H&R Johnson to invest Rs. 400 crore in two years



Vijay Aggarwal, Managing Director



Ceramic tile maker, H&R Johnson (India), which has entered the bath fittings and kitchen cabinets segment, plans to invest nearly Rs. 400 crore in the next two years for expanding its various businesses. The Rs. 1,500-crore company hopes to increase its revenue by 25 per cent in the current fiscal.

Vijay Aggarwal, Managing Director, H & R Johnson India, said the ceramic tile market was growing along with the demand for bath fittings and kitchen cabinets. To meet the increasing demand, the company had invested Rs. 225 crore for expanding its ceramic tile manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh from 3 million sq.m to 6 million sq.m.. This was being further expanded to 9 million sq.m by January 2012.

Greenfield projects

The company would also be investing in two new plants at Rajkot in Gujarat. It had already invested Rs. 20 crore during the current fiscal in a joint venture to make 2.3 million sq. m of small tiles. The second one, a greenfield plant, would come up by February 2012 to produce one million sq.m of engineered marble and quartz at an investment of Rs. 50 crore. The company also planned to increase the capacity of industrial tiles, Endura, from 1.5 million sq.m to 2.5 million sq.m by March next year. It would be investing Rs. 35 crore for this expansion plan.

The market for tiles is estimated at Rs.14,000 crore. The share of the unorganised sector is around Rs. 8,000 crore and the balance is the contribution of the organised sector. Of the total organised market, Rs. 5,000 crore came from medium-end products and the balance from top-end products. For H&R Johnson, Marbonite and Johnson tiles contribute 45 per cent of its sales and the balance came from Endura.

The company had introduced digital technology for printing new designs on the ceramic tiles. Mr. Aggarwal was of the view that digital technology would catch up in the ceramic tile market in future.

On the bath fittings division, he said the company was planning to double the capacity of Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) plant. It would be doubling the capacity to 50,000 pieces of taps annually. It was also planning to set up a greenfield project in Jammu to manufacture 50,000 pieces of taps by April next. The revenue from this vertical was Rs. 70 crore last year. This would go up to Rs. 100 crore in the current fiscal, he added.

He said the kitchen cabinet division was started two years ago and was providing one-stop solution to customers. At present, the company had 40 dedicated showrooms. This would go up to 70 in the next six months.

What comprises a good interior design?

The way we design our homes speaks a lot about our tastes, preferences and even our personalities. This is the major reason why people nowadays take a keen interest when it comes to designing their homes. Right from choosing as big as the furniture for the home to small things like décor accessories, people now take a keen interest in everything.

The interior designs we choose for our home should not just be pleasant to look at but also should be comfortable and soothing for the home owner. We live in a fast paced world where we are constantly being bombarded with different types of information like what we should wear, what should we eat and what should we buy. But seldom, we pay attention to the design of our homes or rarely do we give a thought to how we should design our homes and what should be the perfect interior design for our home. The interior designs that we choose for our homes can have an effect on our creativity, moods and energy levels. So it only makes sense to have the right interior designs for our homes.

There are some simple ways by which we can spruce up our homes by going for the right interior designs. Here are a few points that need to be focussed on.

Harmony

It is very essential that all rooms in your home have a strong sense of co-ordination and harmony to them. Any amount of disharmony will only make the room look disturbed.

Focus points

Every room should have focus point. This is the main foundation of any interior design. The focus point should be such that it easily draws attention and stands out from the rest of the accessories. A focus point can be anything like an art display, family portraits or an architectural wall piece.

Visual balance

Visual balance is another pillar of a good interior design. Visual balance implies balancing the room’s visual weight and effortlessly spreading it out to other areas of the room.

These are some of the basic fundamentals of a good interior design.

Take the right steps when designing your bathroom

Bathroom Fittings

There are many reasons why people like to redesign their bathroom. For some, it may be a welcome change form the old, full appearance of the bathroom. Some others may have moved into a new home and want their bathroom to have a completely new look. While for some, the prospect of attractive returns upon selling their property lures them into bathroom remodelling. It is a fact that bathroom redesigning gives the best investment return compared to any other type of home remodelling. People are now experimenting with bold designs and themes for their bathrooms as they want this space to look entirely unique and special. There are many ways by which you can alter the appearance of your bathroom.

The first step when taking up a bathroom remodelling task would be to get the right bathroom fittings. Bathroom fittings are the heart and soul of your bathroom. Bathroom fittings include sanitary ware, cabinets and countertops. Though getting the right bathroom fittings may not comprise the entire redecoration procedure, it is no doubt an integral part of remodelling. To make your bathroom look lavish, you can replace the cabinets with new ones apart from changing the counter tops to granite.

