By Ed Del Grande
January 1, 2007/The new year is upon us, and as always, I've kept my eyes open for new and exciting products and trends. I've notice a trend that is catching on big time. The trend is to have fully functional products that we all use and need in our homes hidden from view. I didn't get that at first, but now I'm becoming a big fan of the invisible products!
Let me tell you about two of the many hidden products that I have heard about, and you'll understand where this trend is heading. You may — or should I say may not — see products like these in your own home soon.
The first product I want to mention is for your shower. Custom showering is becoming a big business for builders. A custom shower usually will include two or more shower heads with a diverter valve to save water when multiple head use is not needed. Traditionally a custom shower would have the shower heads sticking out of the walls.
But new Water Tile shower heads can change that. Just like the name suggests, a Water Tile is the same thickness and shape of a standard shower tile. This means that the shower head is now part of the wall or ceiling of the shower stall. In fact, at first glance it will look like there are no shower heads in the stall, even though several Water Tiles might be there. When the water is turned on, it appears that the wall tiles magically start to shoot the water into the shower stall. This looks cool —and the flat surface on all the shower walls is much easier to clean.
Another hidden and practical product I just heard about is new surround-sound speaker wire tape that can be installed on sheet rock walls. Traditionally when a multichannel surround sound system is hooked up, all the thin, low-voltage speaker wires have to be bundled up and exposed or snaked through the walls. With multiple speakers, we're talking a lot of wires hanging around the house.
In new construction a room can be internally wired, but a lot of big sound systems are going into existing homes with no media wiring installed. This new product uses a Flat Wire tape that is no thicker than a credit card. According to the directions, you stick the flat wire tape to your drywall and apply the recommended mesh tape and concealing compounds to blend it in with your walls. Once painted, it virtually disappears! This can really clean up a cluttered media room.
Now that the trend is going towards hiding things, you may want to look into the many hidden products available for 2007!
Ed Del Grande was born and raised in a family-owned plumbing business. With more than 25 years of experience in every aspect of construction, he holds current Master licenses in pipefitting, fire protection and plumbing. If you have a question for Ed, send him an e-mail at eddelgrande@hgtvpro.com.
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