Discussion: FLOORING: An Industry In Crisis, by Lea MacDonald

[TFP Admin]

This is a thread for discussion of the article, FLOORING: An Industry In Crisis, by Lea MacDonald. Your comments and questions are welcome. You may also rate the article. Thank you for your participation.

[Tandy Reeves]

Very good article. In my opinion, it is not just the carpet side of installations that have problems. The mentality that has been on the carpet side has now gone over to other types of floor coverings. The skill levels are quite low overall in the wood and vinyl side. I do not see much of anything being done to upgrade it either. I think the crisis is greater now than ever before. The big boxes have moved into the picture, and do not appear to be interested in quality as much as quanity. They sell a lot of flooring products.

[tony lamar]

Excellent job Lea.

[Lo Down]

Like always, Lea..... great work.

[Nick Arrera]

good post lee .. The mills need some quailty control ,i just sold a piece of Stanton $72.00 a yd , my cost .. on the sample it says they don't gaurentee shading , or pattern match .. i see no need to learn how to install their product , until they stop producing junk .. The classes should also be free ..

[TFP Admin]

Be sure to rate the article by rating the thread. It's a good indication to me and the author on what you like to see on the article pages of the site.

[hookknife]

Nice article Lea, you are quite the writer

[Jim Carlin]

Great article Lea.
Jim

[Lea MacDonald]

Thank you gentlemen. Coming from this group, your compliments are deeply appreciated.

While the article focuses mainly on carpet, it reflects difficulties across the entire flooring spectrum - no segment is immune.

Education is the key . . . educating retailers, customers, and installers will make this vocation more appealing and financially viable.

Of course, in order to know where one is going, one must first know where they have been and how they got here. This thought spawned the article.

[Jerry Thomas]

Yes, you have quite the knack for writing Lea, good article.

[Lo Down]

He's the best writer here by far, Jerry. Not an article, but I still like the dissappearing gingerbread men the best.

[Nick Arrera]

here is one problem with the mills today .. i just ordered 1100 yds of mokawk , I wanted them to cut the rolls a certain size .. wont do , so now i have to eat a extra 60 yds of cpt to get all the cuts .. Asked them for a roll sequencing report with the rolls and they had no idea what i was talking about ..

[Lea MacDonald]

I can feel for you Nick. I remember a day when installers were threatened with bodily harm if they did not follow the correct roll series.

I can also remember a time when we didn't have to check for flaws because that job was properly done at the mill before the carpet ever got shipped. Sure, a few slipped by, but not like today. Sad this.

[Tandy Reeves]

Lea, I like and agree with your statement "Education is the key". I have been asked by a vo-tech school in another state to help them with a pilot program on flooring. I will teach six classes a year two on carpet, two on hard surface, and two on wood. This will be to 30 students at a time. This is to introduce them to the flooring industry. If they want to be inspectors, they can go that way, if dealers they can go that way, flooring salesperson they can go that way, or installers they can go that way. In other words they will leave the week long study knowing something about floor covering and how to push their careers forward by getting additional training. I will let you know how it goes. The first class is scheduled for August 21 thru 25. I was told that class is already full.

[Lea MacDonald]

Mr. Reeves, I am heartened to hear that you'll be a lead-hand in the education of these people. They should consider them selves most fortunate.

One module I like to teach is planning and job lay out - I taught: "Failing to plan is planning to fail." Though a hackneyed, tired old axiom, it rings very true.

Be careful you don't succumb to the song of the education siren, she is strong and intoxicating, and she could steal you away from an industry that desperately needs you, your craftsmanship, and professionalism.