Page 27 - BOMA Spring 2017 Insider

Antex Western's flooring projects range from polished concrete to custom designed carpet

Started in 1928 as the installation So why, in 1992, did the company brass PROJECTS
division of Johns Manville, the decide upon ‘Antex’, a word that means The term “One stop shop” might
previously named ‘Western Asbestos’ nothing at all? becoming passé, but in 2017 Antex
specialized in mechanical insulation. Kolas, who’s been with the firm Western seems to embody – and
“One of the company’s very first jobs since 1984, notes his predecessor’s embrace – the ‘one-stop’ concept more
was the Seagrams plant in Gimli,” says trademark frugality. than ever.
Kolas. “They (we) insulated all the piping What started out as an insulation
there, with asbestos pipe covering.” “Well, ‘WA’ was the previous logo. And
Elliot didn’t like to spend a lot of money, company and evolved into a flooring
“We were previously an insulation so he said ‘You know if we switch it contractor, Antex Western is now a
company, but the owners at the time around to ‘AW’, we’ve got two things: multi-faceted commercial construction
were interested in anything that had we’ll be first in the phone book and we firm with offerings ranging from
to do with asbestos, quite frankly. Our don’t have to change our logo; we can access flooring systems to acoustic
Special Projects department got started just flip it around.’ He made up the word ceilings, sprayed fire protection to
with the demand for asbestos siding,” ‘Antex’ to fit the logo.” demountable wall systems. And they’re
recalls Kolas. “And then Safeway stores still considered one of the top flooring
and Loblaws were starting to pop up, Sounds practical enough. And in the contractors in western Canada, of
and those stores wanted tile. 20-plus years since, Antex Western course, given the firm’s expertise in tile,
has become synonymous with quality
“There was a tile product – Vinyl workmanship and reliable service carpet and resilient flooring, terrazzo
Asbestos Tile (VAT) – that we then throughout Western Canada. and polished concrete.
started installing in those stores, and it “There’s no one else who does that
became pretty lucrative. From there, we
branched off into doing other types of
flooring: sheet vinyl, et cetera. Before
we knew it, flooring was 80% of our
revenue.”
As ‘Western’ eventually replaced its
asbestos-based products across
all categories, the company’s then-
president Elliot Saunders saw the
need to change the name. “It was
causing us no end of difficulty pulling
up to buildings like the Health Sciences
Centre for a flooring installation with a
truck that said ‘Western Asbestos’ on
it,” recalls Kolas, with a laugh.

BOMA MANITOBA INSIDER | ISSUE 7 | SPRING 2017 26