Page 4 - 2019-03-CFR Volume 126 - How Commercial Flooring Projects Have Changed - March 2019

There are no magic bullets to fix anything. There
is no “one thing” that makes everything work any-
more. There are more challenges for flooring con-
tractors today than ever before. The only answer
is that each project has to be judged individually.
The flooring contractor can only do so much. If
they’re telling you they have concerns it’s best to
sit down and listen to them and then work together
to resolve any issues or ward off any potentially
impending failures. They are not, nor should they
be, responsible for anything that goes wrong just
because the problem manifests itself visually as a
flooring failure. You have to look beyond that to
find the answer as to what went wrong and why
and who or what is responsible. Remember that
it’s best to prevent flooring failures up front than to
have to deal with them after the project is complet-
ed and the space occupied, up and running and
doing business. That’s a very bitter pill to swallow
for everyone involved and no one is going to es-
cape without losing some skin.

Here’s some tips. Don’t believe everything you
hear or read about flooring products or things relat-
ed to or associated with them. So much is based
on one manufacturer saying something and every-
one else saying the same thing or embellishing to
get a leg up to sell their product. An example is
any material that is anything “proof”, be it water,
moisture, alkalinity or anything you can think of.
Repeating this again for the umpteenth time,
words do not change the laws of physics nor
do they alter science. The facts will always pro-
vide the proof. And, the flooring never lies. Peo-
ple lie but never the flooring. Heed what we say
here. We live where the industry does, we know
what’s going on, we’ll never lie to you and we side
with no one but the truth.

When and if you need us, we’re here for you. Like
the fire department. You don’t want to have to call
us but it’s nice to know we’ll respond with help
when and if you need us. Our job and commit-
ment to the industry, which is a unique, one of a
kind business, is to determine what went wrong
and why, who or what is at fault, solving and re-
solving the issue and what to do to fix things,
which can always be done. And, probably most
important, to work with clients to prevent flooring
failures. As more than one flooring manufacturer
has said, “LGM are not the guys you want sitting
on the other side of the table.”

4 Commercial Flooring Report March 2019