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.

Two home renovation mistakes you should be aware of

Home Renovation

Home renovation can be a tricky subject. What home décor trends might work for one type of home might not be suitable for some other type of home. Nevertheless, many home-owners end up making some or the other mistake while they take up home renovation. These may be small mistakes but will cost you unnecessary expenses when you go about rectifying them. Some home renovation mistakes can also cause injuries. Here are a few mistakes that you should avoid while taking up home renovation.

Select the right ladder

Most of us like to keep ladders in our homes as they are useful for a lot of things. Though they have a lot of uses, ladders can prove to be extremely dangerous if not handled properly. When you are shopping for ladders, you need to keep in mind certain things. The first thing is you need to get the ladder of the required height which maybe needed to complete the home renovation task at hand. If you get the right length of ladder, you surely do not have to stand on your toes to reach any object.  Also you need to ensure that the ladder is comfortable enough and has a lot of space for you to stand safely. The steps of the ladder should be stable and make sure they are secure before you bring the ladder home.

Right screwing and nailing

Another thing associated with home renovation is nailing and screwing different parts of your home. Before you start hammering screws and nails in the floors and walls, you need to have knowledge of the exact location of all the electrical wires and water pipes. When hammering screws and nails in the floors or walls, the last thing you want is flooding in the house or a nasty electrical shock.

These are some of the few things to keep in mind during home renovation. Hope you enjoyed reading it. 

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. 

Ceramic tiles- Ideal tiles for your bathroom

Ceramic Tiles

Selecting tiles for your bathroom can be a no easy task no matter how much easy it looks to be. Be it selecting floor tiles or the wall tiles, choosing a right type is important. Many people jus lay importance on the aesthetics and the beauty of the tiles, not giving much importance to the practicality. Apart from looking attractive, bathroom tiles should be suitable for your bathroom and should be practical in the given surrounding.

For your bathroom floors or the walls, you want tiles that are easy to clean, moisture resistant and durable. Ease of cleaning ensures you do not have to waste hours in the bathroom trying to remove stains from the tiles. As the bathroom is a place which will be attracting a lot of moisture, you want tiles that are damp resistant as the last thing you don’t want is someone slipping and falling down on the wet bathroom tiles.

Ceramic bathroom tiles

If you want bathroom tiles that provide ease of cleaning, durability and resistance to moisture, then ceramic tiles are an ideal option for you. If you are worried about the prices of ceramic tiles, then no need to worry as prices of ceramic tiles range from being very cheap to highly expensive. Depending on the type of tiles that you like to have for your bathroom, you can choose the price range for your bathroom tiles. Ceramic tiles come in different materials like porcelain, clay, shale. These ceramic tiles are fired at high temperatures till they become hard enough. Bathroom ceramic tiles come in a pool of different shapes, sizes, patterns, textures and designs. Some of the popular shapes available in ceramic bathroom tiles are octagons, rectangles, squares, diamond shaped tiles and hexagons. 

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.

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.