NAC: Celebrating 35 Years of Floor Protection Systems By Dave Hanna, Marketing Manager, NAC Products In the 1980s, the tile industry was at a bit of a crossroads with the problem of reflec- tive cracking caused by substrate move- ment. Project delays and expensive repairs – in addition to the damaged reputations of installers and manufacturers – had the indus- try struggling for a solution. However, Tom Duvé saw an opportunity with a product utilizing anti-fracture tech- nology. He convinced several major developers to take a chance on his product and the industry’s first self-adhering crack Isolation membrane, ECB® , would revolutionize the way decorative floors would be installed. National Applied Construction Products (NAC) has been dedicated to solving struc- tural, waterproofing, sound abatement and moisture vapor transmission issues ever since. Those early installations are still crack- free and ECB membrane has earned its place at the top of the now-crowded crack isolation membrane market. Over the years, NAC grew and expanded service offerings to include membrane sys- tems for waterproofing and sound abatement in addition to crack isolation, yet one thing remained constant: each system was devel- oped using the anti-fracture technology that Duvé helped pioneer back in the eighties. Much of NAC’s success can be attributed to its partners. In the early days, key tile contractors and distributors took the leap of faith and introduced NAC Products to devel- opers and architects who were having tile failure issues in shopping malls throughout the country. Charleston Town Center Mall in Charleston, WV, was the very first mall instal- lation of ECB membrane, and it has remained crack-free. Total Flooring Contractors and Rheinschmidt Tile and Marble are two of the early adopters of NAC anti-fracture technol- ogy that continue to do business with the company today. NAC’s success has also been supported through professional tile consultants and their impact on the industry. As a group, their guidance and knowledge of installation prod- ucts and methods have brought significant improvements in tile installation systems. Their recognition that ECB® membrane was not only a viable solution but an effective deterrent for tile failures, gave credibility to the product, helped it grow and brought significant improvements in tile installation systems throughout the 1990s. Since Duvé and NAC introduced the industry to anti-fracture/crack-isolation membranes, the product made possible installations and trends that would have otherwise been inconceivable, such as: tile installations over lightweight concrete or gypsum; hydronic and radiant heated floors; the ability to tile over an existing hard- ADVERTORIAL –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Nick and Andy Duvé work the trade show booth in the early days! 64 TileLetter | 2018