New Contest Sponsored By Delmarva CFI

Roland Thompson · April 23, 2009, 09:22 PM

A Presidential Prize for Your Pocket or Desk

The Delmarva Chapter of CFI is putting on a new contest here at The Floor Pro to help celebrate its 3rd anniversary. What we want is to hear about different job stories like the most unusual, the one your are most proud of or even the most challenging. Post photos if you have them or just tell us about the project. The judging will be done by the Delmarva Chapter's Board of Directors, but as in all contests here at TFP, the staff and their families and associates are not elligible to win.

This special prize is from a place I have been doing work at for years and I just came back from working there again.

It is a business card holder (click to see full-size):

It comes in a soft blue cloth cover. Only one winner will receive this prize.

Roland Thompson, Chapter President, Delmarva CFI

Daris Mulkin · April 23, 2009, 09:58 PM

Roland what did you do steal them??

What are they by the way ? Kind of look like tv trays to me. OOps I went back and reread the post and it say card holders. duh!!

Daris

TFP Admin · April 23, 2009, 11:16 PM

Roland,

I retouched one of your pictures to get rid of some of the finger prints and the glare and reduced it to about actual size. As you can see by Daris' post, there may be some confusion as to how many of these you are giving away. I am assuming only one. You should also explain more of what you want and who will judge the winner(s) and when the contest ends.

This is a great prize. Thank you very much for donating it to one of the members of The Floor Pro Community.

Jim

Roland Thompson · April 24, 2009, 04:40 AM

Yes you are right Jim and I will work on that today, I was just tring to get it kick off.

Roland

TFP Admin · April 24, 2009, 09:51 AM

Thanks, Roland. Everyone should check the first post again. Roland sent me a better picture and more details on the contest. Just scroll up to the top to see the additional information and a nice picture.

The Floor Pro Community celebrates 3 years on May 6, 2009 and this ties in nicely with the festivities. We have other prizes to give away too - compliments of Better Tools - but more about that will be posted next week.

Thanks once again to Roland Thompson and the Delmarva Chapter of Certified Floorcovering Installers.

Jim

Demonseed · April 25, 2009, 09:39 PM

I don't know if this should be posted here about the most unusual/challenging/whatever job.

Shortly after I moved to NJ, I started a thread here asking for advice on a flooring solution for my mother in law to be's basement. She had some bad concrete (in the basement), it was full of furniture, and I got some good ideas' from this board. The concrete was pretty much turning to dust, I triple primed it with some ardex primer, then I hit it with SDP, were it was bad, did a skim coat, re primed the floor Had 2 blowers going, did another skim coat, struck a line, glued it up with PSA, installed carpet tile, moved the furniture back, did the same thing to the other side,

I spent 3-4 days on this, with the 'General' watching me every second. In all I used about 200# of patch for less than 720 SF. Ardex SD-P and ardex feather finish, Her mom had thanksgiving dinner in the basement a few months later, and no one could believe I did the job for free.

Even got the carpet tile for free. I am proud of this job, because Oma almost had a heart attack when i was done, I told her to trust me, and she was leery, but when I started she knew I had another blower in the shed and wanted to get it for me, she doesn't miss a beat, I said 2 were enough.

Over a year and it looks brand new, no one can mess up her floor.

TFP Admin · April 25, 2009, 11:37 PM

Great story, Demonseed. Yep, this is the right place to enter the contest. Anyone with their own good story of an unusual or challenging or any job you are very proud of, just post it here. Pictures are welcome, but not mandatory.

Jim

Roland Thompson · April 28, 2009, 09:11 PM

Good story Demonseed and thank you for sharing. Come on you fine people I know there are some more good stories.

Roland

Roland Thompson · May 3, 2009, 08:02 PM

Come on guys I know you have some good stories. Do I have to put in some more gifts to get them out of you?

Roland

rgfloor · May 3, 2009, 08:42 PM

OK Roland, I'll give ya two. Not outstanding but wierd.