Once you are done replacing the bathroom fittings, you should start looking for the right tiles for your bathroom. The selection of appropriate tiles would entirely depend on your family members and also your needs and requirements. If you have a job, then you surely would not have time to clean up the tiles everyday. In this case, you would like to have tiles that are anti-stain and scratch free. You can also co-ordinate the colour of your tiles with the walls and get a paint that completely compliments the flooring.

Few reasons why home-owners prefer ceramic tiles

Ceramic Tiles

Many home-owners like to have ceramic tiles for their home flooring. Compared to other types of flooring, ceramic flooring offers a lot of advantages. With so many benefits attached with ceramic tiles, it will be quite irrational if you do not opt for ceramic tiles for your home. Some of the benefits of ceramic tiles are listed below.

Ceramic tiles a have unique appearance to them. By installing ceramic tiles for your home, your home will not just look elegant and sophisticated but these tiles will also add the right colour to your room. Apart from this, ceramic tiles are also known for their durability so you would not have to worry about replacing them for a long time once you have installed them. When you are looking for floor tiles, you surely want tiles that are sturdy and also able to withstand high traffic and pressure apart from the regular wear and tear caused by people walking over the. Ceramic tiles are designed to withstand high pressure and they are an ideal flooring option for washrooms and kitchens.

If you are interested in the history of ceramic tiles, you will be surprised to know that ceramic tiles were first seen on the banks of river Nile. Obviously, they were the more traditional version of ceramic tiles but it just goes on to prove that even the most ancient of civilisations were aware of the various benefits of ceramic tiles. Reports suggest that ancient civilisations used ceramic tiles for their flooring and kilns.

Another great advantage of ceramic tiles is that they are known to be extremely versatile. They have no limitations as to the area of their installation. They can be installed in the kitchen, living room, washroom, kitchen tops and any other surface. Wherever you install ceramic tiles, they will always look good and stylish.

Why vitrified tiles are a good option?



Vitrified Tiles



Though many home-owners like to have hardwood flooring for their homes, they forget that it is not strong enough and cannot withstand high traffic. Though hardwood flooring looks elegant, it is quite delicate and requires a lot of maintenance to keep its appearance intact. For those who are looking for attractive alternative to hardwood flooring, vitrified tiles is a good option. Vitrified tiles not just look attractive and pleasing but also are stronger compared to hardwood flooring. They are much tougher than most other flooring options. With vitrified tiles, you can give your home a modern, new look that is hard to miss.

Vitrified tiles are manufactured essentially with the vitrification process which involves mixing 40 % clay and 60 % silica. This combination of clay and silica is termed perfect to form vitrified tiles. 

As a result of the process of vitrification, the end product is hard and non-porous. Being hard and non-porous, vitrified tiles easily score over other tiles like marble tiles and other stone tiles. Stone tiles and some of the marble tiles are porous and can get spoilt easily if there is much of water retention. 

Advantages 

Another good thing about vitrified tiles is that they hardly require any maintenance. Vitrified tiles are a perfect option in places which experience a lot of traffic as they are designed to be non-abrasive. Another unique advantage vitrified tiles have over hardwood and other types of flooring is that the designs for vitrified tiles are printed with soluble salts and can easily penetrate the surface of the tile to about 3 mm. This implies that vitrified tiles have their designs which are entrenched at a depth of almost 30% of the tile’s thickness.  With so many advantages, you surely cannot miss on having vitrified tiles for your home. 

Tiles for commercial establishments

When it comes to choosing the flooring for commercial spaces like malls and restaurants, you have to be careful that you choose the right type of flooring as the flooring meant for residential spaces would not suit commercial establishments. Places like malls and shopping centres have to cope up with heavy footfall throughout the day and at the same time maintain a safe and comfortable environment for the patrons. Hence, the requirements for commercial flooring are completely different from that of regular flooring. Here are a few considerations before your look for commercial flooring.

Commercial Flooring

Illusion of space

When looking for tiles for commercial spaces, look for those that can create an illusion of space. Most malls and shopping centres have tiles in greys and beiges as these are supposed to be most neutral of all colours. While looking for tiles for commercial establishments, the most neutral shade is chosen. However, times are changing and more and more innovative designs are coming into picture. These innovative designs for floor tiles are now being taken as an integral part of the floor design process. Opting for carpet tiles for commercial flooring gives you a chance to create flooring that is truly unique, custom-made to suit the area’s colour, taste and mood.

Durability

When looking for tiles for commercial spaces, remember that it is practically not possible to replace the tiles every few years. Hence, for commercial spaces, you need tiles that are extremely durable and have a long shelf life. Places like shopping malls will be exposed to heavy customer traffic and thus the tiles should be able to withstand the load and should be resistant against damage. Apart from damage, tiles for commercial spaces should be resistant to general wear and tear. For commercial spaces, you can opt for carpet tiles that have a dense loop pile construction which can be used along with vinyl flooring. Remember that when it comes to durability, hardwood flooring is the last option you should consider as it is not known for durability.

Few unique features of ceramic wall tiles




Ceramic Wall Tiles

 

When it comes to choosing wall tiles, most home-owners always prefer ceramic wall tiles because of the innumerable features they have to offer. Ceramic tiles have a lot of advantages over other wall tiles in terms of both practicality and looks. Though wall tile manufacturers constantly come up with innovative alternatives to various types of wall tiles, they find it much difficult to replicate or come up with something better compared to ceramic wall tiles. Ceramic tiles were popular in the olden days and they still continue to remain popular because of their unique features.

Features 

You must be wondering what the so-called features of ceramic wall tiles are. To begin with, ceramic wall tiles are extremely durable. Ceramic wall tiles are endowed with a long shelf life. So once you have fitted ceramic wall tiles for your home, you do not have to worry about replacing your wall tiles for a long period of time. Ceramic wall tiles are designed in a futuristic manner so that they do not lose their appeal over time and continue to look stylish and aesthetic even years after they have been installed. Another great feature about ceramic wall tiles is that they are designed to be water-proof. So they are a great tiling option in places like bathrooms and kitchens where the flooring and the walls are subjected to frequent moisture. Ceramic wall tiles will not retain moisture easily. Ceramic wall tiles are also known to be resistant to stains and marks. Thus, they are a safe option in the kitchen where the walls are prone to catching marks and stains. Another feature that makes ceramic wall tiles extremely desirable is the fact that they are easy to clean and maintain.

Replacing damaged ceramic tiles




Ceramic Tiles

  Ceramic tiles are known for their aesthetic value and long shelf life and they come if various shapes, sizes apart from varying degree of thickness. Sometimes, harm may be caused to the ceramic tiles when a hard object smashes on the floor. Damaged ceramic tiles need to immediately removed and replaced.

Once you see that any of your ceramic tiles is damaged, you need to purchase new ones. The damage may have caused uneven ends at the corners. This requires correct shaping to be done. Once you are done with shaping, you have to start the procedure of laying the tiles. To lay the tiles, you need to first prepare the floor surface. To start with, you need to remove all the broken pieces of the ceramic tiles. Following this, hack the dry grouting that is present beneath the surface of the tiles. While doing this, care should be taken to see that the surrounding tiles are not harmed. Ensure that you clean all the debris before proceeding with installing the tiles.

When you finally start replacing the broken tiles and fitting new ones, you should see to it that you do not harm the existing tiles which are in good condition. Before you start to lay the tiles, wet the surface and let it be for around forty minutes. To even the surface, a mixture of cement and sand is used. The ratio is two parts of sand and one part of cement which gives a rich mixture. Add the right amount of water to make the mixture consistent. Spread the mortar in the area. Put the cement grouting on top of the surface. After this, lay the tile on the top and use a mallet to level the tile while pounding it.

Two simple ways to revamp your kitchen



Kitchen Wall Tiles

 You may have watched innumerable TV shows demonstrating how to design your kitchen the right way. Though you may be excited looking at the different designs presented in the show, you really are clueless as to how to proceed with those designs for your kitchen. For starters, there are simple things you can do that can really augment the look and feel of your kitchen. There are a lot of do-it-yourself and self help ideas which can surely assist you in decorating your kitchen the way you want to do it. Here are some easy tips on how to give your kitchen that unique look.

Kitchen walls

Your kitchen walls play an important part in how your kitchen looks on an overall basis. The first step in giving your kitchen a whole new look is by changing the appearance of the walls. It is also the simplest step as you do not have to spend a bomb and it does not even involve a lot of hassles. You can give your kitchen walls a whole new look by going for a new paint or simply opting for a latest design wall paper. Be it paint or the wall paper, they help to create a unique ambience in the kitchen. Once you are done with the walls, you can then safely proceed with designing the rest of the kitchen.

