Commercial Flooring Report is a publication made available by LGM and Associates Technical Flooring Services: Floor Covering experts on Carpet, Laminate and Vinyl, Ceramic and Hardwood. Monthly newsletters designed to help you and your team understand challenges typical to the flooring industry and provide prevention and resolution.
 | Common Causes of Flooring Failures: Part 2 |
| Vol.28, No.1 2.05 MB Uploaded: July 28th, 2010 | |
| SUBSTRATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS WHICH AFFECT FAILURES In my opinion, substrate issues are one of the biggest bones of contention today. With installation after installation failing in all types of environments, the question is continually asked, “What’s different today than years ago when we never had these types of problems?” First and foremost - today we want instant gratification, and that means, “Get the job finished as fast as possible at all costs and we’ll worry about the consequences later!” Not only is this a crazy way to think and act, but it’s totally irresponsible in many ways. We’ll touch on why this is insane in a bit, but first let’s look at some of the types of problems we’re experiencing. | |
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 | Common Causes of Flooring Failures: Part 1 |
| Vol.27, No.1 2.39 MB Uploaded: May 11th, 2010 | |
| The primary business of LGM & Associates has to do with floor covering failures in the commercial market whether it is the product itself, the installation, substrate influences or some other factor. Another segment we serve has to do with lawsuits or legal actions involving floor covering issues in a variety of situations. No two cases relative to failures in any area serviced are ever exactly the same. It is for this reason that the following information is being provided to help prevent you from having to endure the pain of a floor covering failure. | |
 | Information You Need To Know |
| Vol.26, No.1 1.33 MB Uploaded: March 25th, 2010 | |
| The Question of Gross v. Net: The question of what is right, correct, or “industry standard” in charging for flooring products and installation just keeps coming up. As a former dealer and flooring contractor with retail, commercial, and government work experience over 22 years, I’d like to offer an answer ... | |
 | When is Carpet Wall Covering and not Cove Base? |
| Vol.25, No.1 1.56 MB Uploaded: February 23rd, 2010 | |
| When does the use of carpet on walls constitute wall covering or cove base? Why should it matter and what’s the difference in the two and how is it determined? These questions were asked of us by one of the industry’s largest commercial carpet manufacturers. If they don’t know the answers it was certain none of our readers did either. The questions actually were, “How far can carpet come up a wall before it is considered wall carpet and not cove base which would put it in a different flammability category? Does the Carpet and Rug Institute have a position on this or is there a standard?” | |
 | Don't LEED Yourself Into Trouble |
| Vol.24, No.1 1.29 MB Uploaded: January 20th, 2010 | |
| LEED which is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design specifies what is necessary to comply with achieving a green building rating in new or renovation building projects. What we are beginning to see relative to this is disturbing as compliance to LEED protocols may lead to compromises in floor covering installation. | |
 | Winter's Effects on Flooring Materials |
| Vol.23, No.1 1.10 MB Uploaded: December 15th, 2009 | |
| Certainly not every section of the country suffers from the harsh effects of winter weather and related conditions on flooring materials but enough of you do business in those regions that you should know what the flooring will be subjected to. | |
 | Concrete Testing - Doing It Right |
| Vol.22, No.1 1.63 MB Uploaded: November 5th, 2009 | |
| At CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION's first Industry Trends Roundtable in June 2002, the hot topic was moisture coming out of concrete floors and delaminating vinyl flooring, tile, and coatings. During the CEO Forum that followed, recognition of this multimillion-dollar problem led American Society of Concrete Contractors' members to contribute $40,000 to a special fund to address floor moisture and pH. | |
 | A Smart Guide to PVC Backed Modular Carpet |
| Vol.21, No.1 1.50 MB Uploaded: October 7th, 2009 | |
| Modular Carpet also known as carpet tile – is probably the least difficult soft flooring product to actually handle and install. That being said, the chemistries involved in most of the modular carpet backing systems that are in general use today can create serious and occasionally catastrophic issues that WILL land squarely on the shoulders of the flooring contractor if the correct steps have not been taken. | |
 | Hospital, Health Care and Educational Application of Sheet Vinyl Flooring |
| Vol.20, No.1 1.53 MB Uploaded: October 13th, 2009 | |
| More and more hospitals, health care facilities and schools are using homogeneous sheet vinyl flooring with welded seams in areas requiring an aseptic or clean environment, such as operating rooms, emergency rooms and pharmacies. It is also used in corridors of schools or dialysis rooms of health care facilities. This product is used for its clean, uncluttered look and finish. In addition this homogeneous material lends itself to all kinds of creative design elements such as artistic insets, borders and free flowing patterns. Just like any other flooring material not understanding this product, the environmental conditions required for installing it, substrate conditions and how to install it properly with great emphasis on welding the seams can result in massive headaches, exorbitant costs and strained relationships, not to mention the failure of the installation. | |