(1. The time was 1975 and I was living in NE PA at the time. It was the days of SHAG!!

An older couple arrived at the shop and wanted carpet for their sons room. They picked a blue two-tone shag over 9/16 cushion. I went and measured the room about 12x12 and then they said could you measure the walls too!!

Yes we wrapped that room in blue shag. After it was complete they wanted the ceiling done in white shag for sound proofing. Don't ask me what went on in there!!

Well OK, the kid played drums. He has a great big set in the room.

(2. I put a commercial Corlon in the embalming room of a Funeral Home. Made sure that there were no bodies or anything, job went perfect. The business manager liked the job and the store contracted to do two more for this company. I didn't think too much about it when a couple of weeks later I went to the second Funeral Home. The office manager let me in and said "Joe is in the back, he'll show you what to do". I hear a stereo cranked up with some rock music and follow the sound to the embalming room, thinking "Joe" is probably emptying the room out for me. I open the door and there are two corpses on the tables, and NO "Joe". I turn and am ready to high tail it out of there when Joe opens the door behind me. Scared the crap out of me as he came from the bathroom. He said your early but I'll move the bodies. That was the fastest Corlon job I ever did!!

(3. Over the years had more than one answer the door "buck nekkid", a couple of offers to pay for the job with "other than cash" and one who blatently sat on the top step as my helper and I did the stairs. Oh, she "forgot" her undies that day, nice redhead.

Maybe these will give you the start of some wild stories.

Demonseed · May 3, 2009, 10:07 PM

lol, I started a job and the woman takes a shower, comes out of the bathroom wearing a towel, and wants to 'talk' to me. In the back of my mind I am thinking do you know you are just wearing a towel? Been hit on many times in the course of the job, one girl actually said she wanted me tol teach her how to play chess, she got to my place and said, you don't really think I came here to play chess?

Healthy sex lives, move a few beds with indents in the sheetrock, makes you look at people different.

One company I did work for, my dad walked in and they had 3 secretaries, they tell him they all have something in common, he says what?, they say we all dated your son. I was a male ho when I was younger. Didn't go near one of the girls. first date she told me she was molested as a child, gave me details, I did not need details.

rgfloor said

OK Roland, I'll give ya two. Not outstanding but wierd.

(1. The time was 1975 and I was living in NE PA at the time. It was the days of SHAG!! An older couple arrived at the shop and wanted carpet for their sons room. They picked a blue two-tone shag over 9/16 cushion. I went and measured the room about 12x12 and then they said could you measure the walls too!!

Yes we wrapped that room in blue shag. After it was complete they wanted the ceiling done in white shag for sound proofing. Don't ask me what went on in there!!

Well OK, the kid played drums. He has a great big set in the room.

(2. I put a commercial Corlon in the embalming room of a Funeral Home. Made sure that there were no bodies or anything, job went perfect. The business manager liked the job and the store contracted to do two more for this company. I didn't think too much about it when a couple of weeks later I went to the second Funeral Home. The office manager let me in and said "Joe is in the back, he'll show you what to do". I hear a stereo cranked up with some rock music and follow the sound to the embalming room, thinking "Joe" is probably emptying the room out for me. I open the door and there are two corpses on the tables, and NO "Joe". I turn and am ready to high tail it out of there when Joe opens the door behind me. Scared the crap out of me as he came from the bathroom. He said your early but I'll move the bodies. That was the fastest Corlon job I ever did!!

(3. Over the years had more than one answer the door "buck nekkid", a couple of offers to pay for the job with "other than cash" and one who blatently sat on the top step as my helper and I did the stairs. Oh, she "forgot" her undies that day, nice redhead.

Maybe these will give you the start of some wild stories.

cproader · May 4, 2009, 08:59 AM

...........don't think this is quite what Roland had in mind, but I got a story like that too.......Lady answered the door in a towel and th.....

........

mcbrides · May 5, 2009, 05:14 PM

There are sooooo many .............

