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- Written by: Garry Reisky
- Category: The Hard Blog
I found my Post City Magazine advertisement in the classifieds section over at post city mag. Excellent smithers! I wasn't really expecting to see it listed there but I said to my self. Why not check to see if they put my print ad on the website. And there it was. Spring repairs are in full effect right now. Here is the ad below. Shameless plug. I know.
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- Written by: Garry Reisky
- Category: The Hard Blog
Unilock introduced Classico in 1983. It gave the installer the ability to use full and half circles, fans and sweeping curves. Promenade later renamed to Olde Village Paver was released a few years later. With it's tighter joint size it was a natural evolution. Classico was made for sweeping curves and visual motion. If you wanted to make straight lines, that was more challenging. You better have your string line handy and check, check and re-check. O.v.p offered a tighter joint size which made better straight lines. With o.v.p's circle bundle, it was a match made in heaven.
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- Written by: Garry Reisky
- Category: The Hard Blog
"Don't drink the Kool-Aid when it comes to marketing materials" is what my mother always told me. Well maybe not, but manufacturer's in many industries massage and manipulate many photos that go into those glossy catalogues.
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- Written by: Garry Reisky
- Category: The Hard Blog
I was at Landscape Ontario's Congress in Jan. Congress is Canada's largest green industry event for landscape professionals - architects, contractors, designers, and allied trades. After attending a good talk from Charles VanderKooi I walked the show floor before heading over to the Unilock booth to see what was new. Unilock actually had 3 booths this year. One main feature and two smaller ones. In the main booth, there it was. Umbriano, Summer Wheat. A new colour introduction for 2011. And I must say I like this colour. I don't think these pictures do it justice. You really have to see the stone in person to get a real appreciation of how nice this paving stone colour is.
Read more: Summer Wheat. A fantastic new colour from Unilock.
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- Written by: Garry Reisky
- Category: The Hard Blog
It's always nice when spring, in all it's glory, comes to town for five days. I was touring the show floor at Canada Blooms 2011 at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto Sunday. Being in the hardscape business, of course my first stop was to head over to the Unilock booth. As I rounded the corner I saw my Territory Manager, Rob, talking to someone so I waited till he finished before saying Hi. They had a very nice layout with Umbriano, Richcliff, Courtstone, Copthorne. There was a raised area with Northshore and an interesting mini fireplace. What is this? Hmm somethng new? It's not in the catalogue. What is this doing here.
Unilock has been making a full line of elements at the Wisconsin plant for some time now. Apparently this year they have moved production over to the Buffalo plant to supply Ontario. I've loved the look of these units but, for the Ontario market, one question remains. How many people have the lot size that can handle them? Unlike our American neighbor's our lot sizes in Ontario are smaller. Not everyone sits on 3 acres.
This year we may see the introduction of the Urban, at least that's what I think they are calling this unit. The Urban is a small line of fireplaces made from brussels dimensional block, ledgestone and select pavers as accents. Just like their big brothers they will be UL compliant and are made with the same high quality adhesives. I have to say, Unilock is on to something here. I really like this unit. It's so cute isn't it? Can't you see it in your backyard? As far as I know this is a prototype unit and the final design may be tweaked slightly. Unilock usually releases new products in the summer so we'll just have to wait to see if they go into full production at that time.
UPDATE for 2013
From what I have heard Unilock has discontinued the Urban model. Due to the restrictions for fire burning, more specifically "open air burning. In most places in Ontario, the Urban is not legal to operate. There is no gas insert for the Urban so this element is not considered an "appliance" therefore the decision was made to stop making them.
Reference: Fire Pits, Fireplaces, Burning in Toronto - Are they Legal