 | NeoCon 2009 |
| Vol.19, No.1 1.90 MB Uploaded: October 13th, 2009 | |
| It was evident, and no surprise, that Neocon’s attendance was adversely affected by the economy. My guess from roaming the halls for two days is that attendance was off nearly 40%, those I’ve spoken with felt the same. That having been said, we’ve seen this slowdown at all the flooring trades shows this year. Those who did attend were serious about doing business. An entire entourage was not to be seen but key people from firms were there, and business was in fact being done. | |
 | HD 2009 Expo |
| Vol.18, No.1 1.52 MB Uploaded: October 4th, 2009 | |
| THE HOSPITALITY DESIGN SHOW The Hospitality Design Show held in Las Vegas on May 12th through 15th is one of my favorite trade shows. In my opinion HD is one of the classiest exhibitions there is for floor covering and it’s a dress up event. It’s nice to see people dressed as professionals when they attend this event. It reflects the significance of the hospitality market and the position it occupies that of high fashion and cutting edge design. This is where you’ll see the most highly styled, eye popping high end floor covering products displayed by the sharpest manufacturers in the industry. | |
 | Carpet CSI |
| Vol.17, No.1 1.54 MB Uploaded: October 4th, 2009 | |
| PROFESSIONAL TESTING LABORATORY THE CSI LABORATORY FOR THE FLOOR COVERING INDUSTRY Professional Testing Laboratory, Inc., is the CSI Laboratory for floor covering. PTL does the day to day testing for manufacturers, the Federal Government, and large corporations but they also do investigative analysis to figure out mystery problems, defects and complaint and concern issues. Following are two interesting cases PTL solved. | |
 | Double Stick Installation: What You Must Know |
| Vol.16, No.1 1.60 MB Uploaded: November 5th, 2009 | |
| The most popular method of installing carpet in the hospitality market is the double stick method but it is also used extensively in all commercial environments. Double stick refers to installing a carpet cushion, whether it is slab rubber, densified polyurethane, needle punched synthetic fiber or rebond, by gluing it to the substrate and then gluing the carpet onto the cushion. This installation method can be compromised in a number of ways resulting in obscenely expensive monetary losses and business interruption which can be incalculable for a hotel or business. | |
 | Challenges of 2008 |
| Vol.15, No.1 1.10 MB Uploaded: October 4th, 2009 | |
| The challenges of 2008 have not vanished with the passage into a new year and, in my opinion; the difficult times are going to be here for awhile. The commercial market is seeing a slow down right now with less work in the pipeline for 2009, from the latest figures on average 15 to 20%. With projects put on hold due to fear of releasing funds or tight credit, falling tax revenues and an overall slow down in business, everyone is affected. Even if a project is funded it may be shelved because of the psychological effects the economic conditions have on entities and individuals. | |
 | THE MOST SUSTAINABLE CARPET FIBER - WOOL |
| Vol.14, No.1 1.76 MB Uploaded: October 4th, 2009 | |
| In this issue we’ll cover a couple of subjects. Since sustainability is one of the hottest buzz words lately and being green the ultimate objective of every manufacturer for every product known to man, we’ll talk about the most sustainable carpet fiber. We’ll also take a look at the absurdity of bidding a commercial flooring installation without knowing the product specified and to be installed. How this can be an acceptable practice and why it’s done is, in my opinion, insane. | |
 | Pooling, Watermarking, Pile Reversal and Shading |
| Vol.13, No.1 1.78 MB Uploaded: November 5th, 2009 | |
| These issues - and the terms are somewhat synonymous in their meaning - continue to plague carpet manufacturers. Pooling, Watermarking, Pile Reversal and Shading are manifested in different ways but primarily give the appearance of water having been spilled on a carpet causing irregularly shaped light and dark areas in or out of the traffic lanes of carpet. | |
 | The Front End of a Project can be the Greenest Part of the Equation |
| Vol.12, No.1 1.59 MB Uploaded: November 5th, 2009 | |
| Problems with new floor covering products, whatever they may be, don’t necessarily mean the product has to be replaced. Carpet in particular can be made so it doesn’t get shipped with defects and, depending on what defects may be in it, it is often possible to make repairs. Color shade issues, surface irregularities from shearing, stop marks from tufting and minor flaws can very often be repaired in place. The most prudent move however is to make sure these problems don’t occur by being proactive rather than reactive – the former being much less expensive. | |
 | Protecting You and the Client's Investment |
| Vol.11, No.1 1.04 MB Uploaded: November 5th, 2009 | |
| In this issue of the Commercial Flooring Report we’ve got several guest articles. Part II of Jeff Bishops article on commercial carpet care and cleaning, an article on correcting side match shade variation by Mike Currin and another installment from Lance Wallach on your financial well being for commercial entrepreneurs. I’ve also written a small piece on walk off mats; their use and safety. All of this has to do with protecting the end users investments and you as a business person. | |
 | Maintenance Issues |
| Vol.10, No.1 1.11 MB Uploaded: November 5th, 2009 | |
