Non-corrosive fiberglass rebar, fireplaces with realistic illuminated water-misting fires, and much more could all be found at the 75th-anniversary edition of the 2019 NAHB IBS (and KBIS).
Welcome to the final part of the 2019 NAHB IBS and KBIS coverage and highlights.
After three-days spent on my feet and over 1,500 exhibitor boots toured, this convention proved to offer an exhausting, yet, an extensive amount of building supplies, interior stone materials, appliances, kitchen hardware, faucets, fixtures, and so on.
For part three, the highlights start with Uponor’s AquaPex tubing which is pretty much the gold standard when it comes to PEX tubing. Their process of bending and unbending tubes with heat is always fun to watch, but the real gem is in the product quality. I’ve had a lot of time to review each PEX option out there, and aside from Viega, Uponor is genuinely top notch.
Beyond the plumbing details, massive sliding glass doors that ran into the tens of thousands of dollars, substantial-sized natural marble stone slabs, and more could be found. If there was one theme of the show, it was simply put, “go big.” Some of the booths were insanely large and offered the same display of products multiple times.
For building materials, James Hardie siding had a neat fire resistance display at the booth. Coming from an area where wildfires are a real threat, I can easily appreciate the demonstration panel.
I was surprised to learn that Termimesh offered more than just their core flat mesh product for stopping termites. It turns out they have an entire foam system, not to mention, flanges for pipes in all sorts of variations.
Aside from the water misting fireplace with LED lights that made the flames appear real, another fire display that caught my eye was an in-wall unit with a tornado/vortex flame. The spiral of dancing flames was truly mesmerizing to watch.
Vintageview Vino Pins were on display and offer a brilliant way to show off and store your collection of wine bottles. I’ve tried the system myself, and I love it! Best of all, the pins work on either drywall with metal collars or on substrates like wood/concrete, etc.
When scrolling below, you’ll find a green piece of lumber (2×4), which features unique coating with fire-resistant properties. While I found the coating to be impressive it only comes available by purchasing pre-coated lumber; you can’t buy it and apply it yourself. Perhaps in the future, we’ll see more and more of these types of coatings rolling out.
In addition to the above, there are far more highlights that I didn’t have time to cover in detail from the 2019 NAHB IBS and KBIS just down below.
Best Of NAHB International Builders’ Show Highlights – 2019 IBS and KBIS – Part Three
