Gulf Construction Online - Tough on stains

Interiors

Pettenon ... expansion plans.

Tough on stains

01 July 2016

Fila Surface Care Solutions, a leading international manufacturer of eco-friendly and cost-effective products, has expanded its stain removing product range with the launch of Filano Rust and Filazero Sil. The first is for removing rust stains while the second is for removing silicone residue.

Other products in the range include Filano Spot for greasy stains; Filasr95 for coloured stains (such as coffee stains); and Filamarble Restorer, the kit for restoring marble and polished agglomerates damaged by acid attack and an ideal solution for renewing kitchen and bathroom surfaces.

Commenting on the product range, Francesco Pettenon, managing and commercial director of Fila Surface Care Solutions, says: “In the Middle East, we are currently offering care and protection solutions for stone, agglomerates, ceramics, porcelain tiles, cement and micro-cement.

“Some of our most successful products in this market are Filamp 90 Eco Plus ecological stain remover, FilaPW10 pre-fixing protector, Deterdek descaler and Hydrorep, the invisible effect waterproofing protector.”

The company has been active in the Middle East since 2012 and has been registering two-digit growth figures every year.

“Our growth strategy is currently focused on publicity, especially targeted at architects, consultants and marble installers, who we are training in surface care and protection,” says Pettenon.

The company is currently active in 16 markets, but its objective is to expand in the GCC.

“The UAE, Kuwait and Qatar are our major markets currently. Next year, we plan to expand our Dubai office with a new training centre among other facilities, while our plans for 2018-2019 include expansion towards the Far East,” he says.

The company has been associated with a number of prestigious and demanding projects. Last year, it completed stone protection works at the new presidential palace in Abu Dhabi, a project with a value of $490 million.

“We won the international tenders for the stone protection for all three phases of this project and our products now protect the exquisite interior marble, cladding and exterior natural stones of this grand development.

“We used solvent-free solutions for the internal surfaces. So they are not only stain-proof and water-proof but also food safe. Meanwhile for the exterior surfaces, considering the palace is close to the sea, we had to use solvent-based protectors and make sure all surfaces could withstand the sea, air, UV (ultraviolet rays), dirt, rain and humidity, while retaining their natural ability to breathe. Our experts worked for five years on this stone protection project, to offer the best long-term stone protection, and the result is outstanding,” he explains.

Another significant project the company was associated with is the Hamad International Airport in Doha. Fila’s team protected more than 28 different types of natural stones for this project. The airport interiors feature stones on wall and floors.

“The project was very demanding as we had to test our products on each type of stone, to make sure they offered the best level of protection. But we love such challenges and it is one of the reasons why the Middle East is such an exciting region to work in: the scale and grandeur of the projects that are developed here is quite unique,” says Pettenon.