| Cleaning and maintaining commercial flooring, especially carpet, is as important as selecting the right carpet construction, color and installation procedures. It is the one thing that will make the difference between a long healthy life for the flooring material or a short ugly one. For this issue we’ve asked Jeff Bishop, head of Clean Care Seminars whom I consider the Guru of the cleaning industry, to share information with you regarding commercial carpet cleaning. This is the first of two parts. | |
 | ACAA Reply and Vinyl Issues |
| Vol.9, No.1 1.07 MB Uploaded: November 5th, 2009 | |
| In the last issue of the Commercial Flooring Report I wrote an article about fly ash content in concrete and the issues this material presents relative to installation and in particular its relevance to gaining LEED credits for new buildings. The article prompted a response from David Goss the Executive Director of the American Coal Ash Association, which resulted in us pening a very fruitful dialogue. Following is a response from the American Coal Ash Association prompted by my article. At the end of the response I’ll provide you with the outcome of our conversations and phone conference meeting we had with several participants and the resultant benefits this new relationship will bring to the floor covering industry. | |
 | Be Aware of Dangerous Situations! |
| Vol.8, No.1 1.40 MB Uploaded: November 5th, 2009 | |
| The commercial flooring business is fraught with danger much of it perpetrated by ignorance. This is not to cast aspersions on those in the industry as being dumb but it is in reference to people not knowing or sometimes, dangerously, not caring or worse yet taking matters into their own hands when they think they know and really don’t. | |
 | Interesting Facts and Information for 2007 / 2008 |
| Vol.7, No.1 804 KB Uploaded: November 5th, 2009 | |
| Carpet tile use is growing dramatically but at the expense of broadloom carpet. There is no question carpet tile is the fastest growing textile floor covering material on the market but its growth is coming at the expense of broadloom. The ease of installation, design capabilities, structural integrity, performance Bentley Prince Street – UPC Tile characteristics and versatility of carpet tile, along with new innovative backing systems, many of them the result of recycling efforts, make carpet tile the hot property that it is. | |
 | Carpet Myths and Facts |
| Vol.6, No.1 2.12 MB Uploaded: November 5th, 2009 | |
| There are a number of myths about carpet that many believe to be true when in fact they are not. The myths uncovered here are from Werner Braun, President of the Carpet and Rug Institute, from his presentation at the annual CRI Meeting held on November 13, 2007 and my subsequent interview of Werner. I’ve added my own commentary to these categories based on 37 years of experience. The carpet industry is one of the most responsible industry’s there is regarding addressing issues that are erroneous and putting forth information that benefits the consuming public. | |
 | Beware of Imported Products |
| Vol.5, No.1 775 KB Uploaded: October 13th, 2009 | |
| This has been a scare of late particularly with products imported from China and it relates to carpet in particular, especially with one case we have. This carpet was installed in a public venue and after a short period of time there was a question of wear. This instigated the end users and flooring contractors questioning of the carpet itself and its quality. Further examination of the carpet revealed that there were three different backings supplied with the product which raised even more concerns about how reliable this product and its manufacturing supplier were. | |
 | Specifying Commercial Carpet for Senior Housing |
| Vol.4, No.1 0.95 MB Uploaded: October 13th, 2009 | |
| Why should carpet specified and used in senior housing be any different from any other commercial carpet application and what makes it so unique? | |
 | INSTALL – Everyone Talks Training UBC Delivers |
| Vol.3, No.1 487 KB Uploaded: October 13th, 2009 | |
| Floor covering is an installed product and until it is installed and installed properly, it has no value to anyone; it’s simply ballast. Installation has been said to be the bane of the floor covering industry for years. Complaints about the installers’ attitude, skill level, training, pricing, reliability and professionalism have created rifts between manufacturers and flooring contractors for longer than anyone wants to admit. Installers and installation have often been viewed as a necessary evil – not exactly the best situation to have for any installed product. | |
 | NeoCon 2007 and More |
| Vol.2, No.1 942 KB Uploaded: October 13th, 2009 | |
| To say NEOCON was a rousing success would be an understatement. Of the carpet exhibitors we spoke to the traffic was voluminous. In the first day attendees far outpaced last years show, that is, there were as many people entering exhibit spaces on the first day as all three days of last year, 2006. Not only does this indicate an interest in flooring products it proves the contract market is still alive and well and booming. | |
 | State of the Industry |
| Vol.1, No.1 380 KB Uploaded: October 13th, 2009 | |
| There are significant advances in the commercial flooring market which impact everyone involved with the product. There have been so many changes in face fiber, backing materials styling, recycling and "Green Issues," that it's difficult for the most ardent observer to keep it all in order. This is a brief commentary and a simplistic representation of what's going on in each of the following categories and how it impacts the product. |
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