Innovation in painting and tiling seems to take place at a slower rate than other ends of the construction and remodeling industry. Still, when those innovations happen, there’s generally a very tangible and immediate benefit for this class of worker that doesn’t have time to mess around keeping his tools pretty. The 2016 Pro Tool Innovation Painting and Tiling Awards uncovered several tools that you’ll want to take notice of in this category.
Winner – Tile Cutting Hand Tools
Knipex 91 13 250 Tile Breaking Pliers
What they said: The engineers at KNIPEX took everything you like about the popular Pliers Wrench and topped it off with a heavy duty plastic jaw to create the Tile Breaking Pliers. Once you score your tiles or porcelain stoneware, these pliers are great for the precise breaking or separating of them. Position the pliers’ jaw centrally over the scored end and squeeze the handles together to break the tile. These pliers give you a precise and clean break on the tile edge with less mess, dust, noise and effort. The parallel jaws evenly distribute fore that is 10 times your strength and with 17 adjustment positions they are ideal for long and thick tiles. Forged from German chrome vanadium electric steel and oil-hardened.
What we say: Most of us turn to a tile saw when it comes time to resize ceramic tile and porcelain, but sometimes it’s not convenient or practical to break it out. Enter the Knipex Tile Breaking Pliers. After scoring your work piece, the pliers center on your mark and break the full length of the tile with a snap of the jaws. The break is accurate, and there’s no watery mess to clean up like you have with a wet tile saw. Even suitable for large and thick tile, the pliers multiply your hand strength by a factor of ten to make tile cutting a “snap”. You see what we did there?
Price: $105.00
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Winner – Tile Saws
Lackmond Beast 5″ Tile/Stone Circular Saw
What they said: Lackmond Products, Inc. recently created a joint venture with Delta designing a new 5” Tile/Stone Circular Saw. The BEAST5 offers one of the most powerful motors in its class. It is equipped with a powerful 12 AMP motor to withstand the most challenging cutting applications Lackmond’s new 5” Beast Circular Tile/Stone Saw can accept both standard and concave blades. It can execute bevel cuts up to 45⁰ and offers an integrated plunge. The BEAST5 comes with a strong rip fence to ensure accurate rip cuts over long tiles. Its handle is secured to the one-piece gear box, providing high strength and cut accuracy.
What we say: Very few of us have the luxury of cutting tile and stone with anything other than a traditional tile saw. Those who do often try to slap a diamond blade on a circular saw. Lackmond is looking to change that with their new 5” Beast5 Circular Saw. With the ability to cut up to 1-1/4 inches deep at 90 degrees or 1 inch at a 45, the 12-amp motor and integrated water hose mean you’re still able to cut like you would with your wet tile saw. You just get more flexibility to move the tool rather than the work piece. We also like the included rip fence to make sure those long cuts stay nice and consistent.
Price: $149.00
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Finalist
Winner – Painting Accessories
Vurn Innovation Stak Rack
What they said: A revolutionary product that allows you to paint and stack doors and trim with ease. Stak Rack is not just another gimmicky tool. This innovative product designed by contractors for contractors, is sure to find its way into every work truck, tool box, and job site. Why? It saves time and money. Nothing on the market compares to the versatility of this patented product for stacking and painting doors and trim, even if you find yourself working on your own. Stak Rack is the all new must have tool for the industry.
What we say: Laying down pieces of 12 foot long base or crown side by side can really leave you with nowhere to stand. The Stak Rack door and trim painting accessory is designed specifically to save space. This is perfect for those of us trying to apply paint to either trim or doors. Stak Rack lets you stack doors and trim vertically. This lets you dedicate an area or space for painting instead of having to take up an entire room, garage, or driveway. It’s a little bit of genius.
Price: $89.00
For more information, click here.
Winner – Paint Sprayers
Graco FinishPro GX19
What they said: The FinishPro GX19 is the fast, portable and affordable solution for small finishing jobs that every finishing contractor encounters. The FinishPro GX19 also features the next generation of on-the-job, no-tool pump replacement system, ProXChange. Being able to quickly repair a pump on the job site can be the difference between a productive day of spraying and one spent waiting on replacement parts or behind the wheel taking your sprayer to be serviced. Thanks to the ProXChange Pump Replacement System, Graco makes pump repairs fast and easy. In 4 simple steps, you can remove and replace the pump cartridge (available at many of Graco’s Distributors). No more time wasted or money lost to labor charges on pump repairs-with a spare cartridge kit on hand, you’ll never have a down day
What we say: Several things stand out with the Graco FinishPro GX19 sprayer. Most significant is the ProXChange system that allow you to swap pumps in just minutes—and without the need for any tools. The process is so easy, you can teach the new guy on his first day. It’s also a highly portable unit that reduces setup time on smaller jobs and allows you to put the paint in the tool’s hopper. At the end of the job, simply pour the leftover paint back in your can. The mechanism eliminates a lot of waste that gets caught up in larger sprayers. With a 1.5 gallon capacity, the Graco GX19 is an outstanding sprayer for small finish jobs.
Price: TBD
For more information, click here.