One of the largest requests by the design and architectural community is “educate us.” We need information and we’re not getting what we need. How can we be expected to deliver to our clients the best services and the best products if we don’t know all we need to know. Into this group we can also place facilities managers, corporate accounts and any other large end user of flooring materials. The education of these important people lies mainly on the shoulders of the manufacturers rep, simply because that’s where they turn first for answers because that’s where the think the answers they need are. Unfortunately, the manufacturers’ rep doesn’t have the answers they need to make the wisest objective and unbiased decisions as to what product works best where and why, what accessories to use, what installation techniques are appropriate for a specific project or what is the best adhesive to use. The rep only knows what he is taught or what he knows, about his or her particular product. The rep does not know the answers to all of the questions designers and architects ask and need. This is not meant to say that the rep is not knowledgeable but the rep can’t possibly have all the answers to these questions because they aren’t exposed to the knowledge or information that would make them the expert in this field. The reps job is to sell and the rep will do whatever it takes to make that happen.
Let’s take a look, specifically, at some of the areas the designer and architect need information and we can also add anyone else into this mix, including the manufacturer. We’ll start with some of the most controversial topics first and they are substrate conditions and moisture. It’s amazing how little the industry knows about substrate conditions and more amazing that there is not a boat load of information flowing to the architectural and design community on this subject. We’ve had clients we’ve helped as recently as today who don’t understand the ramifications of using certain flooring materials with substrates with moisture in them. I’ll share this one with you. A flooring contractor has an installation of vinyl backed carpet tile emitting an odor, which has been down for less than a year. He questions whether or not he can re-use the tile if he remediates the floor with bead blasting, top coating and sealing. Specifically, is there a treatment or process he can subject the tile to that will make it ok to re-use them on the same job. The answer is no. Why? Once the PVC backing in a carpet tile or any PVC backed product is compromised, releasing alcohols, it is impossible to stop it. The affected tiles have to be taken up and recycled and new tiles have to be installed. The dealer really didn’t know the answer to this and further he wasn’t sure if the substrate had even been tested for moisture. If this seasoned dealer doesn’t have the answer to these issues how could an architect or designer be expected to know this stuff? In another recent case a dealer has several thousand yards of carpet tile installed on a slab on grade with an extremely high moisture content. So much moisture, in fact, that it can be seen when the carpet tiles are lifted off the substrate. There are even some curled carpet tiles in the worst areas, but there is absolutely no odor nor has there been for over a year this dispute has been going on. There is no question the concrete substrate has to undergo treatment to mitigate the moisture issue. However, since the carpet tiles are not affected they can be taken up, the backings cleaned off and, except for the tiles that curled, the tiles can be re-installed. This saves the expense of having to replace all of the carpet. Only the affected curled tiles will have to be replaced. This substrate was tested prior to installation and it indicated moisture was not an issue. At the meeting we had on this case the building tenant, owner, designer, general contractor and flooring contractor were all present and none of them had an answer to the problem, nor did they fully understand what was wrong and why. If all of these cases repeatedly prove that the answers necessary to problems and, more importantly, how to prevent them, are not part of the general knowledge of the most important parties, how can the education process not be important?
In every case this is what has to be said to avoid problems. Here’s what you have to do, here’s what you should use and why and here’s what will happen if you don’t and here’s how expensive and damaging it will be if you don’t heed this advice. The decision not to do something and the liability for not doing so would lie with whoever is responsible for making a decision. Let’s look at another case that we recently were involved in relative to this issue.
A flooring contractor wisely refuses to start a job because he has issues with the moisture vapor emission readings in the concrete. Moisture tests have been taken by two parties and the results of both are different. The moisture is not excessively high but there is legitimate concern for a problem developing in the future. The flooring contractor is being told to start the job but he doesn’t want to be held responsible for the failure of any of the flooring materials, should it occur. A meeting was held with all the parties on the project which included the general contractor, the building owner and the flooring contractor. All of the previous test results and documentation was reviewed, the substrate inspected, initial tests of the concrete taken and further tests of the concrete ordered. The conditions of the buildings environment were analyzed and flooring material already down was inspected, with some of it removed, to determine whether or not moisture was affecting it. The products being used were researched and then, after the final results of all of this work, a determination was made as to what to do. Here’s what was found out about the substrate and here’s what decisions were made jointly, so that the flooring contractor would be responsible for any future failure, should it occur.
The carpet being used could be installed with the moisture vapor emission rates slightly above the subscribed industry standard of 3 pounds. This information was gotten directly from the manufacturer. Several different products were going to be used and it was important to find out what the parameters were for the installation of all of the materials over the moisture levels found. Fortunately, after all of this work and with the building being climatized, the conditions came into range that a successful installation could be accomplished. However, it was still noted that this was a joint decision, made among all the parties, based on prior experience, valid test results and products that were of high quality. For insurance we suggested a sealer be used first on the concrete, which was compatible with the adhesive being used to eliminate any fears. This situation is not only exceptional in resolving concerns but proves that, working together and knowing where to go for answers, problems can be avoided with a team effort.
