Belgard was proud to be a platinum sponsor of the 2018 Hardscape North America trade show, held in Louisville, Kentucky, in October. Belgard offered two booths at this year’s expo, an interior display booth and an outdoor demonstration booth. The expansive interior booth featured showcases of new and existing products and focused on helping contractors increase productivity and profitability. The booth was designed to emulate a residence, with light boxes integrated into the design to add more depth and life to the space, giving the feel of different areas of a home from the front walk to a pool and kitchen areas. Below are some highlights and learnings from this year’s show.

Watch Time-Lapse Footage of the Booth Construction and Expo Event

Solution-Selling Tactics

This year’s booth layout visually demonstrated how contractors can grow the typical 250-square foot patio request into a larger job with minimal investment in additional labor hours. The add-on areas of the booth included everything from a front walkway and columns to a fire pit, fireplace, grill island, water feature and lighting. Belgard utilized flip book signage to layer on additional pieces of the project to help contractors think about the homeowner consultation as an opportunity to not only solve problems but also to deliver the outdoor space of their customer’s dreams. For more information on Solution-Selling tactics, contact your Belgard rep.

Emerging Trends

Belgard also showcased several emerging trends in the Belgard booth.

• Modular Design: Attendees learned how the Belgard Elements line of outdoor kitchen and fireplace kits can be used to create the look of a custom build in a fraction of the time.  
• Entanglement with Nature: The booth showcased various design tactics to incorporate natural elements into design, including staggered paver field edges and stepping stone designs.
• Porcelain Pavers: Attendees learned more about how Belgard Porcelain Pavers can help address multiple design trends including indoor/outdoor flow, large format sizes, plank shapes and wood grain textures.
• Greige Tones: The booth showcased a wide array of products incorporating greige color tones (blends of grays and tans). This rising trend offers the ability to coordinate hardscape designs with both warm and cool toned color palettes to create timeless outdoor living spaces.

Partner Networking Opportunities

The booth layout incorporated an upper deck, where Belgard Contractors and Dealers were given the VIP treatment with refreshments and giveaways, as well as a sneak peek at Belgard’s new Collections approach to grouping product offerings. Belgard also took the time to thank these industry partners with a Thursday night party at Howl at the Moon.

New Upgraded Belgard Contractor Program Unveiled

Belgard announced the details of the new and improved Belgard Contractor Program, which offers upgraded benefits for various tiers of partnership with hardscape contractors. The new program also included the creation of a Contractor Advisory Council, made up of seasoned Belgard Contractors from across the nation, to drive insights on how to continually improve the Belgard Contractor Program and help contractors be more productive, connected and profitable. An inaugural meeting of the new Advisory Council was held at HNA and was well-received.

Product Demonstrations

The Belgard outdoor demo area furthered the productivity and efficiencies themes from the interior booth with live DriBond™, StructureBond™ and AIRLIFT® demonstrations—all of which support practical applications that help save time and money. The DriBond mudset demo showed how existing concrete can be overlaid, avoiding the costly process of concrete removal. The StructureBond adhesive demo showed how to improve the efficiency of wall and cap installations. The AIRLIFT paver placer demo showcased technology to help improve installation speed and reduce worker fatigue. For a special Belgard discount on AIRLIFT products, click here.

2018 HNA Awards

Each year, the best hardscape designs from across the nation are recognized at Hardscape North America with the annual HNA Project Awards, covering a range of commercial and residential categories. Belgard was proud to have multiple projects featured in this year’s list of award winners. For more information, see winner announcement.