About Us
Calgary based factor-e-direct is the developer and producer of BTW (Better Than Wood) sound attenuation ceiling and wall paneling and LPC (Low Profile Cavity) raised access floor systems.
The history of BTW sound attenuation paneling:
Designers and end-users love the look of real wood ceiling and wall paneling however, it is extremely expensive and lacking in sound attenuation properties and, while T-Bar ceiling grids with mineral tiles provide excellent sound attenuation properties and are very economical, they do not look or feel like a real wood ceiling. California compliant vinyl has been developed with the look and feel of real wood and PET board, made from recycled water bottles and other PET containers, was developed to meet the rapidly growing market for sound attenuation products. To exploit the rapidly growing market for sound attenuation products, providers simply applied available colors of PET board onto walls or cut the sheets into various patterns or shapes and dangle them from the ceiling. These factors provided the inspiration for the development of BTW, a reasonably priced ceiling and wall paneling system with the look and feel of real wood with the sound attenuation properties of PET board. The paneling would also have to mount to a standard T-Bar grid.
Patented BTW planks are produced by bonding our custom-made California compliant, embossed wood finish PVC film to PET planks with our custom designed laminating machines. The laminating machines are equipped with hot needle rollers which micro-perforate the PVC film to enhance sound transmission and a slitting unit to make blind slits in the edges of the planks to accept the BTW “T-Bar Snap Clips” and alignment splines while also trimming excess laminate from the edge. The edge slits are registered to the face of the panels to ensure the planks are flush when mounted to a T-Bar grid. Another custom designed machine cuts the planks to length and chamfers the ends. The patented “Snap Clip” and perimeter trim were developed to allow quick and easy installation of BTW planks to any standard T-Bar ceiling grid system while providing an attractive border around the perimeter of walls, light fixtures, and air vents. A simple spacer was developed to raise mineral tiles to clear for BTW Snap Clips while maintaining the sound attenuation properties and fire-rating of the mineral tiles. BTW planks can be installed on walls using a roll-on vinyl floor adhesive and #23 pin-nails, as the PVC will close over the nail holes.
The history of LPC (Low Profile Cavity) raised access floor system:
Millions square ft of LPC (Low Profile Cavity) floor are currently in use in North America. LPC webbing, with 9 steel pedestals, offers more support for tiles than any other raised access floor system, providing more capacity for cables than could ever be required at a height of just 2-3/4″ (70mm). The previous web design (by others) for low profile access floor proved difficult to maintain dimensional tolerances and was poorly sized for transport. The system also employed a cementitious tile weighing approximately 24lbs, which tended to warp and were extremely difficult and messy to cut. To address these issues, we created LPC webbing, a dimensionally stable design, which cuts freight factors by 40% and overall LPC floor costs by 20%. Our LPC webbing design was followed by LPC+, with height adjustable supports, to compensate for low areas in the floor. In addition, we developed 2 tiles which meet all domestic and international load ratings and can be cut with standard woodworking blades. Our Class “A” fire rated (non-combustible) MgSO4 (Magnesium Sulphate) tile weighs only 16lbs while our OSB tile, with HPL (high pressure laminate) tile weighs only 9 lbs.