Knowing how certain styles of carpet perform is also an area where education is important. Understanding, for example, that a cut pile, loop pile or cut and loop product will all perform differently and look different in the course of use, is not as clearly defined as you’d think. One of the most challenging products, relative to appearance retention is a tip sheared product. If the tip shearing is done on a very dense piece of goods and the shearing is not extensive, the product will usually look good as it is trafficked. If the shearing is extensive, the appearance of the product can be affected enough to generate a complaint for the carpet looking bad. A few years ago this is exactly what happened to a corporate client we were hired by. They had a tip sheared product installed in several offices across the country. The carpet started to look matted and crushed and they complained about it. Researching all the documentation we found a letter from the manufacturer telling the end user that they did not recommend this particular product for this particular application because it would not deliver the type of performance or appearance retention they desired. Despite the warning, a decision was made to use this style product because of the “look” it had. That “look” did the product in and the end user had absolutely no basis to complain. They and their designer chose the product, over the objections of the manufacturer and the product did exactly what they were warned against.
The choice of color may very well be the biggest area of concern that there is and it’s amazing how little is known about the consequences of choosing the wrong color. We’ll cite two examples here. The first is a major hotel in one of America’s biggest cities. The hotel complained to the manufacturer that they had a problem keeping the carpet clean. The belief was that there was a problem with the carpet that was causing the soiling situation and the challenge of cleaning it. This new carpet replaced a product similar to it in construction but the colors of the old carpet were much darker. When the products were analyzed and tested they were found to be structurally the same, the only difference was the way they cleaned because of the color. The complaint, we found out later, was due to the designer, who chose the carpet, not understanding the importance of using colors that will mask, hide or otherwise not magnify dirt. In this case the light colors used magnified spots, spills and traffic soiling creating an ugly condition that could not be reversed. The cleaners will have to “chase” the carpet all the time to keep it looking good. The second example actually took place in a seminar I was giving at Neocon. The program dealt with the 10 areas of carpet to optimize performance and maximize profits. Color naturally came up because this is the number one motivator of the purchase of any carpet product. A DuPont color chart was utilized to show the best and worst colors to use to hide soil. There were 25 designers and specifiers in the seminar and not one of them had ever seen this chart or anything like it. The usefulness of this chart as a tool for putting the right color in the right place is invalueable. For example, one of the statements on the chart is that there is no optimum range for yellow. In other words, yellow is the worst soiling color and therefore the most difficult color to maintain. Another difficult color is light blue. The two most predominant colors in the hotel that was complaining of a soiling problem were yellow and light blue. Had the designer known this the problem for the end user would not have existed. As a result of not knowing this the costs to maintain the carpet have escalated and the life expectancy shortned. This is not information that a rep, manufacturer, architect, designer or specifier is going to have at their fingertips or, as experience indicates, know about. Where else but through some vehicle of education would this information be found and articulated well enough to be understood to prevent this type of problem.
How about the information of mis-information? There’s so much of this floating around that people will think it’s fact because they heard of from what they believe to be a knowledgeable or reliable source. One of the most common fallacies is the notion that there is a big difference in the performance of type 6 versus type 6,6 nylon. Simply put, if two carpets are constructed exactly the same, one with type 6 nylon and the other with type 6,6 nylon there will be absolutely no difference in performance. Yet it is often said that the difference will make or break a carpets performance. Another belief is that polypropylene is the worst performing fiber in a commercial environment. We’ve had large retail clients who have had polypropylene carpet down for 10 years that looked great. They replaced these carpets with a nylon carpet costing considerably more, only to have the product fail to live up to the polypropylenes performance. The new carpet just did not have the performance characteristics they had taken for granted for so many years. Basically the nylon carpet was harder to clean and stained, even with a topical stain resist agent. No one would ever recommend polypropylene in this application but it was the best product for the job. One of the most obvious issues when it comes to information is overlooking what’s currently installed or how the new flooring material is going to be used, abused and maintained. This has to be envisioned to be appreciated and understood. Envisioning what will or may occur will prevent failures, complaints and claims.
Where can you be sure you’ll get the information you’ll need to optimize a products performance, prevent problems and eliminate complaints. An independent professional flooring contractor is one good source or you can come to us to get completely unbiased, objective and factual information. Don’t wonder if the information you’re getting is correct, you have to be sure.
Author – Lewis G. Migliore – The Commercial Flooring Report
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts