How many times do we hear that in the course of a week from so many different people be they retail or commercial flooring dealers, architects, designers, attorneys, property managers, hospitality firms and even manufacturers and the list goes on. There is so much mis-information, lack of information or information believed to be fact that isn’t that it makes for a mass of confusion and frustration in the industry. Some of the pleas for help are as follows.
“I need help with a customer concerning carpet seams. This customer is an engineer and if you’ve ever dealt with engineers before then you know they can be very challenging. Anyway, his wife picked out aSaxonystyle carpet with a 72oz. face weight. This is a very heavy, thick carpet. I think the installers did a great job and the installation looks great. There is one seam, at a doorway that is absolutely invisible. The other seams did not turn out as perfect and the engineer/customer feels that if one seam is perfect all of them should be – the remaining seams look good. We have gone back once and reworked the seams in question and tried to make them perfect. The customer said they do look better but is still very disappointed that he paid so much money for this expensive carpet and he can see the seams. I explained to him that light comes in to play with carpet seams. We placed the seams away from traffic areas and tried to run them with the natural light. I have tried explaining to him that we do our very best with seams but some carpets are more difficult to hide the seam completely. He does not accept that. Do you have any suggestions or any literature that I can show him about carpet seams. I have never had to replace a carpet because the style would not seam good enough to satisfy the customer. I have mentioned that to the customer that if we replace the carpet that I would definitely recommend a different style and probably different color that hides the seams better. I look forward to your response.”
First, let me say unequivocally, seams are not invisible in carpet. Some carpets seam better than others and lend themselves to seams which are virtually invisible and other carpets are much more challenging to seam without seeing them. A Frieze carpet or Shag can be seamed without anything showing. A low, dense, plush carpet is less likely to do the same. I have written at least three articles over the years about seams explaining this.
And here’s another one. “I’m working on a commercial installation for a 4 story building being totally gutted and renovated. The architect would like us to install bamboo flooring over new Gypcrete underlayment on 3,400 square feet on the 3rd floor for an office area. I can’t seem to get a definitive answer from the bamboo distributor or the Gypcrete manufacturer whether or not this is an acceptable installation method. No one says don’t do it, but everyone is tip toeing around it. I need in writing that this is an acceptable installation situation in order to proceed. Any help you can give me would really be appreciated.” This one we turned over to our two associate concrete specialists and one of our V.P.’s who’s an adhesive expert. We were able to help this commercial flooring dealer and keep them out of trouble. Amazing though that the suppliers of both the flooring and the substrate prep material could not deliver an answer to this dealer. As I often say, “everybody knows everything and nobody knows anything.” This is a perfect example of that.
“Lew, I have a customer that I need some assistance with. Work was being done in their home and their laminate floor got wet. The customer dried the floor immediately after the workmen were finished but within 24 hours the customer called me because the flooring buckled and had raised seams and corners. By the time I got to look at the floor the concerns were almost completely gone. There are a few places where the seams are just a bit raised but nothing that the customer stated he couldn’t live with. His only concern was since the area that had the most exposure to the moisture was in a very high traffic area what might happen in the future to the floor particularly with regard to wear and delaminating., Any advice you can give me would be appreciated.”
Each of these inquiries is real and each received an answer back promptly. As I said this happens daily. The point is that if you have a problem or questions call us. You may not be able to get an answer anywhere else but you will get one from us. We don’t charge to answer question either. We’re here to help you.
Author: Lewis G. Migliore
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts