Category: Commercial Flooring Report

 Volume: 17 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

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.

 Volume: 16 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

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.

 Volume: 15 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

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.

 Volume: 14 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

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.

 Volume: 13 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

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.

 Volume: 12 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

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.

 Volume: 11 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

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.

 Volume: 10 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

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.

 Volume: 9 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

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.

 Volume: 8 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

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.

 Volume: 7 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

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 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.

 Volume: 6 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

[b]There are a number of myths about carpet[/b] 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.