterproof and easy to install. Here the term "luxury" is a marketing phrase.

Who is ProductsDirect.com?

No! We are not the creator, nor the manufacturer. We are a COREtec® dealer that happens to sell the product. ProductsDirect.com has been selling this product since early 2013. We are experts in the product design, history, selection, logistics of movement, and a reference for efficacy. This research is the value-add we offer to you the prospective customer. We want you to understand what you are looking at. Please allow us to quote your project when you are ready. We offer samples and Premium Sample Kits to help you make a decision. Thank you.

COREtec® is a brand name assigned to a class of Luxury Vinyl floor tiles created by USFloors®, now patented and owned by Shaw Industries®. It has a sandwich construction with a top layer - the wear-layer film over a decorative image, then a middle layer, an extruded composite made up of wood plastic or stone plastic, and finally, a bottom layer, the underlayment made up of materials based upon the desired price point.

The innovation is the extruded core technology that is waterproof which can be coupled to a wide variety of surface appearances. The core does not expand or contract thus eliminating the formation of peaks and gaps and absorb imperfections of the subfloor.

The product was created by USFloors®. That is not a typo. It is a registered trademark with no white space. US Floors became a registered trademark 2010-07-13 . The company had in many ways tried to innovate around cork and bamboo products early on. The registration goods & services description for the company was parquet flooring made of cork, cork flooring, bamboo flooring, hardwood flooring for residential and commercial applications. Other Early Trademarks include

It must have been an exciting moment to experience, years of planning, an evolution of thought, to give the announcement at the Prominent flooring trade show Surfaces 2013, in Las Vegas. This event culminated with the company engaging in product development.

Early years of USFloors®looked to produce unique products using cork and bamboo. First lines introduced were variations of bamboo or cork, then USFloors®tried bamboo AND cork together in the CORBOO® line. This product was high-value flooring headed to the designer niche. USFloors®appears to foster experimentation through manufacture practice. It's only natural that Luxury Vinyl would be hybridized with CORK in the incubator of such a company.

The company's CEO & President, Piet Dossche also has a distinctive environmental bent installing solar energy panels on its Dalton Georgia operations. A recipient of the Green Step Award in 2010, the company is committed to exclusively using sustainable resources for its flooring, and complying with rigorous U.S. and European environmental standards. By following strict Forest Stewardship Council guidelines, USFloors®avoids clear cut or non-managed plantations. It developed product lines to fill needs in the high-end solid wood and engineered wood floors called Castle Combe.

COREtec® Leadership Industry Announcements (Video)

While researching composite outdoor decking—to possibly add to our product offering—we were visiting several companies in China that were manufacturing this product using an extrusion process. Not only were these companies extruding typical plank format for decking construction, like the well-known Trex brand, they were extruding large, thinner sheets used for builder materials such as paneling and kitchen cabinets. With the waterproof characteristics of this extruded material, and the availability in a sheet format like the MDF used in laminate, we knew we had found the right core product to make a waterproof flooring. We worked on density and formulation to improve the performance and dimensional stability, applied an LVT wear layer and a cork backing, and the COREtec® product was born.

These are all the current versions of the COREtec® idea. Each short description gives the most basic info to make easy to understand. If you have a color query just enter it in the search box above. For a more detailed comparison by attribute visit the COREtec® COREtec® Comparisons Page.

COREtec® Plus

COREtec 5" + COREtec 7" + COREtec Tile (the orignals)

COREtec® Plus was the original launched line in 2012. It still enjoys popularity and customer satisfaction. It compes in 5 & 7 inch planks and tiles.

COREtec® Plus XL

The XL is a natrual progression of the Plus product line. It was Launched in 2015. Larger length and widths arrouse out the success of smaller planks. The stability of the CORE as established and it opened up new design opportunties.

COREtec® One

To address lower price point market opportunities COREtec® One was introduced to give conumers the opportunity to own COREtec® advantages with less cost. This comes in a 6 inch plank widhet and does not had the Cork backing.

COREtec® Plus DesignCOREtec® Plus Enhanced

The enhanced is a product line with realistic beveled edges found in the high-end floors, but because it does not include the fancy matching embossing, therefore, it is less expensive. The line is configured to appeal to designers and aesthetically pleasing value shoppers. It is high-quality mid-tier product. This product line was introduced in late 2017 - early 2018.

COREtec® Plus HD

The technology is a demonstration of mastery of the manufacturing process. The design intends the surface features of the floor match perfectly to the underlying wood/tile floor images. This is a forward-looking approach to the USFloors®business model. It is cutting edge manufacturing that builds upon COREtec technology. The planks also don realistic beveled edges. This product line also has a higher price point that delivers a wow. This line has been shipping since 2017.

COREtec® Plus Premium

--

COREtec® Pro

Up to this point, everything is made of wood plastic cores. This product introduces the uncrushable stone plastic core for the heavy-duty traffic of the commercial market. Because the manufacturing is different is sees a low to a mid-tier price point. It is suitable for both Commercial and Residential. It was introduced in late 2017.

COREtec® Pro Plus Enhanced

COREtec Pro Plus Enhanced + Pro Plus Enhanced HD + Pro Plus XL + Pro Plus XL Enhanced + Pro Plus XL Enhanced HD

If you take the stone plastic core product of the ProPlus series and enhance the photographic realism you get COREtec® Pro-Plus. Again for both residential and Commercial installations. This allows the designers to spec COREtec floors in commercial or home environments. This is a price point slightly less than the COREtec® Plus. It gives options and keeps USFloors®in the commercial game. This product was filled out in 2018.

COREtec® Galaxy

This product is thinner with a Solid Polymer Core and a 12 mm wear layer. It has an attached cork underlayment. This is a slightly different technology. This part can be confusing. SPC = Stone Plastic Core used in the Pro versions. WPC = Wood Plastic Core used in all non-Pro COREtec versions Galaxy's solid polymer core should not be confused with SPC above. It is used exclusively in the Galaxy Product line. The high consistent density makes it more susceptible to telegraphing underlying subfloor anomalies over time.

This is another product aimed at the lower price point that includes a version of the COREtec technology. It was introduced in late 2018

Stratum® EVT

This is a product line exclusive to commercial installations. Branded for a different market the EVT stands for Engineered Vinyl Tile. It may also be ELV as Engineered Luxury Vinyl.

It utilizes the basic COREtec technology with an added wear layer enhancements. The wear layer is ExoGuard™ a urethane finish, which is reinforced with quartz crystals, creates a barrier against dirt, scuffs, and stains, providing superior durability against premature wear and stains. With ExoGuard, polishing is optional, providing easy, flexible maintenance. The product is offered to Architects & Designers to put into new builds or refurbish specs for high traffic spaces. Stratum was introduced in 2nd Quarter 2018

SMARTCORE®

This is a product line exclusive to Bigbox store Lowes&. Branded for resale in the home improvement market the SMARTCORE® is a thinner product aimed at a lower price point. It does not have the same WPC COREtec® extruded core technology. This brand was first use in commerce was first quarter 2014.

Residential Layers

The consumer version utilizes a single wear layer that can be up to 20 mil thick.

It features as the extruded core that can be made of wood plastic, WPC, or stoner plastic, SPC, depending on the version.

The Warranty is shorter for commercial installation environments but suitable for residential use which usually experiences less traffic load.

The product is available in a variety of price points based upon underlayment, core thickness, plank length, and surface features.

Commercial Layers

With the Commercial version the Acrylic wear layer is 30mil which is up to 50% thicker than the residential wear layer. It also has an additional urethane finish, which is reinforced with quartz to protect against scuffs; it is called ExoGuard.

Commercial COREtec® utilizes a core with a higher density formulation. This feature protects top layers from indentation. XRC Core.

The Warranty is longer for commercial installation environments.

The product is more expensive.

This table is derived from a review of USFloors® press releases and filings with the US Government Trade & Patent Office. It offers insights beyond the company's website.You are encouraged to see another historical mapping of the company website which has additional details other than patents and registrations.