Here's one to start:

Old client, bought up old houses and converted them into 4-plexes. He had bought a tractor-trailer load of used carpet from trade shows, piled the stuff high in his barn, and then contracted us to sort through it and install the stuff in each of the apartments. This guy was loaded, but looked like a bag man. He actually had a full-time employee to drive him around as he was a notorious drinker. The one building we were working on was having the exterior acid-washed to clean the brick, and old Ed spent the afternoon while we were working, sitting under a tree on one of the boxes of muriatic acid, killing a 2-4 of beer.

Well, the box of acid leaked and burned a hole in old Ed's butt. Shoulda seen him jumping around with his ass smoking. Funniest damn thing we ever saw.

We were invited back to that same house about a year later, the information we got was that most of the tenants complained about a foul smell coming from the rear ground-floor apartment. We walked in to stem-to-stern catshit; it was a hot, humid July day and we couldn't breathe for the stink. Just as Dave was walking past the kitchen countertop, one of the cats hopped up onto the counter and barfed up a furball right next to the tenant's prepared lunch. He was out the back door like a shot and the next glimpse I got of him, he was doing dry heaves against the same tree where Ed burned his butt. Wusss.

We'll think of more ......

cproader · May 6, 2009, 05:32 PM

Ok, let's see if I can do this.........

......... .I have done alot of jobs that I have been real happy with the way they turned out, but as far as bein proud of one, it is a hard thing fer me to do.......About three months ago, I was sent to do a carpet install for a retired couple who lived in a really rundown house that was probably 70+ yrs. old. The material was a commercial leveloop that couldn't have been more than a 20 oz. piece that you could durn near see through. The floor had crowns and dips but had all been underlayed with a 1/2 ply. The inside of the house was extremely clean, I mean I can't remember ever goin to one this clean, and all the trim was freshly painted white and set all the way down. When I walked in and saw what challenge this was gonna be, I was havin a bad feelin knowin I was gonna lose my Dewalt t-shirt on this one. Pad was 7/16 rebond that was not goin to hold up under this rug, so out with that and I sent my son to go pick up some Healthy Choice premium pad. No charge for the upgrade for the pad. We set the strip fer a perfect gully against the baseboard and door casing, no scars on the paint when we were done, and I promise ya right here in front of Roland and everyone that ya can't find a seam in the entire house of over 190 yds. I laid it out so there are no cross seams and only side seams. It turned out beautiful and will wear a long time. Nobody said a thing to me about the finished job, but I knew you guys and me saw and appreciated something that they knew nothing about.

mcbrides · May 6, 2009, 06:21 PM

cproader said

Ok, let's see if I can do this.................. .I have done alot of jobs that I have been real happy with the way they turned out, but as far as bein proud of one, it is a hard thing fer me to do.......About three months ago, I was sent to do a carpet install for a retired couple who lived in a really rundown house that was probably 70+ yrs. old. The material was a commercial leveloop that couldn't have been more than a 20 oz. piece that you could durn near see through. The floor had crowns and dips but had all been underlayed with a 1/2 ply. The inside of the house was extremely clean, I mean I can't remember ever goin to one this clean, and all the trim was freshly painted white and set all the way down. When I walked in and saw what challenge this was gonna be, I was havin a bad feelin knowin I was gonna lose my Dewalt t-shirt on this one. Pad was 7/16 rebond that was not goin to hold up under this rug, so out with that and I sent my son to go pick up some Healthy Choice premium pad. No charge for the upgrade for the pad. We set the strip fer a perfect gully against the baseboard and door casing, no scars on the paint when we were done, and I promise ya right here in front of Roland and everyone that ya can't find a seam in the entire house of over 190 yds. I laid it out so there are no cross seams and only side seams. It turned out beautiful and will wear a long time. Nobody said a thing to me about the finished job, but I knew you guys and me saw and appreciated something that they knew nothing about.

:good :