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What an exciting CFI Convention August 19-21, 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri. The attendance reached 179 which was an increase of almost 30% and the enthusiasm, interest in education and the camaraderie among the members has never been stronger. In attendance were thirty-nine First Timers.
Robert Varden (TX) was unanimously elected to serve as President of CFI, Alan Ellis (IA) as Vice-President and Tony Buckhardt (IN) as Secretary. Ed Braile (MO) is the Chairman of the Certification Committee and Ben Boatwright (TN) was appointed to the new position of Chairman of Organizational Development for the 2010-2011 term. Also... [Read More]
This October 7th and 8th, there will be more of the continuing education classes taught at the North Carolina State University Wood Extension Department. The instructors are Wood Scientists with PhDs who have hands on experience in the wood industry. They are not "classroom-only" instructors.
The class subjects will be Wood Anatomy with emphasizes on Wood Anatomy and Moisture Relationship; and Engineered Wood Compositions and what affects their appearance and performance.
The Wood Anatomy class subjects will be the reaction of wood to moisture loss or gain and how it is measured using meters. How accurate wood meters are and what variables influence the measurements. This is important information to protect your reports' accuracy. Those attending will... [Read More]
I have a cousin Jeff in middle California that owns a carpet store he inherited from his dad. He has done carpet and vinyl in his life, but never tile, at least not professionally. Here is the thing about Jeff, he is a genius, mechanically anyway. He went to vinyl school for a week 25 years ago, and walked away one of the best vinyl guys you have ever met. After a week or two of helping me lay carpet, I was learning tricks from him. No matter what he puts his mind to, be it auto mechanic and body work, welding, or any facet of home construction, give him a few days and some tools and he will blow your mind.
When I went out there in January, I knew two things. One was that his house was going to be amazing, and the other was that it wasn't going to be done. He is always tearing something out and starting over.
The tile work he did in the kitchen is what really did it for me. A good friend of my cousin and mine Tom, owns a tile store. Tom says he doesn't even know anyone capable of tile work like this, I don't either. He started with regular old 12 x 12 tile, cut all of his patterns out, then ground down all the corners and reglazed them. The outside... [Read More]
I removed the 1/4 round in my grandaughters Br today and found maybe a unique way of doing it. Its been there since the late 50's and has many coats of paint. I tried cutting the line at the top with a utility knife but it wanted to wave and not follow at the precise point of the base a 1/4 round. I took my row cutter and it not only cut it in a straight line but also went right down between the... [Read More]
Whenever someone drops an iron it's a tragedy. I've known about this forever but maybe someone doesn't. I have done this on nylon, polyester and olefin carpets, never on a wool piece. I don't think I would want to.
As long as the iron didn't sit on the carpet long enough to melt the fibers you have a chance to avoid a patch.
Keep a thick brown paper bag in your... [Read More]
I came across a question today that my buddy and I discussed amongst ourselves and with the homeowner while he was filling out his warranty card on his replacement floor.
Why is it that when there is a replacement floor given by the manufacturer (i.e. Congoleum) the replacement flooring doesn't carry the original warranty. The people still paid full price for the original goods, why... [Read More]
For years I used a hammer to install countless numbers of box steps. DING DING DING DING! Finally got so sick of it I started wearing hearing protection while doing it, should have done that from the start.
Then one day after I moved out west, one installer looked at me like I was a greenhorn and said, "What the hell are you doing?"
Ok so I need to anchor a naildown transition on conete fer whatever reason......so I get my hammerdrill and make my anchor holes...but a funny thing happened, I aint got no plastic or wood dowels to put in the holes...... [Read More]
awhile back someone posted a helpful hint of not throwing away the beaters from a kitchen mixer and using it to mix small batches of fill. I would really like to thank that person. It works great for mixing fill, paint and a whole host of other things that need mixing.
I guard my mixers really close now so I don't lose them. It ended up my wifes mixer burned up just after that was... [Read More]
Here is a trick we use to keep track of the pad glue can lid.
When opening a can of pad glue bend the top rim on the far side of the opening with a stair tool. The lid will "click" right in a remain there, never getting lost....