It never ceases to amaze me how uninformed and ignorant most people who work in the flooring industry are when it comes to technically knowing about the products being sold and installed. Most often the absurdity lies in not having even a modicum of common sense about what should be basic knowledge about products.
A case in point as an example is a commercial installation in a building in the Midwest U.S. for which one of our associates was dispatched to do a color blending at the seams. When he got on the job he was informed that an inspector was already there and had determined the carpet panels were reversed, that is, they were going in different directions. Now this will certainly make a difference in the shade of adjacent panels of carpet when installed and it is easily determined by looking from different vantage points. Looking east to west, for example, one panel will look darker and one lighter. Looking west to east the shades will reverse, the lighter panel would be darker and the darker panel will be lighter. You can also check the pile lay in several ways to verify this. In this case however the carpet was all going in the same direction which was verified by pulling some of it up and checking the arrows on the back, which our guy did. So what now? All the carpet is going in the same direction but the color shade difference is obviously evident. After checking all the paperwork it was determined the production dates on the carpet used in this installation were different. When our associate told this to the manufacturers rep his response was, “Does that make a difference?” Without freaking out let me just contain myself and say emphatically; Yes!!
Carpet produced on different dates, even if on the same machine can vary in texture, color (without question) finishing- on the face and on the backing especially if there is any shearing taking place on the face, variations of the tufting machine from set up to slight yarn tension differences, whether it was tufted on the first shift or third shift or on the weekend, a variation in the yarn, even if it is supposed to be exactly the same, who’s operating the shearing machines and a slew of other factors. If you are going to be doing a large installation you cannot mix lots from different production dates if they are all going to be going in the same large wide open space. And even if they are not, the production date and run should all be the same and it goes without saying the dye lots should always be the same for a large run. Now if the production date is the same the dye lot will likely be the same if it is all done at the same time. However, depending on when and how the carpet is dyed for a commercial job you should request a commercial match so the colors will graduate uniformly from the first to the last roll sequentially.
Most designers and architects rely on the manufacturers reps for their technical information this revealing article is just one reason why that’s not always a good idea. The reps that have been in the business for years are very knowledgeable and know this stuff, but the younger reps that have had only a short tenure in the industry are a different breed. They aren’t taught to be technical people and frankly, they aren’t. Their job is to represent their company and sell the product. Fewer and fewer technical people exist in the industry to back them up and shy of six or seven manufacturers their really aren’t any technical people. In fact manufacturers have let these guys go; foolishly I think to save money. These are the people I’ve learned from over the last 38 years, especially early on in my career. Today, our company is made up the cream of the cream of technical people most of them coming from the manufacturers. If you have a problem, or know someone who needs help, call us, we are the experts with the answers and the inside track in the industry. We actually know if something makes a difference. In today’s economy you don’t want to guess or take chances, now is when you really need to know.
Author: Lewis G. Migliore
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts