Latest news: Waters Group has this month signed an agreement to distribute to its customers in the stone industry the wide range of interior and exterior stone treatment products from Lithofin.

Integra is the adhesive you should be using if you want super strong joints and near invisible seams, says the Waters Group, a major supplier of consumables to the stone industry in the UK and Ireland.

The company says the adhesive is perfect for natural stone, quartz, solid surface and composite materials.

It enables Waters’ customers to add value to their finished work by creating near invisible seams, thanks to colour matching charts and more than 45 colours available ex-stock from Waters.

The two part adhesive is dispensed in precise proportions with ease using the Integra system. It delivers the same uniform mixture, including the colour chosen, every time – and only as much of it as you need, eliminating the waste that inevitably results when you mix an adhesive by hand.

Waters is happy to supply a single tube or to quote for high use customers.

If you want to find out more about Integra and watch videos of it in use, go to www.integra-adhesives.com.

If you would rather see a demonstration of the product, get in touch with Waters and the company will arrange for someone to come and see you.

Integra adhesive is the perfect partner for the Waters seaming unit, Gorilla Grips, or Mitreforma clamps if you are producing mitre joints. The Integra website includes examples of the adhesive in action with the Mitreforma clamps in a comparative test against a traditional two part polyester adhesive.

Integra has also developed a Rodding Adhesive specifically for attaching glass fibre or steel strengthening rods to worksurfaces.

Strengthening rods have been used for many years in the industry to protect worktops as they are being transported and installed. Waters sells them. Fantastic idea!

However, if they are being glued with a hand mixed, two part polyester adhesive, you have to achieve the correct mixing ratios consistently. With Integra’s cartridge application the adhesive and hardener are, again, mixed in the right proportions as they are delivered and you only mix as much as you need, dramatically reducing wastage. The quick delivery also means the adhesive can be formulated for a fast cure time. And once it is cured it is easy to grind off any excess.

It makes life so easy it is a no-brainer for the many Waters Group customers who regularly buy it by the box load – and, of course, if you buy it in bulk Waters Group offers advantageous prices, which get better still if you also buy a 100m roll of Waters’ glass fibre strengthener.

If a worktop does get damaged, the last thing any company wants is to have to replace it. Often an alternative is to carry out an in situ repair using a repair compound – and Waters Group exclusively sells the original stone repair kit, Stonelux.

Stonelux Easy is a compact kit that, for £290, can accompany fixers on every installation. And it will make up to 150 repairs. If they are carried out properly, they will be invisible and should last as long as the stone itself. And Waters Group fully supports Stonelux, offering customers practical tips to ensure the achieve the best results and best value from the product.

Of course, ideally the Stonelux repair kits will not be needed. But in the real world even the most careful fixers can fall foul of other trades and customers, so any customers who bought Stonelux Kits some time ago but have never had to use them are welcome to contact Waters Group and arrange refreshers on using the product. Waters will replace any parts of the kits that have become out-of-date so they can still be used when an emergency does occur. As Waters Group says: Don’t waste it, use it !

Completing the stone care line-up from Waters is Bellinzoni, previously sold by competitors AJ Lopez, which closed in 2010.

The range is extensive and while there is nothing new to shout about, it is trusted in the industry as a long standing and well respected product. Bellinzoni preparation wax is a must for many of Waters customers.

So, whether you are sticking stone together, cleaning it, enhancing, sealing or in some other way treating it, or have a problem you need solved, Waters Group probably has a product that can meet your needs.