Measuring Jobs

[mcbrides]

We have been doing business with a cash & carry store for almost 7 years, and have had the luxury of measuring our own jobs. We don't get paid to measure, if we don't get the job, then the trip is a loss, but we close most of them.

We do, however have other client retailers whose sales staff do the measures. As soon as we spot a cutting plan, we know we are screwed.

For those of you retailers whose staff measure jobs by the inch, hope you are paying your installers really well, because those tight measures not only cost us time, but raise our stress levels beyond belief.

Yesterday, a carpet newbie (why the hell is she measuring ....) sent us out with an 8'2" piece for a curved, capped staircase with a 5' bullnose and birdcage. To make the sucker work (can't get more product before Christmas), we had to cut each tread, net, install all the treads, then figure out if we had enough left to do the risers. We made it, only had to turn 2 of them. The bullnose riser and the top riser.

We can usually do one of those from scratch in about 4 hours. Thursday, we had done the ripout and replaced the upper hall, and the stairs were stripped and prepped. Upholstering those stairs took us over 6 1/2 hours. Wanna kill somebody.

D&D

[Barry Carlton]

I'm really glad you brought this up.

I hate it when I regularly am asked to figure/take off/measure jobs for the salesperson. Mind you I don't mind helping occasionally, but isn't that their job? Shouldn't they share part of their commission?

And what about 'training' salespersons? I know it is in my best interest to do so, but some type of compensation should be offered.

b

[rusty baker]

Worked for a retailer who measured everything short. For Christmas, one of the installers bought him a new tape. They cut 6 inches off and put the end back on. He got the point.

[mcbrides]

rusty baker said Worked for a retailer who measured everything short. For Christmas, one of the installers bought him a new tape. They cut 6 inches off and put the end back on. He got the point.

Isn't that an urban legend, Rusty?

[rusty baker]

It happened at a store in Indep. Mo in the mid eighties. The owner measured so tight, that I had to go back to the store a couple of times and get a sample to finish. He's still in business, so I don't want to embarass him by using his name.

[Ken]

Those were the days!!!! small closets that should have been drops, go in 3 or 4 pieces, and not just one bedroom but all of the bedrooms. Large walk in closets go the same way cause by the time you made your cuts the so called "fill piece" has lost 3 feet. LOL the occasional job where the retailer wants you to seam 2 pieces together to finish that last pie step. LOL I dont miss those days at all.

[Barry Carlton]

I had a salesperson who would do a take off for VCT then deduct for the walls. And he wondered why he was short!!!!
b

[rusty baker]

Rubberback kitchen carpets and cheap brown sculpture everyday.

[Demonseed]

When I was in sales, this guy came in with his wife and proceeded to tell me exactly how much material he needed, You see he was an Engineer and did not need anyone to measure for him. We charged $25 for a measure at the time. Anyway, they picked out some materials they were interested in and he wanted a price. He gave me the yardage he needed. Somewhere around 520 yards of carpet, 60 yards of Vinyl, I looked at him and said you must have a pretty big house. He said not really, it is a ranch maybe 2000 SF. Needless to say after I explained how to calculate square yardage, his wife insisted I measure the job.

I will not deal with anyone that does an 8'2" cut, unless it is a balance roll.

[mcbrides]

Demonseed said I will not deal with anyone that does an 8'2" cut, unless it is a balance roll.

We didn't mention that the upper hall piece was 4" short. had to put a cross-seam in the master bedroom doorway. Worked out ok and was accepted, but want to kill the warehouseman, too.

DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHAT THE HELL THEY ARE DOING?

We miss the good old days when the guys inside were just old installers ...

Wonder what they're smoking these days?

D&D

[rusty baker]

Did an apt Thursday. They buy their carpet direct. They went to a retailer to get 40 yds of pad. When I rolled it out, I had 36 yds. It seems all they hire are kids who can't read a tape. I usually do one of these 40 yd apts in 90 minutes. Waiting on the pad it took 3 hours.

[Demonseed]

I take carpet scrap and use it as pad, sounds bad, but it works. I have not seen a 40 yard rolls in ages.

rusty baker said Did an apt Thursday. They buy their carpet direct. They went to a retailer to get 40 yds of pad. When I rolled it out, I had 36 yds. It seems all they hire are kids who can't read a tape. I usually do one of these 40 yd apts in 90 minutes. Waiting on the pad it took 3 hours.

[Floorguy]

Demonseed said I take carpet scrap and use it as pad, sounds bad, but it works. I have not seen a 40 yard rolls in ages.

3/8 and 1/2 inch 4# apartment pad still comes in 40's

[rgfloor]

Floorguy said 3/8 and 1/2 inch 4# apartment pad still comes in 40's

And around here they buy it vacuum packed, suck all the air out and put a plastic sleeve on it. The retailer is supposed to open it 24 hours before install, never happens, so you are always 2-3 ft short.

Worked for one retailer who always figured the job and deducted 10% of the pad.
Fortunately I only did hardsurface!! He said he could ad 1% profit to a total job by doing this. Doing a million a year he could make an extra 10G, did the same with adhesive, etc.

[mcbrides]

rgfloor said And around here they buy it vacuum packed, suck all the air out and put a plastic sleeve on it. The retailer is supposed to open it 24 hours before install, never happens, so you are always 2-3 ft short.

We crewed for a guy here in the early '90s that brought in that shrink-wrapped-open 24 hours before, pad, and of course, they never opened it, and when we opened it it was wet. That @#%&*$ paid for a lot of re-stretches and trashed my name. He went bankrupt a couple of years later (nothing to do with me, he burnt us for a lot of $$$).

Love it when I see a past retailer who did me wrong bite the dust.

What goes around, comes around.

Dave