Standards

Knowing your limitations is smart

Welcome, to our new rant and rave

We are going to continue our rant and rave from last week.

Here is a fact, way back in ancient floor history, 1994-1995 😂, one respected sheet vinyl manufacturer had a huge problem with their product shrinking away from the perimeters of rooms.

Their solution was not to hide or deny but acknowledge the problem and face it.

Can you image that happening today? I can’t.

They put together, with the help of a smart lady, an inspection class to handle the problems by teaching the truth.

Again, can you image that today?

One of the things they taught, by their vinyl scientists, and if you ask any person in the plastics industry outside of flooring they all know this, vinyl has an inherent shrinking characteristic.

To prevent that, stabilizers are used or a felt backing applied for a full glue installation and stabilizing effect. .

If the composition of the product is stable, it will not shrink.

A fact taught by a vinyl manufacturer.

Well, here we go!

I posted this fact on a popular flooring inspector site some time back, twice.

Each time, this important information was deleted off the site within a few minutes.

Not days, but minutes.

Why? If you have that important information, site conditions and installations become less an issue.

Now, take that information and application, that was deleted fast, and now think about some of those same people wanting to write inspection standards for your installations, sales and inspection needs

Wait! Wait! Important information about a product, deleted fast to keep that information from the “Inspector population”.

And, it was NOT MANUFACTURERS DELETING IT!

Were the people in charge of the site "puckering up" for a big fat arse kiss?

Wait! Wait! Whats that again? Information hidden from inspectors are not being taught so that you, the flooring contractor and installers, can’t get a fair shake? AND WHO WAS DELETING IT?

Let us qualify something, some manufacturers do want the truth, and some want to hide the truth.

Time to get more into standards writing and who are these people writing standards that affect your profits.

I am going to start with this question.

Should a carpet cleaner be on a committee to write installation standards for any products?

Or, should an installer be on a committee to write carpet cleaning standards?

The obvious answer to both questions is no, . but it happens.

It is about positioning and unearned perceived prestige.

Lets look at the ceramic tile industry as a good example of who should be on these committes.

Ceramic tile industry keeps tight control of their manufacturer and installation standard committees. The people on their committees are directly involved in all aspects of the tile industry.

Manufacturing? Yes!
Specialty Tile Retailers? Yes!
Product specifiers? Yes!
Contractors? Yes!
Installers? Yes!

Should the following be on ceramic tile standards writing committees?

Carpet Cleaners? No!
Carpet manufacturers? No!
Wood floor manufacturers? No!
Wood floor contractors and installers? No!
Vinyl floor manufacturers? No!
I think you get the idea.

We can apply this to all types of flooring.

The vinyl plank installer helping write standards for the inspections of ceramic tile?

No.

The Ceramic Tile installer helping to write standards for the inspection of vinyl planks?

No.

Over 3,000 years ago, an ancient Greek Philosopher, Socrates, had to “Drink the Hemlock” poison in Athens because he made so many people upset.

He had a school teaching the young men in Athens. His crime?

He went around showing people they were ignorant of topics they claimed to be experts.

For example, the shipwright claiming to be an expert on how to write poetry, and the poet an expert on how to build ships.

The home builder an expert on building roads, and the man who builds roads, home construction.

I think you get the idea. 3,000 years later, we still have, after all our progress intellectually and technically, the same self-delusional thinking.

If we know one subject or trade, can we claim to be an expert in all subjects or trades? Or, in our world, one expert in one type of the flooring making a claim to be an expert for anything to do with flooring, even without direct experience, training, or education for a particular product.

It is also insulting to the different flooring trades to think someone's profession is not worthy of having direct hands-on experience.

I once heard a man claim that installing carpet was a simpletons job. He would inspect carpet complaints for installation issues, but, he had never installed one carpet in his entire career.

There is that attitude, disrespectful attitude, that installers are not skilled professionals.

How far we have advanced, to still be this far back in time with these attitudes?

Or, as Dirty Harry said, in the Dirty Harry School of Philosophy, “A man should know his limitations” (sorry, couldn’t resist that one)

Knowing your limitations does not mean you are stupid, in fact, it means, you are smart.

WHY IS KNOWING ABOUT VINYL SHRINKING IMPORTANT? When we laminated together a product with different layers that are different, they must be in-balance with each other or one layer will dominate the other layers. If the surface vinyl is not restrained by the other layers in a balance construction the vinyl shrinking will pull up the edges into a cupped posture.

Knowing how much you don't know is just as important as knowing how much you do know.

People pretending to be experts harm us all in our trade.

Next week, learn about one man whose research made a major change in the flooring industry.

whyOne of the first teachers of Critical Reasoning.

Welcome to Flooring Inspectors Educational Guild Flooring!

Part 1 From Last Week's Rant and Rave

Recently, on a post on a private blog, it was put forth that all evaluations, by floor inspectors, installers, manufacturers, and contractors, of flooring products should only be done by ANSI and ASTM testing protocols.

First, let us all agree, we need standards.

Manufacturing standards? Yes!

Installation standards? Yes!

Inspection standards? Umm, maybe.

I was in conversations with two individuals, now retired inspectors, who were on a few committees involving installation and inspections for writing standards for inspectors.

On one committee, the committee chairperson, not voted into the position by the committee, kept trying to correct an “EXTREMELY” experienced, trained and educated committee person, who was not wrong.

Yes, I am being politically correct but not evasive in not using names. I want to bring attention to an important issue for our flooring industry and keep it out of personal attacks and retorts.

Let me ask you good people an important question. Should people with little to no experience in manufacturing, selling, specifying, and installing the product, be allowed on committees to set manufacturing, specification of flooring products and installations of the products? Should they be on committees to attempt to set inspection techniques?

Do we have people, with limited experience and exposure, writing installation and inspection standards for the products you sell and install?

That is a question many flooring contractors are not aware to ask!

For any who are not aware of this, yes, this is happening. We must ask the organizations that represent flooring contractors, are you aware? Are you involved?

Now, I am not bashing one national organization that does a GREAT JOB writing standards for their members to work better for themselves and their clients.

Again, being a little politically correct but not evasive. I am trying hard to bring to everyone’s attention, in the flooring trade, to the impact these standards can have on our industry.

Let us look at some manufacturing standards. If there are standards for “allowed shrinkage” of a product after installation, is that issue addressed with retailers and contractors?

All contacted will, I am sure, say they never heard there was an allowed standard for shrinkage until they get the call from one of their customers screaming about gaps.

An inspector, doing an inspection for a manufacturer, is required to address the issue using their warranty and product tolerances.

Any mention of an allowed amount of shrinkage will be in the warranty as an ANSI Standard. This is usually a letter and number identifying the standard.

Suddenly, the retailer is met with an industry standard stating the amount of shrinkage is allowed and not a defect.

Is it coincidence that the amount shrinkage allowed seems to always be within measured tolerances on the job sites?

How many retailers will sell a product with an allowed built-in allowance for gaps their customers will not find acceptable?

Are there any consumer advocacy groups allowed on these committees?

There are many self-proclaimed experts who also self-proclaim themselves “Industry Leaders”, on these committees.

I am most definitely not an Industry Leader. Someone who advocates for truth in the flooring trade educational classes, is someone who will be rejected, viewed negatively, as someone who is trying to cause trouble.

Asked to be on committees? Never!

A Troublemaker! Wear that hat proudly!

For those who call those of us who question the obvious, yep, please label us as Troublemakers!

So, who gets to set these standard writing committees’ parameters and who will be on the committees? That is somewhat of a mystery,

Many experienced retailers, installers and educated inspectors, know that many manufacturing standards have “tolerances” so that some manufacturing variations, because no one person or manufacturer is perfect, are allowed.

That is to be expected.

But what if those standards are written to also ensure a broader tolerance to avoid claims?

Now, with that question, you can begin to see why some call advance educational classes dangerous and attack any science-based classes or evaluations of the products and claims.

If there is, for example, a person on a ceramic tile committee who has no manufacturing, contracting or installation experience, and limited inspection class attendance, as a committee chairperson to set inspection standards? Is this acceptable to you?

Now, I can tell you with 100% assurance, I just “pissed off” a lot of people!

But, think about this, people, with limited to no ceramic tile experience or exposure, in charge of writing an inspection standard that they want to make the industry, to mandate, inspectors buy and follow doing tile inspections.

OH WAIT! Did not some of you know, these standards are for sale and that is one means for organizations to make money.

And, more! The self-proclaimed experts and industry leaders get to push even more onto us, themselves as experts and industry leaders. By these actions they get more work. Or hope for more work?

More work? Inspecting your jobs with their limited experience and education?

Damn, no wonder so many flooring retailers and contractors view the inspection industry negatively!

Please, if anyone ever calls me an Industry Leader, that is, to me, the ultimate insult as a flooring professional.

I am going to stop here, because this is enough to think about until next week.

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Continued from last week's article: Want to stir the plot?

Knowing your limitations is smart

Welcome, to our new rant and rave

Welcome to Flooring Inspectors Educational Guild Flooring!

Fall Seminar

Premium Flooring Solutions

Continued from last week's article: Want to stir the plot?

Knowing your limitations is smart

Welcome, to our new rant and rave

Welcome to Flooring Inspectors Educational Guild Flooring!

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