Citing the increasing costs of raw materials, three floor makers have announced price increases. Congoleum said it will raise prices on all sheet, tile and sundry products by 5 percent on March 1. Armstrong is set to raise prices 5 to 7 percent on its resilient and laminate flooring products beginning March 3. Mannington said that prices will go up between 5 to 7 percent for its resilient flooring starting March 10.

Paul Murfin, Armstrong’s vp sales, said that the price hikes are needed to combat “increases in key raw material costs, particularly PVC resins and plasticizers.” He also noted that the “further weakness of the U.S. dollar” is impacting costs. “It affects the cost of both key raw materials and products sourced from overseas,” he said.

Kim Holm, president of residential business for Mannington, acknowledged that raising prices was a difficult decision to make during a soft housing market. “There is never a good time to pass through cost increases, but the recent run-up of raw material costs cannot be absorbed,” Holm stated.

Congoleum echoed those sentiments. “The significance and breadth of these increases has reached a point where we can no longer afford to absorb them,” Congoleum’s sr. vp of sales and marketing Dennis Jarosz wrote in a letter to distributors.