Kitchen Island

If you are blessed with a larger sized kitchen, then you can always incorporate a kitchen island into your kitchen. The added space in your kitchen can be used for small food preparations or casual gatherings. A kitchen island always helps to smoothen out traffic in your kitchen. If you have a small kitchen space, then you can go for a kitchen cart that occupies minimum space and is functional too.

Choosing a design for your living room



Living Room



When it comes to designing the living room, you surely want to go with something that is not too expensive on the pocket. There are many ways to design your living room in a opulent manner without going too haywire with your budgets. If you are working on a tight budget, then you can look for DIY projects. You can go through various interior designs instead of hiring a interior designer. DIY projects are not that demanding. You can always check on the internet or refer to the various décor magazines and home decor sites to get an idea of how you want to design your home. If you are looking for some ideas to design your home, then read on.

Classic design

Designing your living room in classic design has always been preferred by most home-owners. This is one of the most common of ideas when it comes to doing up your living room. If you have chosen to do up your home is a classic design, then you can be assured that your living room gets a relaxing atmosphere and a unique texture. If your living room has sharp edged spaces and is too geometric, then offsetting it with textures is the right way to go about.

Hawaiian design

Another great theme that you can opt for your living room is the Hawaiian inspired look. This look is not that difficult to achieve as you think it to be. While going for Hawaiian themed look, you need to get a few ornaments and artefacts. Hand-made native accessories, bamboo accessories, woven furniture apart from the classic Hawaiian floral prints and designs make for classic Hawaiian themed home décor.

Getting right tools to clean industrial tiles

Industrial Tiles

Industrial tiles are a lot more different from the standard tiles that we see in homes and other commercial spaces. Industrial tiles or the standard tiles, you must have noticed that tiles began to lose their sheen after some time. They do not look the way they used to when they were installed. You may mop the floor several tiles with all the cleaners present in the market, but somehow the sheen does not come back completely. After certain point of time you tend to give up and let the floors remain as they are.Industrial tiles need to be maintained properly as industrial spaces go through a lot of rough activities and this may harm the tiles or permanently stain them. The first thing while purchasing tiles for industrial spaces is to see that they have a good shelf life unaffected by the regular dents and stain marks. For industrial tiles, many people prefer to go it simple and use a normal vacuum cleaner to clean the tiles. After the vacuuming, a drained mop is used to get rid of the remaining dust. But while using the wet mop, you are scared. There is a danger that that water may seep in to the tiles causing the flooring to swell.
Floor buffers
If you want to be assured of the beauty and the long lasting ability of your industrial tiles, then it makes sense to go for a floor buffer. You must have probably heard of a floor buffer earlier and chances are that you may know a few people who have already gained the benefits of installing a floor buffer. Floor buffers are quite common in markets. Floor buffers for industrial tiles might look difficult to use, but the reality is that they are quite simple to use. While using floor buffers for industrial tiles, always use a new pad every time you take up cleaning the floor. For tough surfaces, you can use cutting pads. For a wooden surface, a finishing pad will do the job well.

Cleaning your floor tiles effectively

Cleaning Floor Tiles

You may have installed the most beautiful looking floor tiles for your home but remember that they also need proper cleaning. Cleaning floor tiles and grout lines can be a challenging task at hand. Your floor tiles are subjected to a lot of moisture and heavy traffic throughout the day which makes them susceptible to catch dirt. Add to this, the porous nature of the grout makes it easy for dirt and dust to build up making the cleaning procedure even more difficult. If you want an easy solution to clean your floor tiles effortlessly, then look no further than vapour steam cleaners.

In the past years, technology has advanced to a great extent and there have been many innovations brought about in the make and design of steam cleaning machines. Steam cleaners endowed with latest technological inputs have made the cleaning procedure easy, quick and effective. Apart from quick and efficient cleaning, some vapour steam cleaning machines also help to get rid of germs and bacteria from your floor tiles. Another good thing about steam cleaners is that they do not require any harsh and strong chemicals to be used for cleaning your floor tiles. Thus, your floor tiles are not exposed to strong chemicals and as such, this is the most eco-friendly way of cleaning your floor tiles. 

Benefits of steam cleaners

Steam cleaners use vaporised steam for cleaning your floor tiles. The steam is heated under very high temperature and contains almost negligible moisture content. This means that the steam is dry and once the cleaning process of your tiles is finished; there won’t be any moisture left on the grout lines or the floor tiles. This feature of no moisture content is extremely beneficial for floor tiles.