Volume: 101 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

What is Litigation? Litigation is the term used to describe legal pro- ceedings initiated between two opposing parties to enforce or defend a legal right. Litigation is typically settled by agreement between the parties, but may also be heard and decided by a jury or judge in court or by arbitration or mediation. There are two parties in litigation, the plaintiff and the defendant. The plaintiff, the party filing the complaint, has the burden of proof.

 Volume: 100 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

Welcome to the 100th edition of the Commercial Flooring Report. I thank all of you for the continued support over the years and your quest for knowledge of the industry.

I want to give you a brief walk in my shoes and why we occupy such a unique, one of a kind, position. It began in 1971 when I went to work for Rochester Linoleum and Carpet in Rochester, NY, my home town, after graduating college, yes I went to college. I was schlepping in the warehouse at first, sold on the floor and then managed one of their five stores selling carpet and hard surface flooring. Not one to be content and tied down I transitioned into the carpet cleaning business, joined two associations and from there took every class I could on flooring. One of these classes was the RBI Carpet Seminar instructed by Reg Burnett. He quickly became one of my mentors. Somewhere in the 90's Reg asked me to be the author of his newsletter, called the Commercial Carpet Digest. My writing career actually be- gan with Floor Covering News with Al Wahnon, another of my mentors, with my column The Claims File which I wrote for over 26 years.

 Volume: 99 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

The conditions of the space where flooring is to be installed are increasingly ignored based on the number of claims, complaints and flooring failures we’re seeing around the country. Of major importance is the fact that the space in which the flooring material is to be installed be conditioned as if it was occupied by those who will populate it. The Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning Systems (HVAC) must be operational for two reasons. First, to properly conduct any moisture testing being done, whether calcium chloride or relative humidity and second, to acclimate the flooring material regardless of what it is from carpet to wood to vinyl and everything that goes on the floor.

 Volume: 98 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

At the recent Starnet meeting in Nashville, Tennessee held on Novem- ber 4th and 5th there was an APPA Facility Managers panel discussion sponsored by Tandus that essentially discussed the effect of learning facilities condition on occupants.
By condition we mean the design and aesthetics of the space and how they relate to the occupants attitudes while populating that space. APPA used to stand for the Association of Physical Plant Administrators in the late 1960's through the early 1990's. Today, the association is known as AP-PA: Leadership in Educational Facilities, and is most easily recognized and referred to as simply "APPA." The panelists at this presentation were from the University of Tennessee, Tennessee State University and an APPA Leadership consultant.

 Volume: 97 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

This article originally appeared in our September 2011 CFR is- sue but we've had an onslaught of work in this area and issues and I wanted to give you an update. Woven Axminster and Wil- ton carpet is the Rolls Royce of the carpet industry. It is the old- est form of machine made broadloom carpet. Products from this process grace the most elegant and luxurious homes and facilities in the world. There are only a handful of woven Axmin- ster and Wilton carpet manufacturers in the world and a smaller number yet who produce significant volume of commercial car- pet. The primary commercial markets for these carpets are hospitality (high end hotels), casinos, high end restaurants and any property that qualifies as the best of the best in its particular category. Almost all woven Axminster and Wilton carpet manu- facturing takes place outside the US with the majority of woven carpet now coming from state of the art mills in China but owned by the same manufacturers who've been in the business for dec- ades. Only a few woven manufacturers exist in the US and they primarily produce corporate type carpet. The highest end woven Axminster or Wilton carpet is most often constructed of an 80/20 blend of wool and nylon (80% wool / 20% nylon) – the nylon is used to bolster the performance of the wool – but it can also be made with 100% nylon – either solution dyed or yarn dyed.

 Volume: 96 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

We've talked repeatedly over the years about failed flooring installations and problems with flooring but have't really spent much time or focus on how to fix or address a failed flooring installation. So let's take a look at it. The same guidelines apply when writing a story which is who, what, when, where and why and add to it how and then heap on what went wrong and why and who's at fault –the most important part. With that we top it off with how do we fix it.

 Volume: 95 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

Not a week goes by that we do't get a call from a flooring contractor or general contractor about a flooring installation that failed after the've done everything right only to be told by someone charged with coming to the site, looking at the problem and telling the lamenting party that they are in the wrong. So what do you do when you believe that you've done everything right, followed all the directions to the letter but you're still accused of doing wrong – short of pulling your hair out and screaming?

We're going to look at several actual cases we've been involved with lately and use them as examples of what we're talking about.

 Volume: 94 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

This month's issue has been provided in part by Jason Spangler of Wagner Meters http://www.wagnermeters.com/author/jspangler/ and deals with the continuing issue of moisture in concrete and testing for it. This issue is not going away and continues to plague the industry so you have to test but you have to understand the testing and that it must be done and done correctly. This article should help you deal with that.

 Volume: 93 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

Our guest columnist for this issue is Jeff Loether; his bio appears at the end of this issue. We have included some additional information on noise and sound as well from some recent experiences and cases we've had with what we think is going to be a growing concern that Jeff so aptly describes. The issue of noise affects not only the hospitality industry, but apartments and condos as well. With the number of high rise units being built around the country, noise is going to generate a great deal of concern and complaints.

In a conversation Jeff and I had he stated, "Ears don't have ear lids. Higher noise levels create stress and strength reaction. The ears never sleep. Living in caves, listening for the mountain lion that wanted to snack on us, kept our ears on high alert and they are still this sensitive to sound. The primitive brain is always listening for danger."

 Volume: 92 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

We were discussing this issue at the lab the other day after seeing a new series of problems with some of the most popular products in the flooring market.

Carpet tile will inherently have a bit of doming so that when pressed in place it fits snugly. This physical characteristic which is very slight, nearly imperceptible, has always been part of carpet tile. However this also now presents a new dilemma. Too much dome and you get the "pillow or quilted" appearance.

The adhesive used to install carpet tile, though not meant to hold the tile flat, does have enough tack to pull the tile down enough so very minimal doming would not be noticed and when the tile relaxes it will settle in.

The dilemma occurs when using tabs to install lighter weight carpet tile, obviously without any adhesive so any dome in the carpet tiles can be visible. The weight of the tile also comes into play. With carpet tiles getting lighter in weight overall, not being held in place with adhesive and only affixed in place by tabs in the corners there is nothing to prevent the carpet tiles from assuming a natural doming physical position. This is a new twist on what we have begun to see with carpet tiles.

Will they fix themselves on the floor?

 Volume: 91 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

Getting the right flooring product into the right place can be very challenging particularly if you don't fully understand all of the circumstances, conditions and parameters of what you want to use, where and how to use it. That said we'll look at how you go about getting the right product in the right place, regardless of what it is and having it meet all your expectations. Nothing in a commercial space gets as much abuse as the flooring material. With the right product it may never show how much traffic and use it really gets. The wrong product will make you want to pull your hair out when it fails miserably after a short period of time.

 Volume: 90 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

Installing floor covering materials of any kind and floor preparation treatments such as leveling agents and feather finishes is challenging enough without impeding their effectiveness with a barrier. We’ve discussed before the use of Fly Ash in concrete and how, if in high enough quantity it can prevent anything from bonding or sticking to concrete substrates.

The flooring industry, and anyone else involved in flooring which includes the General Contractor, Architect, Designer, Facilities Managers and owners are facing another obstacle to successful floor covering installations due to the use of concrete admixtures, additives and topical applications.

Unfortunately this action has moved us from the frying pan into the fire. Worse yet a bill of goods on these systems are being sold to Architects and General Contractors and the systems are being written into the construction specs. This forces the flooring contractor to either install the flooring material and face imminent failure or not do so and face legal action.