Readers may wonder why this range in particular has been selected for Diary of a Tile Addict. The answer is simple. I intend through this blog to offer my personal selection of the most significant and influential tiles ranges over the past quarter century.
A visit to Cersaie, Cevisama or Coverings in 2016 will have provided plenty of evidence that wood-effect tiles are still a must-have component of any serious tile manufacturer’s portfolio.
Through the capabilities of digital inkjet decoration and improved body pressing, today’s wood tiles are a world away from first generation of generally flat and boring faux wood tiles.
Today’s wood-effect tiles have real grain texture, embossed in register colouration, distressed finishes, worn paint effects, parquet patterns, long strip formats, and much more.
But these developments only came about because manufacturers, and perhaps more importantly, their distribution partners, started to believe that timber-effect tiles could sell … and sell well. I can well remember the reticence of UK distributors when the first wood-effect tiles were shown at Cersaie. They simply didn’t get it.
Why would UK home owners buy a wood-effect tile when the real thing was so readily available and established. And, they felt, if consumers wanted the timber look but sought a lower price point, the market was awash with great, and some not so great, laminate alternatives.
Three things changed their minds. One was the growth of underfloor heating, which suddenly offered a great selling point for wood-effect ceramic tiles: one that was far from convincing when made by the solid and engineered wood flooring community.
The second was that the next generation of wood-effect tiles were vastly superior in aesthetic appeal, practicality, format and colour range, and had real visual and tactile impact.
The third was that early adopters experienced real and growing demand.
And the range that led the way was Treverk by Marazzi. It captured the most intimate emotions and purest qualities of nature; and was billed by this well repected manufacturer as a ceramic wood with an exquisite appearance and outstanding technical characteristics. Refined and reassuring, Treverk combined elegant lines with delicate colours and subtly shaded contrasts. And the outstanding technical features of Treverk tiles made it the ideal material for floor and wall coverings.
The number of iterations that Treverk has undergone in the intervening years prove that Marazzi recognise when they are on to a winner. And the company’s UK distributors would not argue!
Treverk first appeared in Tile & Stone Journal in September 2010.